West Essex (13-5) has lost to just one in-state opponent so far this season, that being No. 1 ranked Oak Knoll (2-1 on Oct. 7), is No. 2 in the state according to nj.com, and No. 6 in a national poll behind an elite group of teams that includes two Pennsylvania powers it lost to earlier this season in Villa Maria Academy and the Hill School.

“You can draw comparison to where you are by playing the best in the country,” said Cosse, who currently has 593 career victories in her 29th season at the helm. “The rigors of that type of schedule can either break you or it will make you earn success at the end of the season.”

In watching her daughter achieve a historic moment with the new scoring record is certainly a huge moment for the veteran West Essex mentor, who has to constantly balance her dual roles as both coach and mom.

“It’s hard sometimes because I have to always be aware of the entire team, but I also know that I want Adie to be able to enjoy the success she has achieved while always helping our team win,” continued Cosse. “She has always come to play hard, and she has a keen sense of awareness in that circle.

“She is very smart and savvy on her shot selection.”

And, Adie Minnella knows that while the remaining days of this season are very precious indeed as she plays her final games as a West Essex Knight; yet, she also values having the full confidence that her young teammates will continue to carry on the championship legacy in a sport with more than a half century of unprecedented success on a county and statewide basis.

“Because we’re so young, it puts them in a position for great success in the next couple of years for sure,” she said. “All our younger kids are so dominant on the field and they’ve grown into a different type of role as this year has continued.

“We always say after you make that run test in August, or when you get through those first four or five days of the pre-season, that after that you’re no longer in that grade you started in; that you’re now older and you have to show that on the field.

“That’s all part of the West Essex field hockey winning tradition no matter what grade you might be in at the time!”     

NOTES- The Knights have now won 19 of the 21 ECT field hockey tourneys played since 2004 with no event in 2020 due to covid…Cosse, who took over the reins of the program in 1997, was USA Field Hockey’s 2021 National Coach of the Year. She is fourth all-time on the state’s field hockey victories list behind Shore Regional’s Nancy Williams (839-67-55 from 1971-2014), Madison’s Ann Marie Davies (632 wins form 1982-2018) and Millville’s Claudia McCarthy (610-238-21 from 1971-2020)….Cosse is also one of only two field hockey coaches in the history of West Essex field hockey for a school that opened in the fall of 1961. Linda Alimi, who retired following the 1996 season, had 457 victories during her own amazing coaching career with the Knights..West Essex has won six straight Group 2 state titles since 2018…MKA, under veteran coach Injoo Han, notched a 3-2 comeback victory vs. its township rival, second-seeded Montclair, to reach its first ECT final since 2018, while making its third appearance vs. West Essex in a championship game, having also advanced to the final in 2013…MKA also played very well vs. powerful Oak Knoll in a narrow 1-0 loss on Oct. 15 to the state’s No. 1 ranked team...MKA senior quad captain Addie Goldstein is going to play her Division I women's college field hockey at the University of California-Davis.