The first-year coach led the Blue Streaks to their second straight NJSIAA Group 3 title.
Kate Rothman had a tough initiation process to go through last summer.
Rothman had just been hired to replace highly successful Laurie Kerr as the new field hockey coach at Warren Hills Regional High School. Unbeknownst to her, one of her first tasks was to meet the requirements of senior captains Rachel Phillips and Katie Thompson.
“Me and Katie had a meeting with her when she was first hired,” Phillips said. “I tried to stare her down to see if she was right for the team. It turns out she was. From the very first practice we did all the right drills and she didn’t make us do anything that was unnecessary.”
Rothman, a former coach at Lenape Valley High School, knew she was stepping into a program with a very rich tradition. In fact, the Blue Streaks were coming off their first NJSIAA Group 3 title in 2014.
However, with six outstanding seniors lost to graduation, the team certainly had some holes to fill this fall.
Rothman ultimately made all the right calls. The season started with Warren Hills winning the Skyland Conference Raritan Division championship followed by its third straight Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament title.
The Blue Streaks were just getting warmed up. They went on to win the NJSIAA North 1 Group 3 title followed by the school’s second straight overall Group 3 championship – a 1-0 triumph over Ocean City.
Warren Hills’ magical season finally ended with a respectable 4-1 loss to powerful Eastern in the Tournament of Champions.
For leading the Blue Streaks all the way back to the top in her first season, Rothman is the 2015 lehighvalleylive Field Hockey Coach of the Year.
“I wasn’t coming in trying to make me the star, I was trying to make them the stars,” said Rothman, who lives just outside of Hackettstown in Independence Township “We had so much talent. At Lenape Valley I started from the ground up. Here everything was in place.”
The Blue Streaks’ success story was a total team effort. Leading the way was talented junior forward Dani Profita, who amassed 41 goals and 25 assists.
Each player fulfilled her role, whether it was scoring, distributing or playing defense. Phillips and Thompson helped lay the foundation. The team also received big-time contributions from senior Megan Thompson, Katie’s twin-sister, junior goalie Jackie de Raismes, and a trio of sophomores – Rebecca Sigman, Tali Popinko and Mikayla Dugan.
“The hardest part about coaching is keeping the girls happy because, let me tell you, nothing can ruin a season more than girl stuff,” Rothman said. “But these kids wanted to win. They loved to practice. They loved playing. If I called a timeout, they listened and they adjusted.”
Katie Thompson had her sights set on repeating as state champion from Day One.
“From the beginning of the year, we wanted to do it back-to-back,” Thompson said. “We knew we could because we had the players. We just needed to work to get to where we were last year, and we did.”
Rothman’s staff consisted of varsity assistant Selena Agnor and junior varsity coach Gregg Wiseburn.
“I was lucky because at Lenape Valley I didn’t even have an assistant on varsity,” Rothman said. “It was only me and the JV coach, so it was a nice luxury to have Selena. We get along very well. We kind of worked together and split stuff up.”
Rothman considers herself to be a mild-mannered coach who gets her point across without doing a lot of ranting or raving.
“I specifically remember against Eastern we were down 3-0 in the first 12 minutes and I called a timeout,” Rothman said. “I simply told them what to do. Screaming and yelling doesn’t work. That isn’t going to make them any better. I just try to make adjustments and help them win the game. They listened and it was really an enjoyable season.”
Like Phillips, Katie Thompson felt an instant connection with Rothman when they first met.
“The first day I met her she was very nice,” Thompson said. “She said she wanted to keep the tradition going and she didn’t want to change our team around. She was very supportive of how we used to be.”
Rothman has nothing but praise for her two captains.
“I thought their leadership was fantastic,” Rothman said. “Rachel was kind of like a coach on the field. In fact, she wants to be a coach and I think she’ll make a fantastic coach someday. Katie is more of an emotional leader. She really provides an emotional kick, which is important.
“When I took the job they told me I had great captains. They didn’t steer me wrong. They were absolutely right. They made my job a whole lot easier.”
Megan Thompson scored the goal three minutes into the state final against Ocean City. The Blue Streaks spent the rest of the game staving off one Raiders challenge after another.
“It was a nail-biter,” Katie Thompson said. “It was scary but we had to be strong. When they had a stroke it was nerve-wracking, but she missed.”
“I don’t think I breathed the whole state championship game,” Rothman said. “That was a wild game. That’s the way state championship games should be – exciting but very stressful.”
Phillips feels the program is in good hands going forward.
“She did a great job,” Phillips said. “She really understood who the players were and she put us in position to make plays. We had good team chemistry coming back from last year, and she was really able to build on that.”
Tom Hinkel may be reached at thinkel@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomHinkelLV. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.