Sep 07, 2022
Holmdel Field Hockey Has Turned the Corner
By Les Pierce
Junior forward Angelina Petriello
Last year, the Holmdel High School field hockey team posted an 11-9 record. That may not seem like a tremendous feat. However, it was their first winning season since 2014. A resurgence in the sport here has resulted, and this Hornet team appears to have a bright future.
Junior forward Angelina Petriello should be the sparkplug of the offense as she paced the squad last season with 15 goals and four assists. Goal production is also expected to come from Bri Cabunag (Sr. F), Fiona Flaherty (Jr. M), Ava Munafo (So. F) and Olivia Viole (So. M).
The Hornet defense will feature Kaitlyn Chen (Sr. D), Rachel Quirk (Sr. D) and Sydney Way (So. D) in the field. The anchor of the defense is goalkeeper Ava Rosasco who recorded an amazing 133 saves last season as a freshman. Her best outing was a 17-save performance against powerhouse Shore Regional.
“Last year, we had the best record in my eight years of coaching at Holmdel,” Head Coach Melissa Murphy said. “We improved from a 2-10-1 record in 2020 to an 11-9 record in 2021. Six of those nine losses were to Shore Regional twice, Rumson-Fair Haven twice and Ocean twice. This year, we have the potential to outperform last. We only play each team in our division once this year, allowing for more opportunity to play competitive games and more opportunity to prove our potential. We’re excited to play Trinity Hall, Brick Memorial and Howell, three teams we did not face last year.”
