Shore Conference foe Southern overwhelms Steinert
HAMILTON » Alyson Setzer wasn’t expecting miracles in her season opener. She knew exactly what she was getting into with Shore Conference field hockey powerhouse Southern Regional visiting Steinert Tuesday.
After a tight first half, the Rams exploded for six goals after intermission to take an 8-0 victory in the season opener for both teams.
Jen Lombardo, a Southern graduate and college roommate of Nottingham High girls’ soccer coach Christie Fink at Rowan, took over three years ago when legendary coach Kathy Snyder passed away at age 58.
Lombardo has maintained the tradition Snyder established as the Manahawkin-based program is 46-11-2 with two berths in the South Jersey Group IV semifinals and one in the finals over the past three years. The Rams come off a 12-5-2 year and are considered a contender for the Shore’s competitive ASouth Division this season.
Setzer knew all of this and so did her players. The thought process was, bring it on.
“You don’t want to start out easy,” said the coach after her 22nd season opener. “You want to play somebody that will expose your weaknesses so you can get better.”
Southern exposed quite a bit as it outshot the Spartans, 30-0, although Steinert senior goalie Alexandrea Zaburski was a highlight reel with 22 saves.
“She played very well today,” Setzer said. “They had a lot of spot on shots. She saved them, she took the aerials, she did well. This is her third year on varsity but her first year with the goal to herself. She shared it the last few years and she started out strong today.”
Despite allowing the eight goals, Zaburski enjoyed herself and focused more on the 22 saves than the ones that got by.
“It was definitely a lot of fun,” she said. “I’ve been doing field hockey since middle school, but I was a field player. I came to high school and started playing goalie. Having shots like those and being able to block them, it was amazing.”
Southern started quickly when Sam Minafo tallied just 3:14 into the game. The Spartans then toughened up and did not allow another goal until Erica Barbera tallied with 2:52 remaining in the half. Considering the Rams’ domination, Steinert liked where it was at during the break.
But Brooke Little and Katlin Conroy tallied within the first 5:03 of the second half and Southern got into a methodical rhythm from that point. The Spartans failed to get into their attacking zone as the visitors pulled away.
“I don’t mind the score,” Setzer said. “I knew our girls read about them, it’s the Shore Conference. We knew what we were facing.
“What I’m disappointed with is, we played well the other day in a scrimmage. We had nice passing, nice support, and we didn’t have that today. That’s disappointing. We have to work on that.”
Follow Rich Fisher on twitter @fish4scores
Southern (1-0) Steinert (0-1) 2 0 6—8 0—0 G: Minafo, Barbera, Little, Conroy, Ramales 2, Wilhelm, Rechenberg. A: Little 3, Raylman, Ramales, Conroy, Demand 2. Shots: So-30. St-0. Saves: So-Leyh 0. StZaburski 22.