Garnets Stay Unbeaten with Rout of Pearl River

By Mitch Silver

Longtime field hockey power Rye High began the season unranked by the Journal News, which is just the way Head Coach Kelly Vegliante liked it. “It gave us something to rally around. The girls didn’t much care for that.”

Three games into the young season, the team has moved up to No. 3 in Section 1. Three straight shutouts will do that. On September 10, the Garnets traveled to Suffern and administered a 5-0 pasting on the home side. Twenty-four hours later, they defeated Somers. Ellie Hedges and Lilly Whaling each scored twice, with Shay Ott and Caroline Doyle also hitting the twine. Senior goalkeeper Catia Lai had to make a single save.

The team took to the refurbished field at Nugent Stadium on September 14 and dominated visiting Pearl River, 6-0. The Pirates came in with a 2-1 home win over Nanuet, but they were no match for the speed and ball handling of the Garnets. They couldn’t register a shot on goal.

The locals earned three penalty corners in the first three minutes, with sophomore forward Lilly Whaling scoring after the third one on a rebound at 12:54 of the first period. She scored again from in front at 8:24. The rest of the period saw Rye control the ball, although junior midfielder Shay Ott had to make a nice stop to prevent a shot in front of her own cage.

The second period was much like the first, with Rye earning another three penalty corners and junior midfielder Charlotte Langer stealing the ball from a Pearl River attacking player near midfield. With 21 seconds before halftime, senior forward Maggie Broderick scored on a nifty backhand to put the Garnets up 3-0.

Five minutes into the second half, junior forward Ava Chiaravalle took a cross from her right and buried the shot. Three minutes later, senior Ellie Hedges scored unassisted to make it 5-0. The fourth quarter saw Rye senior goalie Catia Lai make her first play of the game, rushing out to kick away a Pirate fast break before it could develop. Then, on her second whack at the ball, senior Maggie Broderick wrapped up the scoring at 7:39.

After the game, Head Coach Kelly Vegliante admitted, “We’re a fast team, but we’re still learning how to play together. Some of the girls are adapting to new positions on the field. And we have to improve on our penalty corners.” The Garnets had 13 corners for the game.