The flow is "on" as Mustangs defeat Rye 3-1
The lady Mustangs finally found their offensive groove as they played their best half of field hockey, by far, this entire season. The first half against a talented RCD team was a joy to behold as we blended our run and gun style with patient, skillful, accurate and well thought out passes through the midfield, an issue we have been working on. All the hard work in practice paid off as we pounced on our big through balls and got decent shots out of most of them, but also worked the ball with patience when it was appropriate to do so. We also ended the game with 16 offensive corners to RCD's 2, only our second game where we had more offensive penalty corners than our opponents.
It is almost a miracle we got this game in as it had poured rain for the previous 24 hours. There was a brief respite and although the field was wet and slow, it was playable, thanks to the hard work of Ms. Hansell and Mr. Merritt.
In the opening minutes the game went end to end and goalie Nelson would make one spectacular save off a RCD corner shot. Steele-Norton had several excellent runs up the left and certainly, by the end of the game, knew what a piece of bologna must feel like squished between two big pieces of bread, because she was sandwiched in the circle for most of the game. It didn't slow her down any as she still managed to score two goals. Whalen and Fitzpatrick would play their best field hockey of the season as they combined several times to pass and move the ball up the right. Millbrook drew first blood at 14:00 on our fourth corner hit, as Burdis would tee it up and Fallon would score on the tip-in. Burdis with the assist. Four minutes later Millbrook would score again as Chapman took a hit from the top of the circle and Steele-Norton would tip that one in. The score was 2-0 at halftime.
Although we wouldn't play as seamlessly in the second half, it was still a good period. Lavitt, Small, Fracchia and Chapman would be tested on defense and simply snuffed almost all offense before it hit the 25 yd. line. At 19:41 Millbrook would tally its third goal as Fallon passed to Steele-Norton who shot a hard zinger from the left that found the back of the cage. Fallon with the assist. Rye would score off a very pretty fast break with 6 minutes left in the game, a picture perfect cross pounced on by the left wing.
The entire team should feel very proud of this game. Our three units -- defense, midfield and offense blended their efforts, worked as a team, communicated on the field and found success in a big way.
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It is almost a miracle we got this game in as it had poured rain for the previous 24 hours. There was a brief respite and although the field was wet and slow, it was playable, thanks to the hard work of Ms. Hansell and Mr. Merritt.
In the opening minutes the game went end to end and goalie Nelson would make one spectacular save off a RCD corner shot. Steele-Norton had several excellent runs up the left and certainly, by the end of the game, knew what a piece of bologna must feel like squished between two big pieces of bread, because she was sandwiched in the circle for most of the game. It didn't slow her down any as she still managed to score two goals. Whalen and Fitzpatrick would play their best field hockey of the season as they combined several times to pass and move the ball up the right. Millbrook drew first blood at 14:00 on our fourth corner hit, as Burdis would tee it up and Fallon would score on the tip-in. Burdis with the assist. Four minutes later Millbrook would score again as Chapman took a hit from the top of the circle and Steele-Norton would tip that one in. The score was 2-0 at halftime.
Although we wouldn't play as seamlessly in the second half, it was still a good period. Lavitt, Small, Fracchia and Chapman would be tested on defense and simply snuffed almost all offense before it hit the 25 yd. line. At 19:41 Millbrook would tally its third goal as Fallon passed to Steele-Norton who shot a hard zinger from the left that found the back of the cage. Fallon with the assist. Rye would score off a very pretty fast break with 6 minutes left in the game, a picture perfect cross pounced on by the left wing.
The entire team should feel very proud of this game. Our three units -- defense, midfield and offense blended their efforts, worked as a team, communicated on the field and found success in a big way.
