Gloucester High School Starting Strong under Sweeney | SJ Times
Thursday, September 27, 2018
GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ --Perhaps a positive sign for the Gloucester City High field hockey team's season came back in late August when the Lions had a scrimmage play-in day at Gateway High with Delsea and Paul VI.
Being a NJSIAA Group 1 school, the Lions held their own versus the competition.
"I was really excited about playing the season, because we have eight seniors," rookie head coach Cate Sweeney said. "So I feel like we have a core group of leaders who have a lot of experience and have grown a lot over their four years. We also have three young players that have really stepped up.
"They demonstrated strong work ethic over the summer when they came out for workouts. So I was hoping we really would be able to come together as a group, as a unit and be able to put some goals in and get some wins this season."
So far, that has been the case. After knocking off Clayton, 3-0, Tuesday, the Lions improved to 7-1-1. Gloucester City has scored 26 goals this season while allowing 10 (five in a loss to Schalick).
"I am pretty excited about what has happened so far," Sweeney said before the Clayton game. "We are 6-1-1 right now. We had a tie with Haddon Heights that went into overtime. That was a team that beat us, 4-0, last year. So it was exciting to see them come out and show some grit and play with some of these teams.
"I am pleased with our 6-1-1 start. We are playing Clayton today, so it should be a pretty good game. I know the girls are eager to get back to Schalick on Thursday. That was our one loss early in the season."
Coming into the season, Woodstown was the pick in the Tri-County Conference Diamond Division. Schalick, the defending NJSIAA South Jersey, Group 1 Tournament champion, is in the picture. Where does Gloucester City fit in the hierarchy?