Oh Seay can you see ... the field hockey MVP?

Cavs' senior nabs honor after county teams excelled in '09

Friday, Nov. 27, 2009

No matter where the ball was on the field it seemed like Calvert senior midfielder Jessica Seay was always in the right place at the right time to set up scoring opportunities for her teammates.

And with her great stick skills, she even created some of her own, all of which helped her land The Recorder's All-County player of the year honors this season.

"I worked out all summer and my teammates and [midfielder] Sarah Daman really helped me this season," said Seay, who tallied seven goals and 10 assists and was recently named All-SMAC player of the year. "I put a lot of work into field hockey because I like it a lot and I wanted our team to be good [this season]."

Seay and the Cavaliers, who are coached by Megan Williamson finished with an 11-2-1 record (10-1-1 SMAC). Calvert finished third in the conference, earned nine shutouts and defeated every county opponent during the regular season.

After falling to Leonardtown on Sept. 15, the Cavaliers went on a nine-game winning streak to end the regular season. Calvert advanced through the playoffs, only falling to county power Patuxent 4-1 in the 2A South regional semifinals.

"Jessica is a coach's player, she has the mind of a coach that can see the field well and has phenomenal stick skills," said Williams, who also ended three-time SMAC champion Patuxent's lengthy regular season winning streak with a 1-0 win on Sept. 9. "[She's] probably the best I've seen come through the conference in the last few years with her stick skills and she makes players around her shine as well. [She was] just a great asset to our team this year."

However, Calvert wasn't the only squad in the county to make a run in the playoffs.

Northern, Huntingtown and SMAC champion Patuxent all either advanced to the regional final, or state semifinal in Northern's case, which has put Calvert County field hockey on the map.

"I am so proud of our field hockey players here and thankful that there are coaches in the county that are really dedicated to off-season play," said Patuxent head coach Lynn Powell, whose team fell to top-seeded Glenelg in the 2A South regional final. "Their heart and pride in their schools have brought their successes to the papers. These are some of the best athletes and best students in Calvert County."

Powell added that to keep the county competitive, she and Williams are starting up a parks and recreation field hockey league, in the hopes that the county can ultimately start competing with the powerhouses in Anne Arundel and Howard Counties.

Northern, which finished 11-8 this season under first-year head coach Nicole Kerfoot, later knocked off Huntingtown (10-5) in the 3A South regional final and advanced to the state semifinal versus Blake.

"Calvert County field hockey has really grown and it's really great to see a place where all four teams are … very competitive," Williams said. "All four teams posted pretty successful records and a large part of that is due to the youth programs that we've been trying to build, plus summer and winter camps. I think it's really paying off for us as a county."

"A lot of younger girls in the county are starting to become involved," Seay said. "I was really surprised how far Northern and Huntingtown went in the playoffs. It would've been nice to see Northern go further, but playing Patuxent in the playoffs is what we wanted. Unfortunately we didn't win, but we wanted to be in that position."

Powell pointed out the county's goals as a whole in the future.

"The coaches in Calvert are doing our best to change things and put [county] field hockey [teams] in the championships," she said.

ajmason@somdnews.com