Nansemond River High School’s field hockey team could call junior Ashley Hiltabrand “Ms. Clutch.”

The midfielder delivered for the Lady Warriors when they absolutely needed her to in games on Sept. 15 and 18, helping them go 2-0 in the Ironclad Conference and set a new precedent of success against a city rival.

Consequently, she is the newest Duke Automotive-Suffolk News-Herald Player of the Week.

“It’s not over ‘til it’s over,” Hiltabrand said, citing a perspective that helped drive her performances.

After the Lady Warriors and visiting King’s Fork High School emerged from regulation and overtime locked in a 1-1 tie on Sept. 15, she scored on a stroke to help her team win strokes 2-1, which also won it the game.

On Sept. 18 at Lakeland High School, she scored a goal in sudden death overtime off an assist from junior Jaclyn Mounie for the 2-1 victory, Nansemond River’s first win over the Lady Cavs since 2002.

NR coach Ali Mowry said for Hiltabrand to make those two big goals in those important conference games, “It said a lot of her play and what kind of player she is.”

Evaluating her own performance that week, Hiltabrand said, “I feel like I had definitely picked it up.”

Mowry noted she brings a lot to the team.

“I think she brings more knowledge of the game,” the coach said. “I think she’s one of our more talented skill players in the field, and being in that midfield spot, she does get our offense rolling.”

Hiltabrand first picked up a stick to play field hockey when she was in eighth grade. She remembered it was her neighbor, Lady Warriors junior goalkeeper Alex Wilde, who got her involved.

Wilde had played for a year in seventh grade for John Yeates Middle School and was considering trying to play for the Nansemond River junior varsity team.

“I really didn’t want to try out by myself,” she said, so she encouraged Hiltabrand to come with her. “We ended up both making it.”

As Hiltabrand bonded with her teammates in the effort to win games, she fell in love with the sport. She was called up to the varsity team for the district tournament during her freshman year and has played on varsity ever since.

Wilde said she is glad she brought Ashley on board, noting it has given them a long history — they went to preschool together, and “now we play the same sport and share the same passion.”

Hiltabrand has played for coach Scotty Tyson with Field Hockey Rocks in Virginia Beach, and she started coaching this year in Tara Worley’s summer camp, summer league and currently in her fall league.

Noting how coaching helps her as a player, Hiltabrand said, “You’re going back to the fundamentals, and you can always work on that.”

Mowry appreciates her junior midfielder taking time to be a coach.

“She’s one of my girls that I can count on for year-around field hockey,” the coach said. “She’s serious about the game.”

And Hiltabrand hopes to continue playing in college.