Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child’s Varsity Field Hockey Team shut down crosstown rival Summit High School 4-0 in the Royals’ 14th-straight Union County Tournament Championship on Saturday, October 21, 2023.

The game occurred on the Royals’ home turf at Kemmerer Field at the school’s Chatham Fields sports complex.

The Royals — ranked No. 10 nationally, the top seed in the county, and No. 4 in the state with a record of 12-4 — enjoyed byes in the first and quarterfinal rounds of the county tournament. Their bid to the finals arrived after defeating Clark’s Arthur L. Johnson High School 7-0 in the semifinal round on Thursday, October 19, 2023.

Head Coach Ali Sumas Good ’95 said the team’s dedication and support of each other ultimately added to this year’s county win.

“I’m just always proud of them,” she said. “The county championship is a big thing. It’s one of our goals every year — and it will always remain to be one.”

Good emphasized the team’s continued focus on moving the ball and playing “one-touch” field hockey, or quick touches.

“It’s not so much about their hard work and what they put into it,” she said after the game. “It’s what they put into it for each other. And that’s always a special thing. And the fact that they come out here and give up half their summer, and, you know, all the excitement of fall and coming back to school. They’re just always out here to play for each other. And I’m really lucky to have a front seat to the support they give each other on and off the field.”

The junior varsity squad also secured its own win in the Union County Tournament Championships on Saturday with an 8-0 shut-out of Arthur L. Johnson High School. The JV Royals caught their bid to the county final after besting crosstown rival Summit High School in the seminal final round 8-0 on Thursday, October 19, 2023.

Both the varsity and JV teams appear next Monday, October 23, when the Royals travel to Phillipsburg High School at 4 p.m., and the Royals look ahead to the first round of the NJSIAA Non-Public State Tournament on Saturday, October 28, 2023. Time TBD.