Vikings win season opener

The Vernon Township High School field hockey team won its season opener against High Point, 8-0, at home Friday, Sept. 5, then lost to Summit. 2-1, there Saturday, Sept. 6.

Madigan VanBlarcom and Kaylee Free each scored two goals for the Vikings in the opener, and Kayla Jurewicz made two assists.

The Vikings were scheduled to play at Hackettstown at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9 before hosting Jefferson at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11.

“We want to be explosive on the field while playing as a unit,’’ head coach Kieran Killeen said. “We also want to score 50 percent more goals than last season and score on 25 percent of attacking corners.’’

Among the key returning players are seniors Free (forward), Teagan Ressler (midfielder), Elise Giroux (forward), Abigail Cawley (defender), Sabrina Conklin (defender) and Jurewicz (midfielder); juniors Kaitlyn Hordych (defender) and VanBlarcom (forward); and sophomore Samantha Janus (forward).

Promising newcomers include junior Alexis Inoa (goal keeper), sophomore Carolyn Rugel (defender) and freshman Reese Baumann (midfielder).

“All of the seniors play an important role,’’ Killeen said. “Their experience will be a key to our success. Of the six starting seniors, they have a combined 13 years of varsity (experience) coming into this year.’’

Last year, the Vikings posted an overall record of 12-8 with a mark of 5-3 as second-place finishers, behind Newton, in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Freedom Division.

They advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Group 2 Tournament as the No. 6 seed and were defeated by third-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven, 2-0. Vernon topped 11th seed Mendham, 2-0, in the first round.

This year, they again compete in the Freedom Division along with Newton, Hackettstown, Jefferson and Kittatinny.

The coach said the team is a contender in the division.

“It’s always a very competitive division,’’ she added.