by Steve Bradley
The Panther field hockey team put three more in the win column this week as they defeated Greenwich, Taconic Hills and Salem. The wins didn’t come easy though as two of the games went into overtime.
[private]HF 3 – Salem 0 Saturday, October 8 at Schuylerville HS. HF 12-0 / 15-0; Salem 3-8 / 4-9. Prepping on a turf field for the soon to be here sectionals, the Panthers travelled up to Schuylerville. The Generals played the Panthers to a first half 0-0 tie. After the break, Breanna Schnakeberg, with a Liz Ryan assist, scored less than five minutes in. Schnakeberg struck again five minutes later, unassisted. Lillian Hickey assisted Megan Henry on the Panthers final score. HF goalie Kaitlin Backes had one save, Salem goalie Jessica Videl had 13 saves.
HF 3 – Taconic Hills 2, OT Friday, October 7 at TH. HF 12-0 / 14-0; TH 6-1 / 10-4. Liz Ryan scored two first half goals to give the Panthers a nice halftime cushion. But the second half was as different story. Taconic Hills held the Panthers scoreless and scored two goals of their own to send the game into overtime. The OT was winding down when Liz Ryan scored with 3:20 left. Kaitlin Backes had two saves, TH goalie Hannah Waldorf had 11 saves.
HF 4 – Greenwich 3, OT Wednesday, October 5 at HFCS. HF 11-0 / 13-0; Greenwich 6-4 / 8-6. When the Panthers play arch rival Greenwich records mean nothing. Each team wants to defeat the other just for the sheer enjoyment of it. This game, from a fan’s point of view, turned out to be one of the most exciting games played on the HFCS field hockey field.
Greenwich grabbed the lead halfway through the first half and kept it into the halftime break. After halftime, the teams battled back and forth until Liz Ryan scored an unassisted goal at the 24:29 mark to tie the game at one up. Two minutes later, Ryan struck again, another unassisted goal, to break the tie and put the Panthers in the lead for the first time. But Greenwich wasn’t about to give up. They came back with an Izabel Kuzmich goal, with an assist from Sabrina Whitehouse, with 10:19 remaining in regulation. With the score now tied at 2-2, the next eight minutes of the contest was a slugfest, with each team frantically trying to put the other away.
Finally, one team thought they did. Megan Henry, with the Greenwich goalie too far out in front of the goal, got an open look at the goal from the left side and buried a shot. It looked like a sure Panther win and the team celebrated like it was. With 1:58 on the clock, a one goal lead looked safe. It wasn’t.
Eighty-four seconds later, with :34 seconds left, Greenwich struck back. With Greenwich keeping the ball in front of the Panther goal for what seemed forever, Izabel Kuzmich struck again, tying the game. It didn’t seem possible, but it happened, and the game headed into overtime.
Liz Ryan made sure the sudden win overtime didn’t last very long. When the Panthers moved towards the Greenwich goal, Ryan controlled the ball and moved from left to right. With 2:02 gone in OT, and about 25 feet from the goal, she wound up, shot a rocket at the goal and watched. The ball cracked off the boards on impact, letting everyone know it had hit its mark. Everyone – players, fans, coaches, the JV field hockey team – anyone rooting for the Panthers, impulsively made some sort of celebratory sound or gesture. It was the end of a great game.
Panther goalie Kaitlin Backes had nine saves. Greenwich’s Olivia Barnes recorded 16. Coming Up:
The Ladies host Emma Willard Friday, October 14. Game time is 4:15. Sectionals begin the week of October 17, with pairing and locations announced the over the weekend.[/private]