Blue Devils shine on home field hockey turf
The Greencastle-Antrim High School varsity field hockey team had a strong start to the week at home before a tough road slate last week.
Forbes Road visited the Blue Devils, who recorded a 4-2 victory. Head coach Rebecca Farson was proud of her team's performance, “Today we worked together, and with our strong communication and intensity, we had the opportunity to demonstrate that we can be an offensive team.”
G-A's offense started the game off strong, with teamwork from Sabrina Martin, Abby Reitz, Emily Bland, Jean Hart and Lauren Cole. Hart was key in the first half, using both her offensive and defensive skills to help out her team in any way she could. She showed her strength with driving, pushing the ball past several opponents for offensive control numerous times. Hart commented, “I think we played really well together and it was probably our best game so far!”
While G-A's defense struggled in the beginning, the offense stepped in and helped. Forbes Road had problems connecting and making plays, showing no real potential of scoring. Ten minutes into the game, Bland, assisted by Cole, put the first points on the board for G-A when she shot the ball in the goal. Six minutes later, Forbes Road put a play together and scored to tie it.
Rachel Monninger, a senior defense player, made several good plays, stopping the ball from advancing and getting it back to her offensive teammates. Twenty-three minutes into the game, G-A once again proved their skills when Lexie Sibbio, assisted by Cole, scored a goal, boosting the score to 2-1 for the Devils. Hart and Racheal Marconi worked well together on offense, passing around and driving past their opponents for advancement of the ball. The half ended a few minutes later, with G-A still in the lead.
Coming into the second half of the game, the Devils kept the energy and intensity high, fighting hard against Forbes Road. Marconi drove the ball down the field and when she went to hit it, the force was great that she knocked the stick out of her opponent's hands. Morgan Clopper, as in the past few games, was aggressive on the ball and fought for G-A control of the ball. Marconi, once again showing her desire for a great game, ran the ball down the field, and focusing on it and not her surroundings, plowed right into the goalie who had come out of the box. Her effort worked out well for the team in the end, as Whitney Singhas got the ball from Marconi and scored.
Tori Russell commented on her team's performance, “We have become more confident in how we play in the last few games and use that to our advantage on the field.”
Marconi put some points of her own on the board when she shot the ball in through a crowd in front of the goal, assisted by Cole. Forbes Road scored an inconsequential goal in the final minutes.
Hart said, “I think we will realize how well we can play together and hopefully win a couple of more games.”
Farson, excited for her team's strong win said, “It is so exciting to see our team play to our potential.”
Those wins eluded the Devils the rest of the week. Marconi score on a Karlee Powell assist in a 4-1 setback to Northern. Mackenzie Oberholzer had eight saves in the game. Farson said, “The team settled down and fought back and while it took the entire game, we were able to finish with a great passing sequence that ended in a goal.”
Redland scored the only goal in a skirmish with G-A Thursday. Oberholzer added seven more saves. “Our defense was strong today, but when we let down Redland took their chance to score. However, we transition from defense to offense and take breakaways and get into the circle; we were just unable to put the ball in the cage,” said Farson.
Junior varsity
Bre Conway scored in a 4-1 loss to Forbes Road. Katie Moats had the assist. Caitlyn Smith had four goalie saves in a 4-0 loss to Northern. G-A and Redland played to a scoreless tie. Redland led in shots, 4-2, and in corners, 10-2. Smith had four saves.