New Egypt falls one win shy of state title

BY MIKE WHITE
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff New Egypt players celebrate after Sara Jo Galloway scored the team’s only goal on a penalty stroke during their Group I final loss to Pingry on Sunday at The College of New Jersey.

EWING — In just three years as a varsity program, the New Egypt High School field hockey team has made huge strides.

The Lady Warriors took another big step in the right direction last Sunday when they squared off against Pingry High School in the NJSIAA Group I state championship game at Trenton State College.

Unfortunately, New Egypt came out on the wrong side of a 2-1 decision. Pingry converted a pair of penalty strokes in the first half that sealed New Egypt’s fate.

New Egypt assistant coach Joy Kubilewicz praised the effort of her team despite the setback.

New Egypt’s Mallory Ossowski tries to push the ball past a diving Pingry goalie during Sunday’s game at The College of New Jersey.

"This is the first time in school history that this team has advanced this far," Kubilewicz said. "We are very proud of how hard they have worked to accomplish all they have this season. It has been a great year."

New Egypt trailed 2-0 at halftime. The Lady Warriors cut the deficit to 2-1 on a goal by Sarah Jo Galloway. The senior scored on a penalty stroke to put New Egypt within striking distance.

But Pingry’s defense did a solid job of limiting New Egypt’s scoring chances. Neither team registered a lot of shots on goal, Kubilewicz said.

"Being that we played on an Astroturf field, a lot of the game was played between the 25-yard markers," she said. "Neither team really mounted any kind of sustained offensive attack. The surface was so fast that the ball was going from one to the other way too quickly."

Kubilewicz realized Pingry was an established field hockey power coming in. Three out of the last four years, Pingry has advanced to the state finals, Kubliewicz said.

"They are a very good program," she said

"They have a lot of tradition at that school. We were very happy about getting as far as we did. We knew that it was going to be a battle.

New Egypt closes its season with a 15-1-3 mark.

In a 5-1 semifinal win over St. Joe’s of Hammonton earlier in the week, Mallory Ossowski scored two goals and added two assists.

"She had a big game for us that day," Kubilewicz said. "It was close for a while and we needed somebody to step up and shine. She certainly did that."

Brittany Kennedy, Jennie Wysong and Alyssa Worbetz each tallied one goal. Shannon Houston, Rebekah Eroh and Sara Messinger chipped in with one assist apiece.

"This game was closer than the score indicates," Kubilewicz said. "It was tied 1-1 at the half and then we just came alive. They played us tough for a half before our offense got untracked. We played a great second half."