MONTCLAIR, NJ — Maplewood resident Eva Sieger has excelled as a sophomore on the rise for the Montclair Kimberley Academy field hockey team, which finished with a superb 16-7 record following a 5-0 loss to second-seeded Oak Knoll (Summit) in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Non-Public, North Jersey state tournament sectional semifinals on Monday, Nov. 11.
Sieger, who also stars in softball at MKA, scored the only goal of the match in overtime as she propelled the third-seeded Cougars past sixth-seeded Morristown Beard, 1-0, in a state sectional quarterfinal showdown on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
Sieger, who increased her goal total to 11 this season after scoring four as a freshman last fall, managed to lift the ball past Morristown Beard’s outstanding goalie Mia Rubin in the first overtime session to lift MKA to a thrilling state tourney win.
“With Eva, who is such a great athlete to begin with, I’ve seen her field hockey IQ grow considerably,” said MKA head coach Injoo Han. “She’s a natural athlete and now she has learned more about positioning and how to become a passing option in our attack.
“She works very well with her teammates and keeps improving every day.”
This season marks just the fourth year Sieger has played the sticker sport. In softball, she excels as the starting shortstop and as a top hitter for MKA’s prep B tournament finalist team from last May.
“I’m playing with a lot of girls who have had more high school and club field hockey experience,” said MKA’s super soph. “My teammates have been terrific and I now feel very comfortable with the sport.”
Sieger is part of a young nucleus for MKA’s field hockey squad since there are just three seniors on the current roster.
MKA has made it a habit of winning prep tournament titles under coach Han, and won a fourth straight prep crown when it defeated Pennington, 3-1, in the ‘B’ final on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at Muenster Field in Montclair.
The Cougars, who won prep B titles in both 2021 and 2022, also won a prep A tourney title last fall when they edged Hun, 2-1.
In the NJSIAA states, third-seeded MKA blew past Immaculate Heart, 8-0, before having to fend off a persistent Morristown-Beard squad in the sectional quarters.
It marked the fourth straight season that MKA met powerful Oak Knoll in the state sectional semifinals. The Cougars lost all three of their previous state tourney contests with the highly-regarded Royals, including 6-0 last year, 5-1 in 2022 and 4-0 in 2021.
Photos Courtesy of Rick Osterberg
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