Eastern lost seven seniors, all of whom signed with Division I schools, which would devastate any other team in the state. But Eastern is extraordinary, bouncing back every year. So even though only five starters return (one rotated in last year), no one at the Voorhees school seems overly concerned.
"This will be the youngest, most inexperienced - from a varsity point of view - lineup I have ever fielded," said Danyle Heilig, Eastern's coach for 11 seasons. "There are lots of serious battles for some positions, and that's great. We have some depth."
"The freshmen are superior," said Washington Township coach Jeannine O'Connor, whose teams have lost in the playoffs to Eastern eight times in the last eight years. "So the credit goes to where they came from."
They come from feeder programs at Voorhees, Berlin, and Gibbsboro Middle Schools, which, along with year-round playing regimens, have created a winning tradition.
Senior defender Brittany Evangelisti said that Ginny Concepcion, the Voorhees coach, made the game fun, and that the players learned to love it.
Then, at Eastern, "Danyle brings determination to win and competitiveness to the sport," Evangelisti said. "She's a more serious person. But it's still fun. Winning is always fun. . . . We don't accept losing."
When Heilig gave Barry, another Voorhees alumna, the goaltending job as a freshman, Barry had three years of junior high experience in the cage plus four years on the Jersey Intensity Field Hockey club. She also joined the USA Field Hockey Futures Program, which offers an Olympic development plan.
"I worked hard, and I knew what I was doing, I guess," Barry said about being named a starter.
