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U19 Tournament @ Viper Sports Club, somewhere in the middle PA
REPORT Team Gabrielle Kaczan Emily Bassiacos Janell Harden Erin Price Jordyn Kamis Amanda Lew Elena Andreyev Emma Weiden Erin Corrigan Several lessons were learned at Viper this weekend. One was to stay calm. Indoor hockey is not rugby, or football. Or wrestling. Another is, just to reiterate, that the process is far more important than a short-term result. Winning ugly now is not going to help us in the long-term. And the final lesson? Well that is when your parents tell you to get new sneakers for indoor hockey, listen to them. Isn't that correct, Amanda? Viper is a small court and the crowd is right on top of you. Almost literally. It's actually a great little place to play hockey and teaches remaining calm in stressful situations. Small skills and vision are key and they are things that we as a whole club need to focus on. Our first game against FSC was tight but we didn't generate enough going forward to deserve a victory. Erin was excellent in the midfield and, as all the players did as the evening wore on, executed some of the best hockey I have seen played as individuals. Next we played a Viper team that was very well-drilled. Gabby was excellent in goal, as was Janell in defense and Amanda who shared the midfield responsibilities with Erin. But this was a game that Emily really shone in defense. She may prefer playing further forward, but this was a game when right back became her spot. Sorry! As a group we certainly improved but in the compact space we needed a greater outlet from our forward group of Erin, Elena, Jordyn and Emma. There was too much disconnect. Our third game put us up against a different FSC team and in this game the forwards really showed what they can do. Emma showed some excellent vision (we love vision) and Erin C. and Elena worked really hard defensively. It would result in Jordyn grabbing a goal her perseverance deserved. There was lesson too though - when you score you're at your most vulnerable. No one was happy when we conceded immediately from the restart. Our final game (that started at 10:12 PM) was fantastic. There was no victory but another great goal from Jordyn and some superb work from Amanda who managed to play through the pain of an injured foot (she had the wrong shoes on - see above re lessons), meant we would leave wearing our new masks (see Instagram) with our heads held high and plenty learned.
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KNIGHTS U16 TEAM
Kayla Silva (GK) Aryana Muscara Emily Cahill Talia Cantaffa Meadow Maguire Julia Hegarty Adeline Horan Claire McGowan Amanda Halper What an amazing day. With our first game at 7AM and our last at 8PM, sandwiched between them was an incredible and dramatic win - and with it a place in the National Indoor Tournament. There were some bleary eyes at 6:15 AM as this young U16 team prepared for their first pool game against Total Dutch, but any lack of sleep wasn't on show as the Knights took the game to a far more experienced NJ rival. It was Talia Cantaffa that grabbed our first goal of the tournament and the goal that put the Knights ahead after great work by Aryana Muscara, but it was a lead that they couldn't quite hold on to as we would go on to lose 3-1. It was a great lesson though and showed the team that they could compete with any opponent. The next game was a must win - and we did it style. Another local rival, this time G-Force, couldn't handle the intensity of the Knights attack as an early goal settled nerves and led to chance after chance being created. Adeline Horan, Emily Cahill, Claire McGowan and Talia McGowan were dominant on the forward line, while Muscara and Meadow Maguire controlled the middle. In defense, Amanda Halper and Julia Hegarty didn't allow Kayla Silva to face even one shot on goal. It was an impressive performance and meant a 9-0 win. The third game would decide whether the team would reach the crossover and opportunity to compete for NIT qualification, but perhaps the nine goal win gave the team a little too much confidence. East End were the opponents and despite superiority in every department, the Knights team was scrappy and disjointed in the first half and relied on Kayla Silva in goal to prevent their Long Island opponent taking the lead. Two bits of quality on penalty corners from Muscara would prove to be the difference. Both high flicks, the goalkeeper had no chance and set the basis for a 4-1 win and a place in the crossovers to face Boston's Cape Ann team. A tight, defensive battle ensued against an excellent Cape Ann team. The game could have gone either way but some sharp finishing saw Cape Ann take a 3-1 win and meant that the Knights had a must-win game against a PA team called Seekers. It was then that the real drama begin... It is always difficult playing an opponent that doesn't really understand indoor hockey and this game was no exception. The Knights struggled to get to grips with the physical, uncompromising style of their opponent and despite a crucial goal from McGowan they found themselves at 3-1 down going in at half time. They knew they had to improve in the second half if they wanted to make the trip to the Spooky Nook. Quickly it became 3-2 and it looked like we would soon equalize but in a game that ebbed and flowed, the Knights found themselves 4-2 down and staring at the abyss. They answered with three minutes to go to make it 4-3 but as countless attack corners came to nothing it looked as though it was all in vain. And then, playing having subbed Silva to create an extra outfield player, we got a corner with eight seconds left. The buzzer went, time was expired. But the corner had to play out. We had to score. From the bench, Meredith called the corner. Was all that corner practice on Thursday going to be worth it? Knowing the key stages of the corner, Maguire inserted to Muscara, she slipped it to Amanda Halper... cue wild celebrations on the bench and in the stands as the ball hit the backboard. We would go to a shootout to decide who would make the National Indoor Tournament - would it be the Knights or the Seekers, New Jersey or Pennsylvania? The team had complete confidence in their three shooters and their goalkeeper. And it was Silva in goal that would prove to be the hero. Saving the first one with a dive, it meant that Halper could step up and confidently slip it past the opposing GK. Seekers' turn again and this time they would score to make it 1-1. Maguire answered for the Knights to put them 2-1 up. The Seekers had to score. But Silva said no. A wonderful diving save again cleared the ball and put the Knights through to the NIT. It. Was. Awesome. The time was now 6 PM. The team had been at the venue for 12 hours and despite some small amount of delirium and too much talk about puppies and even a suggestion that someone ate Burger King(!), the Knights were still focussed, knowing they still had two games still to play that would affect their NIT ranking. It was a masterful and controlled performance that led to a 1-0 win against CNY. Some great hockey gave the team a deserved result. Finally, after 14 hours in the varying temperatures of Siena's Field House, the Knights faced Hudson Valley. Once more it would be dramatic finish for a team that doesn't know when it is beaten. 2-1 down with a minute to go and Cantaffa grabbed her second of the game to send the game to another shootout. This time, however, it wasn't to be as the Hudson goalkeeper denied first Maguire and then Muscara and gave them the victory. This final game wasn't the game that counted, however. An overall record on the day of 5-3 meant that this U16 team qualified for the National Indoor Tournament. A great achievement in our first ever season as as club and meant leaving New York at 9 PM was all worth it. Congratulations to you all. |
Hockey Hockeyhttp://www.teamusa.org/USA-Field-Hockey Archives
March 2016
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