With 17:40 left in the first half of Rye’s sixth sectional final against Lakeland November 6, Abby Abate scored on a scramble in front of the goal, giving Rye a 1-0 lead.
By Melanie Cane
With 17:40 left in the first half of Rye’s sixth sectional final against Lakeland November 6, Abby Abate scored on a scramble in front of the goal, giving Rye a 1-0 lead.
“Abby completely set the tone for the game,” said junior captain Mallory Lynch. “I can’t remember the last time we scored against Lakeland, so the second she got that goal we realized we could win this game, that it wasn’t an inevitable loss, as it had been in previous years.” She added, “Scoring first was huge because you could tell that Lakeland was anxious and not used to it.”
Senior captain Sarah Breckenridge said, “The first goal was crazy. I knew we could score on them, but when it actually happened it was surreal.”
The Garnets maintained the lead for eight minutes, until Lakeland tied it on a corner shot. Then, with 10:35 left in the half, Fusine Govaert gave the Garnets a 2-1 lead on another scramble at the goal.
The second half proved to be a battle of the titans, until, with fewer than five minutes left in regulation, Lakeland tied the score on a dubious call on a corner shot. The ball was on the line of the goal and the refs met and declared it a goal. Rye’s hearts sank, but their spirit and resolve did not, especially because as Govaert stated, “We actually scored a third goal, but the refs, for a reason nobody understands, said it didn’t count.”
Neither team scored in the first overtime, which forced a second. Lynch and the rest of the team knew they could handle the overtimes because they had prepared for them. “During the last few practices Fitz (Coach Emily Fitzgerald) made us do sprints and then play 7 on 7 immediately afterward to simulate a real game,” said Lynch. “We all thought it was ridiculous at the time, but she knew exactly what she was doing. When the Section final went into overtime, all of the conditioning she made us do kicked in and it was obvious that we were in better shape.”
Tied at 2, the game went into 7 on 7 sudden death double overtime. With both teams feeling the pressure and seemingly unfazed by the freezing rain, the slick turf, the battle continued. With less than three minutes left, Brenna Smith made the save of a lifetime, a great sliding stop, to add to the 12 other saves she had in the game. But just when a shootout seemed inevitable, the Hornets came up big on a breakaway, to beat the Garnets 3-2 in their march to their sixth consecutive State Championship game.
Despite the score and the heartbreaking end to the season, the Garnets said they felt like winners. Breckenridge summed it up: “The whole season was up and down, and as a captain to get my team to the finals despite the adversity we faced, was a win to me.” Smith added, “I couldn’t have asked for anything more from my teammates. All the heart and hustle they put into that game was unbelievable.” Govaert, the top scorer on the team, mirrored her teammates thoughts. “Losing in double overtime was so disappointing, but this was probably the best game of our entire season.” Smith, who made a lot of diving stops on great plays by Lakeland, agreed. “We played an amazing game as a team, by far the best we have played against them in my four years. My defensive team this year — Anne Rogaar, Lotje Rogaar, Avery Stern, Maddy Johnson, and Emma Stearns — was great. They did a fantastic job all season and just kept getting better and stronger.”
Reflecting on the game, Coach Fitzgerald, to whom the team says they owe everything, said, “I wouldn’t have done anything differently. The girls left everything out on that field with no regrets and played their hearts out.”
