Hammonton's Donio-Enscoe brings record back home

More than a hundred small dents cover the garage door that Jane Donio-Enscoe uses to practice her field hockey shots.

The door might have taken a beating over the years, but it's the field hockey career-goals record at Hammonton High that has taken its fair share of shots from Donio-Enscoe - and her family.

During a Tri-County Royal matchup against Williamstown last Wednesday, the senior forward scored no ordinary hat trick for the Blue Devils.

Her third goal of the game was the 72d of her high school career, breaking the Hammonton record, which her mother, Ann Donio, once held with 55 goals in 1977.

From the top of the circle, Donio-Enscoe put all her power into the record-breaking shot, she said. The ball hit the back of the cage, figuratively knocking out the previous record holder, Meredith Howell-Turner, who had scored 71 goals. Howell-Turner surpassed Ann Donio's mark 14 years ago.

"It felt pretty cool that she was at the game," Donio-Enscoe said of Howell-Turner, who congratulated the Hammonton senior with flowers after the game. "My mom went to the game when Meredith broke her record, so it's just kind of like a full circle."

Growing up playing roller hockey with her brother David, Donio-Enscoe got a feel for stickhandling at a young age, seven. She played on skates with mostly a group of boys, but the experience, she said, prepared her to follow in her mother's footsteps, as she took those skills to the turf.

"I was very excited when she made the decision to play field hockey," Donio said. "Jane is a natural athlete, and we often teased about who would be the better field hockey player, but she's a lot faster than I was at her age."

Naturally, her mother rushed out to join her daughter on the field for the celebration, alongside Howell-Turner, after the goal was scored.

"It was really an honor to be there and wonderful to kind of pay forward what her mother had done for me years ago," Howell-Turner said. "I wouldn't have missed it."

Although it was an exciting goal for Donio-Enscoe, she recognizes the role her teammates played in getting her there.

"My teammates were so supportive of me," she said. "It really meant a lot to me because they were genuinely happy for me. They were in my corner the whole time, and I couldn't have done it without them."

The 17-year-old hopes she and her teammates can have success this season, her last at Hammonton. And she hopes to push the goals record as high as possible before taking her talents to Princeton next year. She has 74 goals.

For now, though, "It's nice to have the record back in the family and with Jane," her mother said.