RFH Bulldogs three-peat over Shore Devils

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr

The last time the Blue Devils of Shore Regional were not competing for the field hockey Shore Conference Tournament title was back in 1988. They hold the record of the most appearances, 17, and the most consecutive wins 15, with 16 total crowns.

For the past three years the opponent has been the Bulldogs of Rumson-Fair Haven. The 2016 SCT final was played at Monmouth University on the NCAA Division 1 carpet. It also marked the third straight year the Bulldogs have captured the title with a 1-0 win on Sunday morning.

Eight minutes into the game Grace Jamin of Rumson-Fair Haven fired a shot at the Blue Devils cage. The shot was deflected into the goal by Elena Werner, a sophomore for the Bulldogs. That was the only goal of the first half which was mostly played in front of Molly Santi, the Shore goalkeeper.

RFH took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break. However, Shore came out a different team in the second half. They moved the ball to the center of the field and were able to pass left or right. During the first half they concentrated on running the sideline which was not effective.

Shore was able to earn three corners in the second half of the game, which was three more than they had in the first half. However, they were unable to score and Rumson-Fair Haven won their third consecutive title.

RFH entered the tournament as the top seed in the Shore Conference and seventh overall in the state. Shore had the second seed in the Shore Conference and 13th in the state. When these two get together it’s a hard fought battle.

Up next for both schools is the NJSIAA state tournament. Rumson-Fair Haven is the second seed in the NJSIAA Central, Group 2 bracket. They had a bye in round one and beat Lawrence 9-0 in the quarterfinals. They will face Robbinsville, third seed, in the semifinals. The other semifinal has top seed Wall facing fourth seed Delran.

Shore received the top seed in the North 2, Group 1 bracket. In the quarterfinals they beat eight seed South Hunterdon 4-0. In the semifinal they have A.L. Johnson, the fourth seed. The other half of their bracket has Madison, second seed, facing third seed Henry Hudson.