By Jim Hintelmann
WEST LONG BRANCH – For the first time in 44 years, there was a new field hockey coach strolling the sidelines for Shore Regional.
Kelly Koenig continued the school’s winning tradition while coaching her first game Saturday, Sept. 6, after taking over from field hockey legend Nancy Williams, who retired at the end of the last school year. The result was another Shore victory as the Blue Devils trimmed Middletown North, 6-2.
It was a perfect ending for Shore, which dedicated its field in honor of Williams before the game.
“I would like to thank everybody who came out today,” said Williams, who was honored by former and current players, school administration officials and the board of education.
“I can’t believe that I am standing out here because the success of the program doesn’t belong to me,” said Williams, who retired with a record of 839-67-56 and 13 state field hockey championships.
“The success of the program doesn’t belong to me but to the players,” she said. “They are successful because they stay up later, work harder and never give up. That is what the program is about.”
Though Koenig was not a former field hockey player at Shore, she is well acquainted with the program and its tradition of winning.
“I grew up in Pennsylvania but I was an assistant coach here for seven years. I feel honored to be the person to replace coach Williams,” she said.
Middletown North, which went only 6-8 a year ago, gave Shore a good battle in the first half before the Blue Devils broke a 2-2 tie by scoring the final four goals of the game.
–Photo by Sean Simmons
Junior midfielder Jessica Welch paced the Blue Devils with three goals while Katie Mannino added two.
“I’m happy with the way the team played today,” Koenig said. “We had a momentum shift in the second half and I was glad that they gained it back in their control and kept pressing the ball.”
Mannino scored first for Shore, but North’s Brittany Sharkey tied it up at 1-1. Welch and Hailee Hallard then traded goals before Amanda Morehouse scored the tie-breaking goal that put Shore in front to stay.
Welch and Maninno scored second half goals to finish the scoring.
“Welch is a highly skilled and intelligent player,” the coach said. “She is a three-year varsity starter. It’s not only about her offense, it is her leadership and knowledge on the field.”
“We lost 12 seniors this year,” said Welch, who scored 19 goals for the Blue Devils last year. “But a lot of the younger girls stepped up and replaced the ones we lost.”
Although retired, Williams plans on staying active.
“I’ll be watching the team a lot,” she said, “but I’ll be doing it on the other side of the field.”
Middletown North coach Colleen Weimer was encouraged with her team despite the loss.
“We showed that we can play with the best in the Shore,” Weimer said. “We lost only one senior by graduation and expect a winning season this year. We need to build up our stamina because we were tired in the second half.”
