Robbinsville High field hockey goalie Olivia Moser and her coach, Jennamarie Colicchia, agree on pretty much everything.
There is one sticking, point however.
“She has that psycho, let-it-all-go mentality,” Colicchia said.
“I’m not really psycho,” Moser said with a laugh.
OK, let’s try this again.
“I always tell her to play like a psycho, and anything (bad) that happens you just let it go on the next play,” Colicchia said. “You gotta be ready for the next play. If you let one goal get to you, you’re not going to be ready to stop the second one.”
In other words; play hard, but don’t dwell on mistakes?
“Yeah, exactly,” the coach said.
Moser does concur that is her mentality, but she doesn’t consider herself a wild person in the goal who is constantly doing crazy things.
“I don’t really think I’m, like, super aggressive,” she said. “I kind of like to stay back and see the field. If there’s a breakaway I’m obviously going to approach it. But I’d say I’m more of a stay-back goalie.”
The bottom line is, she’s a good goalie on a good Ravens team. Entering the state tournament, the senior had made 68 saves in Robbinsville’s 10-2 start. Her biggest effort was in defeat when she stopped 20 shots in a Mercer County Tournament quarterfinal loss to Lawrenceville.
Last year, her first on varsity, Moser split time with Laura Redler and helped the Ravens reach the Central Jersey Group II championship game.
“It was great because her and Laura Redler were friends,” Colicchia said. “In a game last year when we went to overtime against Hopewell, Laura played the first half, Liv played the second. I had to make a decision for overtime and Laura said, ‘Liv is ready for overtime so keep her in.’ They always were like that. It was never a fight or who’s going in the game. It was always ‘Who’s going to help us win the game?’”
‘You’re the last option. Keep that in mind, and have confidence.’
Moser felt the friendly competition actually helped. Since she played the second half, she was able to watch and learn things in the first.
“We were really close and practiced together,” Moser said. “We fed off each other, encouraged each other. We watched each other during practice and games.”
A softball player at heart, Moser will pack up her bat and glove to play for the University of Gettysburg next year. But when it’s autumn, she is equally into being a goalie.
“I play it like I play softball,” she said. “I’m just a very competitive person.”
Moser began playing field hockey at Pond Road just to keep busy after school.
“My mom wanted me to be involved in middle school, and I love doing things after school,” she said. “I don’t want to just go home and sit around. I love sports, I’m very competitive.”
She was initially a field player but after seeing some older friends play goal, figured that might be the right spot for her. In some ways it was new, in others it was familiar.
“It was definitely a transition,” Moser said. “Playing the field it’s all with your stick. As a goalie it’s almost like soccer. You use your feet and your hands. So it kind of combines my softball skills with the hand-eye coordination thing.”
Colicchia feels that if one didn’t know Moser played softball, they would swear field hockey was her sport.
“She has always been a level headed, sound player,” the coach said. “Even though she split time last year, it really didn’t faze her. And she could have been a starter but it never bothered her.”
Nor does she let it bother her after giving up a goal. Obviously she doesn’t like doing that, but Moser has a good way of putting it behind her.
“She owns her mistakes, nothing really bothers her on the field,” Colicchia said. “And really, whatever happens outside of field hockey she lets it go. When it’s game time you know you’re going to get something consistent during the game.”
Moser not only has the ability to make saves, she is outstanding at directing her defense in order to limit difficult opportunities.
“She doesn’t say too much off the field, but she’s very vocal in goal, which I wasn’t sure she would be,” Colicchia said. “She’s always pointing to different places. I think goalies should worry about themselves, but she doesn’t. She always worries about who’s marked up and making sure it’s a cohesive unit. That’s something really good to have in a goalie. I don’t know if you see that too often.”
When she’s not busy directing traffic, Moser is making some hard-to-believe saves. In an incredible display in the MCT opener with Notre Dame, she made five difficult saves in the final three minutes of the game to preserve the victory.
“To have five shots in the last two minutes is a lot on the goalie,” Colicchia said. “They had some really good shooters and being able to read that; and the height on the ball, she was able to see so many different things at once. I don’t know how she does it, to be honest.”
Evidently, she does it by keeping calm.
“I think you just need to understand it’s just a game,” Moser said. “You’re the last option, you need to keep that in mind and have that confidence you can do it.”
She certainly is confident off the field, registering a 4.3 weighted grade point average while being involved in numerous activities.
“I’m in the National Honor Society, the World Language Honor Society,” Moser said. “I try to stay involved in the community. I do some volunteer trips over the summer before field hockey. It’s hard sometimes. I try to take winters off because it’s very tense throughout the year.”
Tense, but fun for a girl who loves to stay active.
Entering the state tournament, senior goalie Olivia Moser had made 68 saves in the Robbinsville High field hockey team’s 10-2 start. (Photo by Rich Fisher.),
