Heilig has coached many of the top field hockey players in New Jersey history, from Lori Hillman to Shauna Banta, from the Walls triplets to the Bain sisters to the Dawson sisters - three of whom played for the U.S. national team, including 26-year-old Rachel Dawson, a former college player of the year at North Carolina and a current member of the U.S. Olympic Team.
Heilig said she's never coached a freshman like the 5-foot-9 Cuneo.
"Part of it is the way the game has evolved," Heilig said. "The game has come a long way and she's been exposed to so much more at younger age."
Cuneo leads the state with 64 goals. She scored six in the state semifinals, and two in the state finals, and easily could have registered two or three more. One of her shots banged loudly off the post of the goal cage.
Cuneo's goal total is five short of the state single-season record of 69 set by West Essex' Michelle Vizzuso in 1994 and tied in 2009 by Eastern's Kelsey Mitchell - another former Vikings star who is now playing for Iowa.
Eastern (25-0) is the No. 1 seed in the Tournament of Champions, which begins Wednesday at Robbinsville High School. If the Vikings beat No. 4 seed Freehold Boro and advance to Sunday's Tournament of Champions title game at the College of New Jersey in Ewing, Cuneo will have two games in which to tie or set the state record.
"I haven't really been thinking about it at all," Cuneo said of the record. "But people have been saying stuff about it."
Cuneo said she learned the game by tagging along with her mother, Monica, who was the coach of the Winslow Middle School field hockey team.
"I used to play soccer, too, but when I was nine or 10 my parents said I needed to make a decision," Cuneo said. "I figured with field hockey there would be an opportunity to go farther."
Cuneo said she has been surprised by her success.
