For Camden Catholic’s Olivia and Sophia Stazi, excitement began boiling up as a new field hockey season approached. After all, this would be their only year of playing together at the high school, and the sisters needed just one thing: the perfect pregame handshake.
“We were sitting at the table one night doing homework. It was about 11 p.m. and we said, ‘We need a handshake,’” recalled Olivia, a senior at Camden Catholic High School.
Both girls gave their ideas. Then, a compromise.
“We both put something into it,” said Sophia, a freshman.
The handshake is just an example of how the sisters support each other. For the last three years, Sophia has watched her older sister reach incredible heights in high school field hockey, as Olivia not only won the Non-Public State championship with the Irish last year, but she scored the eventual game-winner in a 2-1 victory over Oak Knoll to cap off an incredible 21-1 championship season.
“Everyone on the bench went crazy,” Sophia said. “I was so happy for her.”
The younger Stazi was one of the Irish’s biggest supporters during her middle school years, traveling with the team and sitting on the bench during games.
“I was counting down the years until I could play,” Sophia said. “I only missed one game [last year], and that was the one they lost. So I think I was the lucky charm. And we’re going strong this year, so I think we know the answer to that!”
Sophia has a lot to do with the team’s success this year. Despite being a freshman, she’s scored a team-leading 13 goals through her first seven games, as Camden Catholic was 7-0 through Sept. 24. Sophia scored both goals Sept. 23 in Camden Catholic’s national showcase game against nationally ranked Saint John’s of Texas. The Irish won 2-1 in overtime.
“Honestly, I had a feeling she was going to come in and do well,” Olivia said of her younger sibling. “I’ve been watching her grow up, and she’s been working hard and doing everything she needs to do in order to get to where she’s at. She is surpassing what I thought she could do.”
Sophia might have learned a thing or two from her big sister, who is committed to Rutgers University and plans to study psychology in hopes of being a lawyer. Olivia started her high school career playing up front and seeing more scoring opportunities, but switched back to a more defensive position last season. She’s still managed an impressive 21 goals and 43 assists over her career through Sept. 24. More importantly, the Irish look like they are hungry to return to the top once the state playoffs come around.
“Every practice we are putting in our all,” Olivia said. “We lost some key components, so now we have to work extra hard to get to where we want to be.”
A lot of that hard work comes in daily practices where Sophia, a forward, and Olivia, a defender, go head-to-head. “Obviously that’s high intensity,” Olivia said. “We’re going at each other, but it’s good practice.”
Sophia employs a smart strategy. “I just look at what side of the field she’s on, and I try to go to the other side.”
The girls have been involved with sports their entire lives – in soccer, field hockey, lacrosse and swimming. “It was always competitive against each other, but it made us work harder,” Olivia said.
Who usually wins? “It’s 50-50,” Sophia said.
They both hope Camden Catholic wins in the end. And wouldn’t it be something if it was Sophia scoring the championship-winning goal this time around?
“I feel like it would be a great wrap-around,” Olivia said. “We’d have our little handshake after, and it would be really awesome.”
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
