With their 3-2 win over John Jay on October 17, the girls’ field hockey team improved to 9-1-1, their only loss (3-1) coming at the hands of non-league Darien, owners of an 88-game winning streak. The Lady Garnets are on track to take Section 1 by storm.

 

By Melanie Cane

 

With their 3-2 win over John Jay on October 17, the girls’ field hockey team improved to 9-1-1, their only loss (3-1) coming at the hands of non-league Darien, owners of an 88-game winning streak. The Lady Garnets are on track to take Section 1 by storm.

 

Rye came out flat and quickly found themselves down a goal. With 12 minutes left in the first half, Rye High broke through Jay’s defense. Emma Brinkman scored on an assist from Tory Virtue, who in turn received the ball from G.G. Fitzgerald. With the game tied at 1-1, Rye’s Alex Bennett netted a phenomenal shot from long range with two minutes till halftime.

 

Nothing came easily for the Garnets, despite forcing John Jay’s goalie, one of the top netminders in the Section, to make 17 saves. They were tied up once more when Jay scored with 14 minutes to go. Head coach Emily Fitzgerald moved some players around to try to create a “spark”, and it seemed to work. With under seven minutes remaining, Annie VanWagenen finally put the biscuit in the basket off a Bennett corner on an assist from Fitzgerald.

 

After the game, the coach was asked about the nail-biter. “It was a good, competitive game to have at the end of the season to get ready for Sectional play. We were able to generate some good attacks, which led to the winning goal off the corner from VanWagenen’s shot.”

Rye, outscoring opponents 55-7 on the year with seven shutouts, had a scare near the end of the game, when Brinkman went down after being hit with a stick to her Achilles. Fitzgerald reported Brinkman was sore, but expected her to play the next day.