Gina DiMaio was very diplomatic when asked about playing Hackettstown in the first round of the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Field Hockey Tournament.
After all, the Pope John coach could have taken a shot at her former school after she left there in 2009 under, let’s say, not the best of terms. But she didn’t.
“We have a very young team with 10 sophomores,” DiMaio said the Lions, who are 4-3-2 and the No. 4 seed from Sussex County. “They have been working very hard since practice started Aug. 15 and they are very focused.
“Hackettstown (6-3) has a very reputable program and a good team,” she added. “It should be a very good game.”
The two teams will square off next Saturday Oct. 6 at 4 p.m. at Pope John in one of eight first-round contests.
Two play-in contests are scheduled for this Saturday, with North Warren at Sparta and North Hunterdon facing Lenape Valley, both at 10 a.m. Quarterfinals are set for Oct. 13 and semifinals Oct. 20. The final is scheduled for Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. at Hackettstown High School.
DiMaio is in her first year with the Lions after spending the last two seasons guiding Newark Academy in Essex County.
In her tenure at Hackettstown she resurrected a program that was dormant for 15 years and turned it into a West Jersey power. She went 111-49-9 during her run at the school and guided the Tigers to three Skyland Conference-Raritan Division crowns and back-to-back Hunterdon/Warren tourney titles in 2004-05.
The why and how DiMaio left Hackettstown are history and there is no reason to bring them up now. But the fact that in her return to coaching in the area she will be facing Hackettstown makes it a pretty juicy story for us media types.
But as always, it will come down to the play on the field.
Pope John has improved every game this season and the Lions are unbeaten in their last four games after suffering early season-losses to outstanding programs like Montclair (2-0), High Point (2-0) and Morris Knolls (3-1).
PJ tied Wallkill Valley 0-0 before posting wins over Vernon, 3-1, Morris Hills, 5-0, and Mt. Olive 1-0. Keeper Sam Scalabrini and the PJ defense, DiMaio’s specialty, have been outstanding during this run, according to the coach.
Rachel Spetz has keyed the attack with 7 goals while Beth Dauer and Sarah Bramley have played well. The Lions have done this without the services of Lydia Hoff, one of their top players from last year. DiMaio hopes to have her back soon from her injury.
Hackettstown, under third-year coach Stephen Speirs, is playing well and is in the hunt for the Freedom Division title along with Parsippany.
The Tigers are paced by Stefania Swinder, Nicole Andes and Kelly Healy.
So who will advance? Well, the team that keeps its emotions in check will have a big advantage as both teams will be fired up. But I’m going with the Lions to earn a date with tourney favorite and top seed Warren Hills.
Warren Hills (8-1), which topped High Point 3-1 in last year’s final, should cruise into the final again and defend its title. The Blue Streaks are loaded with Niki Miller, Shannon Zignoli, Jessie Nissen and keeper Katie Wintersteen.
The Blue Streaks, under coach Laurie Kerr, suffered their only loss to Bridgewater-Raritan.
High Point (6-1-1) once again is the No. 1 seed from Sussex. Bev Keur’s gang is off to a good start with just a loss to a very good Pingry team and a tie with Pequannock.
Darby Smith leads the way with 10 goals while Maureen Gill, Alexis Ambrosino and Carly Satter have been solid. Goalie Erin Williams has also been tough in the cage.
It won’t be easy, but the Wildcats should navigate their way into the final again. They will need to top No. 8 Belvidere and then the winner of No. 5 Vernon at No. 4 South Hunterdon to reach the semifinals where there is a chance No. 3 Newton could be waiting for the Wildcats.
But like I said before, I don’t see anyone stopping Warren Hills.
HUNTERDON/WARREN/SUSSEX TOURNAMENT
SEEDS
10B-North Warren at 7A-Sparta, winner at 2B-Hunterdon Central. 8B-Belvidere at 1A High Point. 5A-Vernon at 4B-South Hunterdon. 6B-Phillipsburg at 3A-Newton. 9B-North Hunterdon at 8A-Lenape Valley, winner at 1B-Warren Hills. 7B-Delaware Valley at 2A-Wallkill Valley. 6A-Kittatinny at 3B-Voorhees. 5B-Hackettstown at 4A-Pope John
DO AC…Yes, the state wrestling finals will be held in Atlantic City and the NJSIAA wrestling committee decided to move back the districts and the regions a week to accommodate the new dates at Boardwalk Hall.
It was announced that the 32 districts will be held Feb. 22-23 and the regions March 1-2. The state finals are March 8-10. State group team finals will be held at Toms River Feb. 17, also a week later than originally planned.
Good move by the state to push back the other tourneys. If it didn’t there would have been a 13-day layoff between regions and the finals which could have caused some major issues.
Now teams can schedule matches up Feb. 4 when the state team tournament starts.
Steve Timko, the executive director of the NJSIAA and member of the wrestling committee, released a statement regarding the situation.
"The rescheduling of this winter’s team, district, and regional events was done out of concern for our student-athletes," said Timko. "Their well-being is always our main priority, and we all agreed that it was not appropriate for them to have to maintain peak condition for a 13-day period between the regional finals and the state championships. With this decision, we've trimmed that gap down to one week, which has always been the standard time gap during previous seasons."
He added some district and region sites may have to change due to previous commitments. To the best of my knowledge, the district tourney at Kittatinny and the region tournament at Wallkill will still play host.
That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.
