Strath Haven can count on Stabinski
NETHER PROVIDENCE >> Maddie Stabinski talks about Strath Haven being a “young” field hockey team.
Haven head coach Amanda Lawson refers to Stabinski, a third-year varsity player, as someone who demonstrates “good senior leadership.”
Stabinski scored the first and last goals Thursday night as Haven earned a 4-0 Central League decision over Ridley at George King Field and remained undefeated (3-0 overall, 2-0 league).
“She just had a really good game,” Lawson said of Stabinski. “She played the ball perfectly and received the ball well.”
Stabinski was in the right place in the last minute of the first half to finish a play initiated by Val Henderson for the only goal of the first 30 minutes.
She added her other goal with less than one minute to play in the second half, assisted by Jackie Yates.
“This was totally a team win,” Lawson said. “We had different goal scorers and assist makers. I would have liked our shooting percentage to be better.
We had a lot of shots at goal, but there were many that weren’t on goal.
“Last year we got down to Ridley, 3-0, and came back to win. It’s always good to win a Central League game.”
Stabinski began playing field hockey as a seventh-grader and competed for Lawson and her assistants, Carly Reid and Angel DiRocco, with the Horizon Field Hockey Club program.
“We lost some talented people from last year’s team,” Stabinski said. “We’ve been working hard figuring out what we need to do to put things together on this team.
“I know the coaches were happy that this was a team win.”
Stabinski will spend a lot of time running and lifting at the Healthplex when this hockey season concludes in hopes of playing next fall at Johns Hopkins University.
“I applied for early decision there,” she said, indicating that she would like to study writing as well as international relations.
“Maybe someday I’ll be writing for a magazine,” she said.
For now, her coach hopes Stabinski’s play will get plenty of ink if Strath Haven can continue winning Central League games.
