Rachel Hoffman takes the ball upfield during a game against Notre Dame on Sept. 11, 2013. The Ravens won 4-1. (Staff photo by Samantha Sciarrotta.)
Like a lot of athletes who don’t start playing field hockey until high school, Rachel Hoffman was a little baffled by the rules.
“It was weird,” Hoffman said with a laugh. “There were whistles coming from every direction every two seconds and the ball was being stopped all the time. And that was during a freshman game. The ball stops more then than it does in varsity games. A lot of times I was wondering what I did wrong.
“But it was freshman year and it wasn’t my dominant sport then, so I just kind of winged it. Sophomore year I started catching on more, trying to play varsity more. So that’s when I was really trying to get the game down and understand everything.”
She picked it up pretty good.
After her baptism by whistles on the Robbinsville High School freshman team, Hoffman floated from JV to varsity as a sophomore before being called up permanently for the state and county tournaments at the end of the season.
Last year, the midfielder had eight goals and five assists, making her the Ravens’ leading returning scorer this season after the team was hit hard by graduation.
Interestingly, the senior has not been one of the top scorers in Robbinsville’s 3-0 start, during which it tallied 14 goals. She had one goal and two assists, as her role has changed somewhat under first-year coach Alyssa Dragon.
“She’s playing left midfield and she has a big responsibility,” Dragon said. “She has to play defense, play offense. As far as scoring, we have a well-rounded team. No real stars but a lot of girls who have goals. It’s spread out.
“We’re not relying on any one single person to score. She’s a team player. I think she’ll have a lot of assists and I’m hoping she’ll have a lot of goals. I think she’s talented enough to do that.”
With Robbinsville coming off a 10-8 season after a string of big years, Hoffman isn’t as worried about scoring as she is about winning.
“We have a lot more offensive players this year so a lot more of us are able to score,” she said. “We’re doing well with scoring this year so I’ve been more of a transition player. I still try to get assists. It’s nice to score goals. This is different, but as long as I’m doing something and we’re scoring as a team it’s good.
“I’m pretty much going with the flow. I was used to distributing it quickly last year. Now I get it up to the forwards and let them do their thing.”
Hoffman grew up as a basketball and soccer player, but once she entered high school several friends convinced her to switch to field hockey.
“They put me on the front line because they didn’t know what to do with me,” Hoffman said. “I was just good at running so they had me there. Freshman year we barely ever scored. I maybe had two or three goals.”
And although the rules and nuances of the game escaped her at first, Hoffman wasn’t yearning for a return to the pitch.
“I liked the environment of field hockey more,” she said. “People were really friendly, willing to help me because I didn’t know what I was doing. It was very welcoming.”
Hoffman became so enamored with the sport that in her sophomore year she joined the Spirit Eagles, a club travel team that draws from several different states. Last January they went to the Disney College Showcase Tournament in Florida, and will be headed for the Field Hockey Festival in Florida later this year.
The entire experience has lifted her to a new level.
“That helped me a lot,” she said. “Now I see myself as a much better player. I have much better stick work, I know the ways of the game. I see the field clearly. I really think that helps me with being a captain.”
Hoffman handles the captain’s duties with Cassie Condit, Cate Tizziano and Lexie Morales. All the players started on equal ground when Dragon, who played field hockey and lacrosse for Old Dominion, took over for Naoma Green.
“I didn’t know any of the girls coming in, or anything about them,” the coach said. “My first impressions of Rachel were that she was fast and a good leader.
“Since I got hired a little later into the summer, the seniors had to step up and run the practices and I knew right away who the leaders were on the team and she was one of them.”
Hoffman’s tall, slender build belies her strength, as she is tough to get off the ball and tough to keep up with.
“Her performance has been great along with a lot of the other players,” Dragon said. “She’s very fast and she’s vocal and she’s definitely a strong player who I like to keep out on the field as much as I can.
“I would definitely say she’s a team player and a leader out on the field. She has good stick skills, she’s a good passer. She does everything I’ve asked her to do. She could play anywhere on the field and be good at it. She could play on defense if I needed her there. I felt for the team her best spot would be the midfield.”
Up until this year, Hoffman was unsure if she wanted to play field hockey in college, but is now investigating Division III schools Salisbury (Md.) and Susquehanna (Pa.) and may look into others.
“I want to get out of New Jersey,” she said with a laugh.
Before doing that, she would like to see the Ravens make another run deep into the Mercer County Tournament and contend for a Central Jersey Group II title. With other players emerging as scorers this year, the pressure is not on Hoffman to get all the goals, which makes her more effective all over the field.
“As a coach you like having players who do whatever it takes to win and will make me proud as a coach,” Dragon said. “You want players willing to do anything for the team and not be a selfish player. She’s a team player. She’ll do whatever it takes.”
All she had to do was figure out those whistles.
,
