Del Val senior and varsity field hockey goalie, Shea Cinquemani, made her 100th save last Saturday, during the girls’ home game against Voorhees High School.

Cinquemani has been keeping track of her saves since she began playing goalie–“saves” refer to direct shots on the goal that were blocked by the goalie–and was aware that she was near 100. Before last season, she had 59 saves; then she had another 30 leading up to last Saturday’s game, and 14 more during the game itself.

“It was a hard game,” she said, and although Del Val lost, the girls varsity record is still an astounding 8-1. Including Cinquemani, there are four seniors on the team, with the majority of the roster being  comprised of junior and sophomore players. Cinquemani says that this hasn’t deterred them from doing well, despite others’ expectations. “We’re a younger team than what we’ve been in the past, and a lot of people weren’t expecting us to do well because of it. But we’ve shown them otherwise.”

Cinquemani began playing field hockey as a freshman and was goalie by her sophomore year. She was motivated to join the team after her middle school gym teacher, Mr. Wollert, suggested field hockey. “I was looking for a sport, so I decided to try it,” she said. “I didn’t know how to hold the stick, [and] I didn’t know how to hit the ball.”

Now, four years later, she’s training other girls for the position, since there is no current goalie for the JV team. “It’s really nice to see them working hard even if they don’t want to be in that position,” she says. “Every part of the team is giving, individually, an effort.”

In terms of her freshman teammates, Cinquemani says, “they’re just starting out, but they already have so much love for it, and they inspire me to keep going. Everyone on the team, they’re just so incredible.” She would also like to acknowledge and thank Coach Rifflard, who has helped her to stay calm and focused through it all.

Cinquemani says she’s considering playing field hockey in college, although she’s not sure yet. Her top choices at the moment are Stony Brook University and Rutgers University. As far as the rest of the season goes, Cinquemani says her hope now is to continue working hard and being persistent. “I want to just keep doing my best for the team. I want to try. I don’t want to have a game where I give up. That’s the worst.”

JV and Varsity field hockey have their next home game this Saturday at 10:00am against Pingry.