It was the summer of 2020 and Jennamarie Colicchia was jogging around the Robbinsville High School track. During her run, the Ravens field hockey coach couldn’t help notice a girl on the field all by herself, with a bag of balls and a stick firing shots on a net.
“She was shooting, dribbling and shooting over and over,” Colicchia recalled. “I was like ‘I wonder who that is?’ I didn’t say anything, I don’t want to overwhelm kids in the summer, but I had my eye on her when she came in because she was doing all that stuff. I was like ‘Hey, you were that girl out on the turf.’”
“That girl” turned out to be Jordyn Pepper, who amassed 16 of the Ravens 23 goals through their 6-0 start this year.
“I didn’t reaize that was her,” said Pepper, who was a rising freshman the day Colicchia saw her. “When she mentioned it, I just remember I was happy she was able to remember who I was from that, because I think that made a good impression by me.”
It did indeed. One of the first things Colicchia noticed during her jog was Pepper’s reverse shot, which is akin to a backhand shot in ice hockey. When she saw Pepper doing it as a freshman in the preseason, that’s when she knew for sure it was the same player.
“You don’t see a reverse shot as accurately as she does it at the high school level,” the coach said. “So the fact she can do it well, I allow it. If a kid tries it and they don’t do it successfully I usually tell them to try to stick with the fundamentals. But she has it down pat.”
It was more than just her ability to shoot with both sides of the stick that kept Pepper on the varsity in ninth grade. Colicchia already saw something special during Jordyn’s summer practice.
“When you have a player who doesn’t have to be asked to go out and hit 100 balls like she does, that shows in the preseason,” the coach said. “So when I saw her come in as a freshman with those stick skills and work ethic, it was a no-brainer to keep her on the field.”
Pepper had a modest two goals and one assist as a freshman but did get playing time. Last year, she tied for second on the team in goals with five, and led in assists with six.
This year, Jordyn started the season like a woman possessed. Helped by the steady hand of Colicchia, one of the Colonial Valley Conference’s most knowledgeable coaches, Robbinsville was able to win their first six games despite an unsettled lineup due to injuries and Covid. But the coach had help, since having Pepper as one of the constants helped offset some of the instability.
The junior not only scored goals, she got them when needed. They were hardly stat-padding goals picked up during garbage time.
Pepper had all five goals in a 5-3 win over West Windsor-Plainsboro North. She scored both goals in each game in 2-1 wins over Notre Dame and Allentown, had a goal in a 2-1 win over WW-P South and tallied four times in a 7-2 victory over Hopewell.
“She’s been getting a lot of pressure and definitely comes up clutch,” Colicchia said. “She’s getting a lot of pressure because she has been scoring. She doesn’t let that stop her from being a player who could still distribute the ball well too. Other forwards are still getting opportunities so it’s not like we’re a one-man show where she has to do everything, but she could if she wanted to.”
Asked if she lives for those big moments to score, Jordyn said “I wouldn’t say that. I obviously like to win so I feel I need to get a goal because you’re gonna need to score. But I always look to pass too. If I’m not open I can find someone up top that can get a goal.”
Pepper is a field hockey legacy, as her mom, Marita, played for Bloomsburg University and encouraged Jordyn to try the sport.
“I started clinics in second or third grade and joined my first club in fifth,” she said. “At first I didn’t really love it. It was definitely an acquired taste. It takes a lot of people a long time to learn the different rules and how to play the game, but I think I picked that up a little faster because I played a bunch of other sports so it was easier.”
Pepper also played softball and soccer and, at one time, considered softball to be her main sport. That all changed around eighth grade.
“Eventually I really liked being able to compete and play with a team,” she said. “I like how fast paced hockey is, and how you’re part of a team. Obviously with softball you play it as a team but it’s more of an individual thing. Field hockey I’m always surrounded by a team. It’s always a team-based sport.”
Despite the fact she is the Ravens scoring star; Pepper makes great efforts to help provide a close-knit atmosphere.
“Field hockey is everything to her, you see that in everything she does,” Colicchia said. “She’s team oriented, she puts in the extra work. She’s always trying to do things that make the team come closer together. They go out to eat a lot, they do everything together. So someone who’s that skilled and also a team person is really important.”
She leans on her teammates when the defensive attention becomes too overwhelming, quickly pointing out “I have Anika (Singh) and Abby (Moir) and Ava (Aldarelli) and Grace (Miler) all to pass to. I also have Hannah (Tyler) behind me that I can always pass to just in case there is a double team.”
For the most part, however, Pepper has been able to handle the extra defenders thanks to her continual improvement.
“This year more than ever we’re noticing her impact scoring,” Colicchia said. “She’s always been very good at seeing the field and being able to beat defenders; but this year she’s making an impact more on the scoreboard because of her work ethic in the off-season. She plays year-round, she puts in the work when nobody’s watching, and every year she comes back an even better player.
“Coaches always say the work you do when no one is watching makes an impact; and for her it really is true. She’s just found ways to give herself better scoring opportunities. She’s always been on our offensive line. She just now is getting more opportunities to shoot because she has game skill. She’s figured out ways to manipulate the defense to give herself the best shot.”
Pepper, who is hoping to play for Lehigh University in two years, said she was a bit surprised to have so many goals over the season’s first two weeks. But she did feel the work ethic that Colicchia mentioned helped make a big difference.
“Over the offseason I would go to the turf every day and practice shooting,” she said. “That’s one thing I’ve definitely been working on a lot. More so than dribbling or defending. I’ve obviously been doing that stuff but I definitely focused a lot on my shot this year. The one thing I worked on the most was getting the shot off faster. I’m able to take any shot from any angle at a fast pace so the defender is kind of caught off guard.”
That is Pepper’s latest improvement to her game. At the rate she works, it will be interesting to see what great new thing she comes up with next year.
Jordyn Pepper scored 16 of the Robbinsville High School field hockey team’s 23 goals through its 6-0 start.,
