U14 "The Dream Team"
Meadow Maguire Adeline Horan Julia Hegarty Kamryn Dalton Chris Harrison Claire McGowan Cassidy Cashion Hannah Johnston Despite some terrible attempts at drawing (see social media) and even though we were missing Alexis, our U14 team continues to impress with their team-work, work-rate and all-round awesomeness. The first game was frustrating as, despite countless chances, we couldn't put the ball in the back of the net. We definitely need to do some work on our APCs... The second was better and though we didn't score as many as we could, a great penalty corner from Julia secured the win. That goal was sandwiched between some great play and careful structure, with Kamryn and Chris and Cassidy on the forward line holding the ball up well, as well as Adeline who also did some great defensive work at right back. The third game showed what the Knights can really do. Meadow was running the show from the middle and scored a great goal with poise and control. At left back Julia was letting nothing through her and was really dictating the play. Chris' ability to roll off the left board was frustrating the opponents and bringing the crowd to their feet (they were already standing). In goal Hannah was wondering why she had bothered to come all the way from Virginia - she hadn't anything to do in three games except one great double save. That would all change in the final game against Jersey Elite... No one is quite sure how the girls from Jersey Elite are U14 as they are approximately a million times the size of our young Knights but this David v Goliath match-up taught us some valuable lessons. One of those lessons we already knew - Hannah is awesome. Countless times she came up with massive saves. She was supported by Claire, Adeline and Meadow defensively. Nevertheless, the U14s were probably a little intimidated by size and fell 4-0 behind. It wasn't until they realized that it is all about understanding and connections not the size of the opponent that they started to show what they could do. This came most of all in the greatest goal of the weekend (and possibly all time) from Kamryn. A DPC breakdown and Meadow fired the ball off the board (the only time you're allowed to make a blind pass). Kamryn was waiting in the circle and despite the best attempts of the recovering defender she slipped it past the GK with nonchalant aplomb. IT WAS AWESOME. Kamryn needs to work on her celebration though. #toochilledout. The Knights didn't stop there either as Claire scored another on an APC. It ended with our first loss (4-2) but it taught us valuable things. One, don't lose before you step on the court, but most of all, if you play with brains you can compete with anyone and that hockey is about skill and team-work. Keep working on all those things and YOU WILL get better as a team and as an individual. And that's what being a Knight is all about. A great day for all! GO KNIGHTS!!! field hockey in New Jersey, New Jersey field hockey club, field hockey for boys, field hockey for middle school, field hockey coaching, field hockey goalkeepers, best field hockey club in New Jersey
1 Comment
10/26/2023 06:50:07
This is one of the very best u14 teams that I have witnessed! The team makes you question whether the fact that they're actually u14s! They really deserve a lot of appreciation.
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