“Bittersweet.”

This is the only word many seniors could find to describe the feeling of their season coming to an end.  Soccer, field hockey, cross country, and football are wrapping up their seasons with playoffs just around the bend.

Girls Soccer

The girls soccer team started of the season inconsistent, but as the season closes with playoffs around the bend Coach Verzi says the girls turned it around and are now playing their best soccer.“If we show up ready to go, we will go far.  If we are 100 percent focused, with the work rate and effort there we will go far,” said Verzi.

The girls soccer team has won the past four games, making their record 9-7-3.  Senior captain Maryann Nowlan was very confident in her team going into playoffs.

“It’s not coming to an end.  We are going all the way!” said Nowlan.

Unfortunately, Nowlan was wrong as the season came to an end with a tough 0-1 loss in the first round of playoffs to Lacey.

A highlight of the girls soccer season was beating Ocean City, the top seat in the playoffs, 4-1. Another big win was the comeback and overtime 4-3 win against Rancocas Valley on senior day.

“It was a proud moment, because the seniors took over and made it their game.  It was a nice way to end the season,” said Coach Verzi.

Boys Soccer

The boys soccer team had a tough season with a 8-12-1 record.  Although the season did not go as well as Coach Thompson and the team would have liked, he is hopeful they will pick up momentum for playoffs.“We had our moments where we played well and were scoring, unfortunately, we did not live up to what we were capable of doing.  If we play how we are capable of we can win some games,” said Coach Thompson.

Although the odds were not in the team’s favor, senior captain Jeff Auleta had faith in his team going into playoffs.

“I think we have a good chance in the first round and hopefully we can make a deep run,” said Auleta.

Auleta’s statement proved to be true as the boys soccer team defeated the odds and beat Cumberland 3-1 in the first round of playoffs.  Senior Shane Guyer led the team with a hat trick.

Unfortunately, the boys soccer team’s run was shallow as their season came to an end with a 3-0 loss against Ocean City.

Although the seniors are sad their season came to an end, sophomore Vincent Mocarski has high hopes for next year.

“I am looking forward to having a good team and winning games,” said Mocarski.

Field Hockey

The girls field hockey team has had a winning season with an outstanding 15-3 record.  Many higher playing girls graduated last year, but they picked it right up and came together as a winning team. The season went better than Coach Rose Santiago had anticipated, and is looking forward to playoffs.“If we play our game, we can play with the best of the teams.  Since we have “a bye” the first round of playoffs, we only have to win 3 games,” said Santiago.

Senior captain Pam Stratton was confident in her team going into the first round of playoffs, even though Hammonton has never beat Ocean City before.

“We have a better chance this year, because we have such a strong record,” said Stratton.

Despite the field hockey’s team outstanding record, they were defeated by Ocean City 4-1 knocking them out of playoffs.

Some highlights of the season were beating Middle Township, who was first in the division, and Jane Donio Enscoe scoring 40 goals in one season.  She now holds the all time scoring record in one season, that her mom had previously held.

Girls Cross Country

Girls cross country has had an outstanding season with an 8-2 record, the best in school history.  They are currently ranked eighteenth in South Jersey.  Championship season has gone well, with the team taking 2nd at the Atlantic County meet and 5th at CALS. Coach Michelle Woloski is hopeful for sectionals.

“We’ve had a winning season. We want to make it to the states as a team for the first time in school history at sectionals on November 9th,” she said.

Senior captain Tabitha Mackenzie was happy with season and hopes the team will run well at sectionals.

“It’s been going well.  We are consistently ranked, and I think we will continue to do swell,” said Mackenzie.

On November 9, the girls cross country team ran good at sectionals, but it was not enough to make it to states.
The results at sectionals were not enough to bring junior Sam Berenato’s spirits down, as the cross country season ended.

“The season surpassed my expectations!” said Berenato.

Boys Cross Country

The boys cross country team also had a wonderful season with a 7-3 record.  Coach Dave Majofsky is satisfied with the outcome of their season, and his hoping single runners as well as the team will make it to states.  The championship season has gone well, with the team taking 3rd at the Atlantic County Meet and 4th at CALS.

“This season has been overall successful, it went really well.  We met the goals we wanted to meet,” said Majofsky.

Individual runners have also excelled this year.  Senior runner Mark Kundrotas took 2nd at the Cape Atlantic meet.  Senior runner Louis Corgliano took 1st at the Cape Atlantic meet and has had an undefeated season.

At Sectionals the boys team came in 7th, two places away from making it to states as a team. Corgliano took 2nd place, and will now be running at states.  His ultimate goal is to make it to the Foot Locker National Championship.

“Cross country is my favorite and it’s sad these races will be my last races. The season has gone well, and I can’t complain,” said Corgliano with his season winding down to an end.

Football

Hammonton football has had a winning season with a 6-2 record, after starting the season off with a tough loss.  They’ve had two big wins against Atlantic City and Absegami, two teams they had lost to last year.  Coach Raso is satisfied with the season, and is hoping the team will succeed in playoffs.

“The season is going pretty well.  We have high expectations with so many seniors coming back, and so far they delivered,” said Raso.

Senior Captain Dylan Rosu has faith his team and knows they will do well come playoffs with the improvement of a few small things.

“We should make a good run this year.  We have to spread the ball out on offense and incorporate the pass more,” said Rosu.

Hammonton is rooting for the football team as the season comes to and end and playoffs are just around the bend.