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Eastern wins 13th straight field hockey state title

TOMS RIVER, N.J. - Eastern High School's remarkable streak of state titles in field hockey turned 13 on Sunday.

Freshman Austyn Cuneo scored two goals in Eastern's 5-2 win. (Photo/Curt Hudson)
Freshman Austyn Cuneo scored two goals in Eastern's 5-2 win. (Photo/Curt Hudson)Read more

TOMS RIVER, N.J. - Eastern High School's remarkable streak of state titles in field hockey turned 13 on Sunday.

Like many teenagers, it went through a difficult stretch.

That was at halftime of the Group 4 championship game, when Eastern was tied, 1-1, with Bridgewater-Raritan despite a clear advantage in possession and field position.

"It just made us more eager," said Easterm junior Carly Celkos, who scored the game's first goal. "We were like, 'OK, let's go. Let's turn it on in the second half.' "

In typical fashion, Eastern found another gear, cruised past another opponent, and clinched another state title, this one by a 5-2 score on a cool, breezy afternoon at Toms River East.

"It's crazy," said Eastern coach Danyle Heilig, who has won a state title in each of her 13 seasons with the Vikings. "It's great because it was the first one for this particular team. They had the pressure of the previous 12 and trying to win the 13th. But this is their title."

Freshman Austyn Cuneo scored two goals, and juniors Erin Hoag and Emma Johnansson added goals for Eastern (25-0).

Cuneo leads the state with 64 goals. She is five shy of the state record. She might have two more games since Eastern is the No. 1 seed in the Tournament of Champions, which begins Wednesday.

"She was 1 or 2 [years old] when this all started," Heilig said of Eastern's streak of titles, which began in 1999. "That really puts this in perspective."

Eastern wasn't in trouble at halftime, but the Vikings might have been a little frustrated. They had dominated play in the first 30 minutes, with an 11-1 edge in corners, but Bridgewater-Raritan tied the game on Catherine Caro's unassisted goal with 39 seconds remaining in the first half.

"My message was to finish the ball," Heilig said. "We were clearly dominating. We just weren't finishing."

The Vikings took a 2-1 lead just three minutes into the second half, when Hoag blasted home a shot off a feed from Madison Jung.

Cuneo gave the Vikings some breathing room with a pair of goals in a four-minute span, including a nifty score in which the rangy freshman dodged a defender and flipped a shot high into the cage.

"I knew we would come out in the second half and play hard," Cuneo said. "We put so much hard work into it."

Bridgewater-Raritan (21-4) closed within 4-2 on Caro's second goal. But Johansson slammed the door by burying a rebound for the game's final goal with just 1 minute, 45 seconds on the clock.

"It's inspiring to play for this program," Celkos said. "It's like you're playing for the program, for the respect that's been built up through the years."

Bridgewater-Raritan   1 1 – 2

Eastern   1 4 – 5

Goals: BR-Catherine Caro, 2; E-Austyn Cuneo 2, Carly Celkos, Erin Hoag, Emma Johansson.