Olivia Brovak leads an active life. She performs ballet, serves as a food runner at Toscano’s, gets honor grades in school and plays in goal for the Bordentown High field hockey team. Somehow, she manages to tie it all together to make herself a better netminder.
“I’ve been dancing since I was two,” Brovak said. “Ballet helps because it keeps balance and it works on my core as well. That’s a big part of playing goalie. When you dive or you go on the ground, having a good center balance and a good core helps get yourself up and helps keep yourself standing.”
As a captain and a goalie, she has to be hands-on when it comes to dealing with the team as a leader and with her defense as a field general. That’s where Toscano’s comes in.
“Being in the service industry and helping other people; talking and dealing with people definitely helps with my social skills,” she said. “And I think it can play a part during field hockey. A big thing with field hockey is communication on the field. Being able to communicate at work, even with your co-workers, and then putting that on the field, you always have to communicate.”
The well-rounded senior does just that, which is part of what makes her such an outstanding goalie for the Scotties. Through Bordentown’s 3-4 start this year, Brovak has 77 saves on the season and 438 for her career. She has two shutouts this season and seven for her career and, despite playing for sub-.500 teams, her talents have kept the Scotties in games where they had a chance to win at the end.
“She absolutely frustrates some of those players that are at the top of the offensive stats on other teams,” BRHS coach Amy Fisicaro said. “She’ll make those great saves. When you think she’s down, it doesn’t matter, she’s still battling. She sees the field really well and is able to communicate to her defenders and midfielders what she needs, and I trust her 100 percent.”
According to the coach, Brovak possesses all the aspects needed to be a solid goalie. “She’s very athletic and on top of that she’s intelligent,” Fisicaro said. “She can kind of see things developing before they actually do.
“And she works. She’s not one that I ever have to worry about slacking off.”
Brovak began playing field hockey in fifth grade for a local recreation league started by her friends’ parents. Prior to that, she had done a few sessions with Bordentown’s Community District Alliance camp, but did not have any team experience.
She loved it so much that she remained with the rec league until eighth grade, and also played for the middle school. At the time, however, she was a girl without a position. Or, one too many positions, as it were. Brovak started out as a center midfielder and loved all the running it involved. At one point in rec, they asked her to play goalie and she enjoyed that just as much.
She was granted the best of both worlds in middle school and was allowed to play center-mid for one half and goalie for another, but knew that would change once she got to high school.
“I really didn’t know which way it was gonna go,” she said. “As a freshman I didn’t know if I’d pick playing goalie or playing midfield. I knew I had to pick going into high school.”
After a chat with Fisicaro, it was decided she could play the field for the JV team and also start some varsity games in goal. That made Olivia’s decision easier.
“That just told me I’m better at being goalie since I was starting there on varsity,” she said. “So, I gave up my midfield.”
Fisicaro noted that Brovak wasn’t really sold on the goalie position. “I kind of told her, ‘I think it’s a mistake for you not to play goalie.’ Thankfully, she heeded that advice,” she said.
As a freshman, Brovak won the team MVP award for her contributions at both positions. By her junior year, she was strictly in the net. It takes a special person to want to be a goalie, if for the simple reason they have to wear about 5,000 pounds worth of equipment before they even take the field.
For Brovak, that didn’t matter as it was results that gave her joy.
“Just the satisfaction of saving these shots, it makes me feel so happy, especially when it’s a clean and crisp save,” she said. “Then you feel so proud you did something. And it’s definitely one of the hardest spots to play as well, especially mentally. When you’re in that position and you let a goal in, it takes a toll on you because you’re the last line of defense and your mistake shows up on the scoreboard.”
But as Fisicaro noted, Brovak has gotten better at shaking things off and just focusing on the moment at hand.
“She doesn’t ever want to let the ball by her,” the coach said. “She had to learn the difference between ‘All right that one was on me,’ and ‘OK that one went through all the 11 players.’ I don’t have to worry about that aspect of it anymore.”
Although Brovak is no longer a center-midfielder, her experience at that position still comes in handy as a goalie.
“I think that definitely plays into it; knowing what a field player thinks and where they want to shoot, where they want to go when they come at me,” she said. “It helps me think, ‘OK they’re going here, or this person will take a shot from the top.’ It helps me predict the shots.”
She is aided by quick reflexes that allow her to react to shots and, more importantly, on rebound shots where there is no time to think. But Brovak often helps short circuit scoring threats before they even happen by organizing her defense.
“Over four years of high school, I definitely connected with a lot of the defenders and midfielders, so I’ve gotten closer and more comfortable talking with them and being able to direct the field,” she said.
She is also comfortable leading them in other ways, which is why Brovak was voted captain by her teammates.
“For them to see their goalie really was a leader and to award her with that captain band was good for me to see,” Fisicaro said. “She’s always one that will have something constructive to say in those huddles and timeouts.”
Off the field, Brovak is good at leading herself as a self-starter. Along with her activities, she has a 108.6 grade point average and is a member of the National Honor Society and National Art Honor Society. Her academic achievements and field hockey prowess landed her a spot at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which has a Division III program and one of the nation’s top chemical engineering departments.
“I love chemistry and science, and math has always been my strongest suit in school,” she said. “When I started my chemistry classes, I was like, ‘Oh this is so interesting. I love this,’ So finding that balance of chemistry and math in chemical engineering, I thought that would be the perfect major for me.”
That will include some intense courses, which is why it is great for Oliva that she will still be playing field hockey. Despite the pressure of being a goalie, playing the sport itself is a stress release tool for her.
“When I’m out on the field, I don’t have to be thinking about what I have to do after that game or what I have to do next,” she said “I’m focused on the game, it takes my mind off if I had a few tests that day or if it was a rough day at school.”
And after the game, when her mind returns to the other tasks at hand, Brovak seems to handle it all pretty darn well.
Bordentown field hockey goalie, senior Olivia Brovak.,
