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by Dan Russoman
“Optimistic” would be the word of
the week around the local high school teams.
With the start of the 2008 fall season a little
more than a week away, most of the varsity teams
at Hammonton and St. Joe are excited about their
team’s chances this season.
Two teams in particular have extremely high
hopes, Hammonton boys soccer squad and the field
hockey team at St. Joseph.
The Blue Devils return a solid nucleus of
players from a playoff team last fall, and with
a new coach, Damiso Josey, at the helm, are
eager to begin what they feel will be a year in
which they make a run at both Cape Atlantic
League and South Jersey Group III titles.
“That’s what you play for,” Josey said.
Hammonton’s new coach has high goals for a team
that has been ousted from the playoffs in the
opening round two straight years.
Josey feels this could be the season Hammonton
takes the next step and becomes a serious
contender in southern New Jersey.
“We have the potential. We’ve had some success
and now is the time to take this program to the
next level,” he said.
At St. Joe, the field hockey team is already at
the level Josey wants to be.
The Lady Wildcats are perennial Cape Atlantic
League contenders and have made several trips to
the South Jersey Group I finals in recent
seasons.
St. Joe returns a strong group of players from a
team that won the CAL National championship in
2007.
This year, St. Joe will try to erase the
memories of last fall’s loss to Glassboro in the
South Jersey finals.
“It left a bad taste,” coach John DeMarco said.
DeMarco likes to take things one game at a time,
and the Wildcats will need to this year, as they
face perhaps the toughest schedule St. Joe has
ever played.
The Wildcats have been criticized in recent
years for playing a weak schedule, but in 2008
they added several top teams to the slate.
“We may not win them all, but it’ll get us more
prepared for the playoffs,” DeMarco said.
And the playoffs are where both DeMarco and
Josey not only expect to be, but where they
expect to win in 2008.
Dan Russoman is the sports editor of the
Gazette.
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