Field hockey: Kiara Koeller breaks Hackettstown career goals record set by her coach

Kiara Koeller knew the all-time Hackettstown field hockey scoring record was coming. She'd already broken the single-season goals record. So the career mark was next on her list.

Koeller was already laughing about it with coach Heather Kozimor back in the spring. Kozimor had set the record – 65 goals – back in 2007, before she started teaching and coaching.

And Kozimor had absolutely no regrets when Koeller surpassed her record on Thursday.

Koeller scored off a corner with 5:48 to play in the second quarter against Newton. She also had an assist as Hackettstown and the visiting Braves wound up in a 2-2 overtime draw.

"This is the season. It's time," Kozimor had told Koeller, a Tigers senior forward. "I knew it was coming. She knew it was coming. She works so hard and totally deserves it."

Koeller was just as low key after the milestone as she had been a year earlier, when Molly Gorczyca's single-season record from 2015 tumbled. Koeller now has 66 career goals, including 33 last fall – two more than Gorczyca.

"My mom told me, 'Kiara, you are so close to breaking the season goal record,'" Koeller recalled. "I was like, 'OMG, I had no idea. ... I can do this.' After that, what can my next goal be? That's when I found out about this record."

Field hockey: 2023 Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament bracket, schedule, scores

Kiara was already playing soccer and softball when her mom, Colleen Koeller, heard about the Independence rec field hockey program. Colleen Koeller had played field hockey at Eastern University, so there was no question her daughter would at least try the sport.

Tim Koeller was coaching his daughter's soccer team, so he scheduled practice on opposite days.

Kiara transitioned to the Cosmic Storm club program, where Kozimor coaches, in sixth grade, playing up on the under-14 team. She joined the Hackettstown team as a freshman. She also swims and is a multi-eventer on the spring track and field team.

Tigers coach Rachael Gorski praised Koeller's fundamentals and versatility, calling her "one of the most talented forwards I've seen." Koeller is the inserter on Hackettstown's corners, taking the same pride in assists as goals.

"It's fun to watch her play, because I see little pieces of me on the field, still," said Kozimor, an eighth-grade history teacher and field hockey coach at Long Valley Middle School.

"I've been able to teach her some of the skills and some of the habits I had. I love that it's Kiara that's breaking it. It's full circle."

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ field hockey: Kiara Koeller breaks Hackettstown career goals record