For Maplewood and South Orange families following high school field hockey, Columbia’s early-season results offered both a big celebration and a reminder of the work ahead.

Columbia High School delivered the celebration with an 8-0 victory over Union in an earlier September matchup played at Union.

The shutout gave the Cougars plenty to smile about, with several players contributing to an attack that Union could not contain.

Senior Violet Bennett led the scoring with three goals and added an assist.

Senior Phoebe Perlman supplied two goals and an assist, while senior Maddie Popowsky scored twice.

Senior Penny Leveque added a goal, and junior Zahria Angelou recorded an assist.

At the other end, junior goalkeeper Maddy Klein did not face a shot on goal.

That detail says as much about Columbia’s control across the field as the eight goals do.

For anyone checking field hockey scores, though, the next result showed how quickly a season’s mood can shift.

The Cougars fell 8-1 to Summit at Underhill Sports Complex in their following game.

Columbia stood at 2-2 after that loss, with a commanding win and a difficult setback both shaping its early record.

The contrast was sharp, but it also left the team with a clear measure of what needed improvement.

A visit to Verona appeared next on the schedule; the available results do not establish how that game finished.

Other listed opponents included Sayreville, Millburn, Mount St. Dominic and Scotch Plains-Fanwood.

Newark Academy, Cranford and Montclair Kimberley Academy were also on that earlier schedule.

Those matchups were part of the same past season, not a current list of upcoming games.

For the Maplewood NJ field hockey community, the Union result remains a snapshot of what Columbia could produce when its offense clicked.

The Summit loss was a tougher moment, one that made the next steps matter all the more.

Together, the two scores capture a familiar truth of high school sports: a season takes shape through both celebrations and setbacks.