At 7:00pm on Friday, October 4th the Staples Field Hockey team defeated a struggling Brien McMahon team on a wet field, under the lights, with a final score of 2-0. Although technically an away game for Staples, the Wrecker faithful packed the bleachers giving the ladies in blue what seemed to be a home crowd.
Staples’ 4-3-3 offense didn’t get off to as quick of a tempo as they might have hoped, but the game quickly began to go in the Wrecker’s favor. In the 18th minute, Jenna McNicholas’15 received the ball on the right wing, made a cut up the middle, and put the ball in the back of the goal.
Forward Jordan Ragland’16 felt as though McNicholas’ goal really kickstarted the explosive offense. “The turning point had to be the breakaway up the field,” she said, “it showed that we were picking things up and getting stronger.”
With Staples’ vigorous play, a McMahon possession was rare. In the case McMahon snuck past the midfield on a breakaway, the dominant defensive trio of Emily Stanford’14, Maggie Fair’15, and Elizabeth Bennewitz’15 swatted away any attempt to advance further.
“We worked together as a defense and really put in a great effort to stop the attacks,” said Stanford regarding her team’s defensive execution.
As the clock reached under a minute remaining in the first half, Avery Wallace’15 received the ball around midfield. She made a small move to the outside before flicking the ball out to McNicholas who whipped the ball into the top right corner of the goal.
While there was some arguments among McMahon fans as to whether it was outside the circle or not, the goal stood and Staples took a 2-0 lead into halftime. Staples fans were in awe as to the athletic prowess McNicholas showed on the play. “It single-handedly was the greatest field hockey play I’ve ever seen with my own two eyes,” said fanatic Jake Reiner’14.
Following some halftime adjustments, the Brien McMahon team seemed unable to find a rhythm and still couldn’t get their first goal as keeper Jodi Barris’16 was a force to be reckoned with for Staples.
When Issy Pieper’14 was given a yellow card for a vigorous high-stick, and sent off for ten minutes with 16:08 remaining in the game, Staples seem to slow down the pace and coasted to a 2-0 win.
Coach Kristen Schulz felt as though a win is a win in her book. “We played an aggressive game. Definitely could’ve scored a couple more goals, but they played hard which is what we aim for,” she said.
The remaining schedule can be found here: http://www.westportfieldhockey.com/Page.asp?n=68570&org=westportfieldhockey.com
