Hamilton West coach Judy Goldstein is impressed with sweeper back Monserrat Acosta’s field hockey smarts.
“She’s got game sense,” Goldstein said. “She has an instinct of when to go out and challenge and when to stay back.”
And in a few years, Acosta may be able to understand what makes her so smart—both on the field and in the classroom. The senior plans on attending Mercer County Community College for two years before transferring to Rutgers to study neuroscience.
“I know it’s a lot of school, but I really enjoy how the brain works; it just amazes me how everything goes,” Acosta said. “It’s funny, in elementary school and throughout middle school I hated science. All I learned about mostly was rocks and I did not like that.”
When she got to Hamilton, however, she was amazed by the cells in biology class, the formulas in chemistry and the further studies of the anatomy in advanced biology.
“AP bio really broke things down,” she said. “I just really love how the body works and that kind of stuff.”
With that kind of fascination for living matter — not to mention a GPA over 3.5 — one might think Acosta wouldn’t care much about sports. And for 13 years that was the case, as the closest she came to athletic competition was on a T-ball team for two months as a tike.
“I never played a sport before in my life,” she said. “The first time I ever ran and actually stepped on a field and did something was when I came to West as a freshman.”
Acosta considered high school a fresh start and decided to investigate some things other than just schoolwork. She talked to her friends about field hockey and they agreed she should give it a shot.
“I ended up loving the sport and the coaches,” Acosta said. “We all grew up together and I really liked that. It’s a really nice experience plus it’s a fall sport so I got to meet new people before school started. I definitely felt really confident going into my first year of high school.”
There were some growing pains, of course. Like most newbies (and casual fans), she did not understand the constant stoppages due to whistles. In fact, she didn’t understand much at all, but hung in there.
“I wasn’t really sure about the sport, and I was like ‘Why are there so many rules,’” Acosta said. “But it was a really fun and just so nice. All the girls are really nice and supportive. I’ve been with (assistant Kerryn) Campbell since she started coaching here, we’ve grown up together and she’s really been nice to me.”
Acosta started on the freshman team as a defender while also spending time as a goalie, which she had little use for.
“Not everyone wanted to be a goalie so I split time in there,” she said. “It wasn’t my place to be the goalie. I definitely love being on the field more. Goalie is just so much pressure and I feel like it’s not for me. I’d rather just be out there because every time they score, I feel like it was on me. And I didn’t like standing there, I liked going out there and getting my stick on the ball.”
She became a fulltime defender for the JV team as a sophomore and made varsity last year. Goldstein felt the switch was made to order.
“Once you play goalie, you kind of have that “Bring it on, ’cause you ain’t getting by me attitude,’ and she wasn’t wholeheartedly into playing goalie,” the coach said. “I’m not one to make kids play a position they don’t want to and we had a girl who wanted to play, so Monserrat stepped up to a sweeper spot. It’s the next position forward, it’s just like playing goalie except you have to use the stick.”
Acosta was a reserve last year but earned a starting berth this season and has shown noticeable improvement. Goldstein felt she was a bit too timid against fast breaks last year, but that has changed.
“They’re not going into the circle without her challenging them,” she said. “Monserrat just came out this year ready to play to the ground and fight for it. She gives me a heart attack a couple times doing her spin move in front of the goal cage but she’s solid. She played (varsity) last year, so she’s been under pressure before. I was looking for her to be a lot more aggressive than last year and she is. She’s not letting them shoot from the top, where they can just shoot a bullet.”
Acosta feels that her experience in goal has made her more aggressive as a defender. She re-lived it in the preseason when she had to put the pads on for one scrimmage.
“I definitely know how bad I felt when the ball got past me into the goal,” she said. “So I know my goalie is counting on me, and I want to make sure no one gets past me and can get it into the goal. I know if the ball is in the circle, I need to get it out.”
And while Acosta is not the quickest player on the field, her instincts give her a sense of anticipation that helps her compensate.
“She just knows what to do,” Goldstein said. “You know how you can read a play and you’re watching people and you read it right? She usually reads it right and is there to at least interrupt with her stick. And she is great with the communication back there.”
If need be, she can communicate in more than one language, as studying the brain is not Acosta’s lone interest. She’s also secretary in the Italian Honor Society. “I love Italian,” she said. “I’m bilingual. I speak English and Spanish and hopefully I’ll be fluent in Italian as well.”
With a brain as busy as Acosta’s, it’s no wonder she’s so interested in how it works.
Senior Monserrat Acosta plays sweeper for Hamilton High field hockey. (Photo by Rich Fisher.),
