By Melanie Cane
Goalie Maggie Devlin and defensive co-captain Lotje Rogaar led the Garnets to eight consecutive shutouts to end the regular season. The entire team can take credit for the 10-2-4 League record and championship.
After winning the title for the ninth year in a row, Rye was seeded third in Sectionals, behind Lakeland and John Jay/Cross River, even though the Garnets beat the latter team during the regular season.
Rye shut out Pearl River 5-0 on October 27 in the Sectional quarterfinal at home. The Pirates never stood a chance against this rock-solid Garnet team.
In the first half, Lainie Agosta scored twice, both times with assistance from Lotje Rogaar. Kelly Ott also scored with help from Hanke Govaert. In the second half, Rogaar and Govaert added two more for a final of 5-0.
This win propelled the Garnets to the Section B semifinals against John Jay/Cross River (JJ/CR) on October 31.
They Indians came out strong and had a couple of good scoring opportunities in the first 15 minutes. Devlin made two great saves. Govaert put Rye on the board with a backhanded goal to give her team a 1-0 lead at the half.
Rye came out more aggressively in the second half, with Rogaar quickly scoring on a corner shot and Agosta scoring on corner penalty, before John Jay broke Devlin’s nine-game shutout streak. But Rogaar added one more on a corner penalty and the final score was Garnets 4-1.
Coach Simon Hochstenbach said, “The girls played amazingly and put a lot of effort into the game.”
Senior co-captain Agosta added: “We can’t wait to play the girls from Lakeland!”
The challenge is that Lakeland hasn’t lost a game this season and has beaten Rye in their last eight championship matchups.
The wait ended November 1, but the can-do approach was not enough. Lakeland ended the Garnets’ valiant run for a ninth consecutive time, 4-0.
Maggie Devlin making another one of her unbelievable saves in the semifinals against John Jay/Cross River
Co-captain Lainie Agosta with a key pass
Kelly Ott clearing the ball in quarterfinal.
Garnets after winning the quarterfinal matchup against Pearl River
— Photos by Melanie Cane and Maryse Govaert
