West Deptford Field Hockey Ready for Friday Showdown

Minutes after the field hockey team wrapped up its game against Colonial Conference foe Overbrook, the Eagles were back on the field practicing.

More fittingly, they were preparing.

The Eagles faced little resistance in a 9-0 victory moments prior, so head coach Linda Decker had her players back on the field competing in some 7-on-7 to ensure the day would not be completed without a big challenge.

The reason was simple: Haddonfield is coming.

West Deptford will face its chief rival and biggest obstacle in repeating as Conference Champions on Friday, and the coach and the players wanted to ensure they would be ready.

Last season West Deptford won the Patriot Division title, but lost to Haddonfield in the South Jersey Group II finals.

“We definitely think it is to make us better,” junior Rachel Krott said of the extra practice. “Whether it is scrimmaging, working on sprints, we always need to push ourselves and we definitely do that.”

West Deptford wasted no time taking care of business against Overbrook. The Eagles scored four goals in the first four minutes and led 8-0 at half. For the majority of the second half the team never looked at the cage, instead working on its team passing.

“We are definitely working on our passes (and) it looks awesome,” said Krott. “We also get a lot of work in scrimmaging each other. We definitely push each other, we have coaches playing, so we will be ready for anything.”

Nine different players scored for the Eagles (2-0) who travel to face Gateway on Wednesday.

Although the Eagles have been dominant in two games this season, outscoring their opponents 18-0, Decker is still unsure how the team stacks up against the better teams in the conference. West Deptford has seven new starters, so things are still a work in progress.

“We are trying to play our game, and it’s difficult, because we are going to have to play a completely different game on Friday,” Decker said.

Decker said her trio of captains–Krott, Sydney Ponto and Deanna Szymborski–have done a great job bringing the team together this season, and noted that their play on the field has been superb.

“We’re up 9-0 and Rachel almost dives for a ball going out of bounds. That’s the kind of player you want,” Decker said. “I’m real happy with the three of them as captains.”

Krott said the credit should be shared.

“We are a team so it’s not just the veteran players that are leading, it’s the first-year players too,” Krott said. “We all just work together and it works really well.”

As for Friday’s showdown, Krott assured that the team is prepared.

Said Krott of facing Haddonfield: “We are always ready.”