2007 FIELD HOCKEY TEAM TEAM YEAR OF INDUCTION: 2023 Sometimes you just know. The 2007 edition of the Steinert High School field hockey team just knew. "I'm now a senior on the 2007 Field Hockey team," said Kristi Cady, who like just about everybody in the program, arrived at SHS with no field hockey knowledge or experience. "Prior seasons felt like a set-up for the year we were about to have. We hadn't been to a state tournament in five years. The camaraderie was at an all-time high. "I will never forget the OT win against Toms River East to send us to the Central Jersey Championship. The team played so hard with so much heart. I vividly remember exploding with emotion after scoring the OT goal. The team rushed the field and I have to say it may be one of my top three athletic career memories of all time. This team will always hold a special place in my heart because of it." Now, here is another viewpoint of the same moments in time: "As a freshman, Kristi entered Steinert with no field hockey experience," said then SHS coach Alyson Setzer. "She is a natural athlete and capitalizing on her strength from her softball swing and her footwork from basketball, she immediately became the backbone of the field hockey team. She moved into the center midfield position. Her drives were so long and hard that they were difficult to defend. Going into the state tournament her senior year, we were playing Toms River East at their place. It was a close game. Toward the end of the game Kristi got the ball and was headed toward the goal. I turned to my assistant coaches and said, 'That goalie doesn't stand a chance. That ball is going in the cage.' Kristi wound up at the top of the circle and sent a drive to the far left corner. Goal. Steinert wins. We knocked off the No. 1 seed! We went on to win the sectional championship, defeating another Toms River School." For a program such as Setzer's, the goals were a bit different than other varsity teams. "Our goal was to learn the sport, get better, be competitive and enjoy the journey," she said. "Qualifying for states was always a season goal and winning any games in the state tournament was icing on the cake for us as each year we added new, first-year players." In addition to their coach and Cady, others who helped the Spartans reach their goals in 2007 were 2023 Hall of Fame inductee Susie Balidemaj, Olivia Chebra, Laura Fernandez Obregon, Katie Flynn, Emily Garland, Corinne Kling, Mikayla Kraemer, Natasha Kraemer, Brittany Lang, Samantha Liedtka, Ashley Ludwig, Angela Marinos, Kristin McClure, Maeve Nielson, Lindsay Nosari, Jen Schmidt, Ali Simons, Megan Strahle, Amanda Toomer, Katie Wood and Katie Ziegler. Seniors Cady (7 goals, 9 assists), Flynn (assist), Nosari (6 goals, 2 assists) and Strahle (2 goals, 9 assists) were the team captains for the group that went 17-7, and captured the Central Jersey Group IV and CVC Colonial Division championships. Click Here to enlarge the team photo. RETURN TO THE HALL OF FAME MEMBERS PAGE