Field Hockey Opens Playoffs with Shutout Win

Coming off a bye week in the opening round of the NJSIAA Central, Group 3 Tournament, the Quakers were looking to make a statement against Jackson Liberty Thursday. They did by scoring early and often en route to a 7-0 win in round two.

“It means a lot (having the bye) because it gives us an extra day of practice. The more we get the ball on our sticks without competition, it’s more practice to look up for the big games of the playoffs,” Mary Flick said.

Despite having eight seniors on this year’s squad, head coach Ali Collins still believes this is a young team, especially with the number of seniors (16) lost to graduation last year. Goalkeeper Laya Mallela didn't have much work to do for Moorestown (12-5-1), as the Quakers spent most of the afternoon in the Jackson Liberty (5-13-2) zone.

“I’m really proud of my team the way they came out today," Collins said. "I thought we played as a team. It was a totally selfless effort. Everyone worked together and the greatest thing for me is when we put up seven goals and you look at the score sheet and it’s a bunch of different names."

Moorestown built a 4-0 lead at halftime on goals from Paige Macrae, Alex Loftus, Sarah Powell and Rachel Stefano. Macrae opened the scoring for the Quakers less than seven minutes into the game. Macrae added a second goal with 11 seconds left in the game.

Sarah Powell tallied her second goal of the game to begin the Moorestown scoring in the second half. The other second-half goal was scored by Flick. Alexa Massa tallied three assists for the Quakers, while Macrae added one helper. The Quakers were awarded 22 corners on Thursday afternoon. Jackson Liberty goalkeeper Karlie Baran made 16 saves.

“We need to work on defensive urgency, protecting the 25, not having any weak points where we could physically get beaten by an opponent,” Collins said.

The Quakers will face Allentown in a third-round game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, at the high school.