By Rich Chrampanis
The Shore Regional field hockey team won its first Shore Conference title since 2013 with a 3-0 win over Point Pleasant Boro at Monmouth University.
WEST LONG BRANCH –| The Shore Regional field hockey program is rich in tradition. Built by legendary coach Nancy Williams, the bar has been raised so high that the standard is winning championships. Over the last eight years, the Blue Devils racked up a stellar record of 142-23-3 yet were disappointed by not adding to its legacy as Shore Conference champions.
That all changed Sunday afternoon at Monmouth University when Shore Regional scored a 3-0 win over Point Pleasant Boro to earn its 20th Shore Conference Tournament title. The Panthers came into the game with a 20-0 record and gave up just five goals during that span. Shore was able to apply pressure in the second quarter and broke through in the final 90 seconds of the half when Maggie McCrae’s shot ricocheted off a Point Boro defender and flew into the upper part of the net. The Blue Devils took that 1-0 lead into halftime and then came out and started the third quarter with a four-minute surge that earned them the championship. McCrae scored her second goal of the game from the top of the circle on a penalty corner just 1:37 into the third quarter. Shore would deliver the exclamation point on captain
Maggie McCrae scored two goals in the Shore Conference championship game.
Libby Doehner’s blast on yet another penalty corner. For the senior captain who has experienced a lot of winning in the regular season, a Shore Conference championship win was special to the players to add to the Shore Regional legacy. “Shore Regional is all about tradition. Our traditions are something that will last forever. They’ve been lasting as long as Shore field hockey has started. To finally win it back and get the plaque back where it belongs is the most exciting feeling ever.” There was no Shore Conference field hockey tournament in 2020 due to COVID. The previous six years saw Rumson-Fair Haven reign on top of the conference.
Shore Regional lost in the championship game in five of those six years. Prior to that, the Blue Devils won a remarkable 15 straight Shore Conference championships from 1999 to 2013. Ending the eight-year drought brought out the emotions for the 2021 Shore field hockey squad. “My captain (Libby Doehner) was crying on the field and I looked at her and I just started crying,” Shore senior defender Maryn Zenkert said. “It’s so relieving. All of the anticipation of get- ting here and then coming here and winning it was so surreal.”
Two of the state’s best field hockey programs filled the stands at Monmouth University’s field hockey complex. “It’s amazing that we get to play here and to win it back,” McCrae said. “That was our motto over the last three years – win the division, win the conference and win states. We’ve got the division and the conference so it’s really awesome to say that.” Head coach Kelly Koenig took over for Williams in the 2014 season and earned her first Shore Conference championship. Now the Blue Devils begin the quest for a Group 1 state championship to add a 15th trophy as New Jersey’s best.
This article originally appeared in the Oct. 28 – Nov. 3, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
