Rye Country Day Field Hockey
By Melanie Cane
The undefeated Wildcats recorded their sixth consecutive win September 28 by defeating Greens Farms Academy 5-1.
The Dragons won the opening faceoff and maintained possession for the first few minutes of the game. Their strategy to move the ball was to make high passes over the heads of their opponents, but the Wildcats adjusted to their style of play quickly.
On their first possession, Wildcat Gemma Green scored on a corner penalty pass from Natalie Sanchez at 23:43. Two minutes later, Greens Farms scored on their third shot after a corner penalty. Rye goalie Sabrina Reznik had two great saves prior to the goal.
For the next four minutes the teams traded steals midfield. Then the Wildcats had four consecutive corners which they failed to convert. At 14:16, Green tipped the ball into the right side of the net on a pass from Sanchez. Five minutes later, Evalise Melgar got the ball off the transition and took it downfield where she passed to Green who shot across the goal, and Amelia Lower tipped it in.
Greens Farms called a timeout and came back playing more aggressively. They had a great shot off a corner, but Resnik made a fantastic save. Rye took a 3-1 lead into halftime.
Early in the second half, Kaela Smith passed to Green in front of the goal. Then Green passed back to Smith who scored by blooping the ball over the goalie’s arms. Most of the rest of the half consisted of a lot of long passes to no one, and a slew of pass interferences for both teams in the midfield.
In the final minutes of the game, Olivia Friedberg moved the ball down the left side of the field and passed to her twin sister Elizabeth who shot and Green tipped it in for Rye Country Day’s fifth and final goal.
Coach Georgette Summers was pleased with the team’s solid start, but said they have to be more consistent. “We need to play at a high level of intensity and connectivity 100 percent of the game. There were bright moments and learning moments. We made a good effort to shut down their top scorer and that really threw off GFA’s game plan.” Coach Summers thought Olivia Friedberg, Paulina Harasimowicz, Elizabeth Friedberg and Gemma Green had excellent games.
The team will try for their seventh straight win on October 4, post-press time at Hamden Hall. They play Masters at home October 6.
Captions:
Gemma Green chasing the ball.
Kaela Smith blocking a Greens Farms player.
Olivia Friedberg with a long pass
