Schreiber Field Hockey blanked by Friends Academy
Despite a valiant effort, the Port Washington girls varsity field hockey team came up short in a conference matchup with Friends Academy 3-0. The Vikings drop to 2-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play as the Quakers improved to 4-1.
The first half kicked off with Friends Academy dominating possession. They had a golden opportunity four minutes in, but Vikings goaltender Maggie Bridges made a nice save with her pad to keep the game scoreless. Seven minutes later, the Quakers drew first blood with the opening goal.
From that point on, the Quakers would never relinquish their lead. While Bridges kept the Vikings in the game with some great saves, the team started picking up their play about 13 minutes into the first half. As Friends Academy created opportunities around the net, the Vikings started to come up with some of their own chances but couldn’t find the back of the net.
In the second half, the game went from a one-sided time of possession game to both sides fighting for control at midfield. Although the shots were relatively low, the Quakers would put the nail in the coffin as they tacked on two more goals. The final result would be a 3-0 loss for the Vikings.
The difference in this game was that the Vikings didn’t generate enough chances to score while the Quakers did and took advantage of them. Also, the Viking’s transition game ended up costing them the match. Once they squandered a great opportunity, they couldn’t recover and get back on defense.
Head Coach Kathleen Lennon said they will work on their defense and cutting the ball more in their next contest.
Although the girls were upset with the tough loss, Lennon was impressed with how her squad played.
“They had some amazing plays,” said Coach Lennon. “When they had the ball, they possessed it. They also had some incredible movement with their passing.”
Key players like Maddie Cohen, Dalia Bercow, Shannon Rybecky, Megan Maley and Maggie Bridges were outstanding in the match. Cohen played well on both sides of the ball. Maley and Rybecky were dominant in possessing the ball and generating some great opportunities up front.
Bercow also made a nice block early on to keep the game scoreless. At the end of the day, it was indeed Bridges and the defense that kept things tight.
“Maggie’s great in goal and our defense had some great stops,” said Lennon. “They kept the score low.”
With a hard luck lost to Friends Academy, Lennon and the Vikings are ready to put this game behind them and gear up for their next contest.
“They were a strong team,” said Lennon. “I’m happy with how we played. There’s obviously some things we need to work on and there are some good things that happened.”
