Moments after the game ended, many of the players on last year’s Pinelands Regional field hockey team probably didn’t grasp the benefits it would reap from the experience of reaching the NJSIAA South Jersey Group II semifinals. The season ended with a 3-0 loss to a highly skilled Delsea squad, but sometimes there is such a thing as a good loss.

“Today was a good example of how high school hockey can be played well,” head coach Liz Law said at the time.