Cate Tizzano blocks the goal during 3-0 loss to Wall Nov. 11, 2013 in the Central Jersey Group II title game. (Staff photo by Samantha Sciarrotta.)
Cate Tizzano is a relative latecomer to field hockey, and an even later comer to the position she played this year: center midfield.
But Tizzano adapted to her role so well that she was named the Robbinsville High Most Valuable Player at the team banquet on Nov. 18.
After eight years of playing soccer, the senior decided to pick up a stick for the first time in 10th grade at the urging of friend and teammate Cassie Condit.
“She was like ‘C’mon, it will be fun,’” Tizzano said. “I didn’t really get much playing time on varsity that year, but I got a letter. I pretty much played forward. They said ‘Cate, just run to the goal.’ I didn’t know what I was doing.”
In her junior year, she volunteered to play defense. But when Naoma Cordi stepped down and Alyssa Dragon took over as the coach, it was time for another change. One for the better, as it turned out.
Since it was her first year, Dragon let the players tell her where they play. Tizzano informed the coach she was a defender, so that’s where she went.
“I had her in the back,” Dragon said. “But we were doing these runs, and she’s winning all these runs and she’s just so fast. I said ‘I want to try you at center-mid, that’s where I played in high school, and you’re talented and skilled enough to play that position.’”
Dragon said center midfield is the core of the team — “you’re the distributor, you’re defending, you’re all over the place,” she said. “I wanted one of my strongest players to be there to play offense and defense.”
Suddenly, the girl who didn’t know what she was doing, was doing it all.
“At first I was like ‘Are you sure?’” Tizzano said with a laugh. “I didn’t think I could play it because I like playing defense the most. Our center mid was our best player last year. I didn’t know if I could replace her.”
The results suggest she could. Robbinsville advanced all the way to the Central Jersey Group II championship Nov. 11, where the Ravens lost 3-0.
Tizzano’s old habits, however, were hard to break, as her father noticed.
“At first, my dad was like ‘What are you doing? You’re still playing defense,’” she said. “I’d always come back but wouldn’t go forward. I finally got that forward thrust.”
It helped that she began feeling confident enough to leave the other defenders and go into the attacking zone.
“Our defense is so strong, I trust all the girls behind me,” she said of sophomores Hadley Flyge and Jess Allen, and junior Mandy Giordano. “That was my main problem. At first I was like ‘I don’t know,’ because I always wanted to be last one on the line. Now that I have these amazing players behind me, I don’t worry about it.”
Dragon felt the change was more mental than physical. Tizzano was tentative in preseason scrimmages.
“She didn’t struggle in her performance, but it was more her being nervous in playing a position she never played before,” she said. “My assistant (Amanda Sawasky) and I had to look at what players we had, who would fit best at what position and which players would benefit the entire team.”
Despite her hesitancy, Tizzano was bolstered by the faith her coaches had in her to assume the field’s most important position.
“I was scared of all the running. It’s most of the field. I like running, but I didn’t know if I could last the entire game,” she said.
Yet endurance and pace are among Tizzano’s greatest strengths. When other players are gasping, Tizzano still has quick bursts of speed to get by an opponent.
“It’s always nice to have one of those players you can rely on,” Dragon said. “You don’t have to take them out to give them a break. You always have a dependable midfielder out there for the entire game.”
The coach felt that Tizzano adapted to her role quickly and became increasingly confident as the preseason scrimmages wore on. She has contributed on offense as well as defense, with four goals and four assists as of Nov. 11.
She also needs that speed to keep up with her ever day schedule. During her first three years of high school Tizzano was the class secretary, and this year she is the executive council secretary. She is also part of the youth group at St. Gregory the Great Roman Catholic Church in Hamilton Square, with which she has gone on several mission trips.
But Dragon notes that through all her responsibilities, Tizzano never loses focus of the team.
“No,” Tizzano said. “Fall is field hockey.”
That almost sounds like a bumper sticker or T-shirt slogan. And if that doesn’t work, the former defender can always go with “Center-Midfield is where it’s at.”
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