Angels Capture League Title with Victory

Going into the game, the girls knew that the victory would seal their spot at Provincials. Whether the anticipation of Provincial qualification or simply a healthy respect for a Crofton team that has been one of the best for years, LFA started cautiously. Passes weren’t crisp and receptions were haphazard. Still, LFA decided skill advantage gave them a few searching opportunities: none better than a quick release from Mikayla Stelling ’21 in the midfield that put Catherine Blouin ’21 in on a break-away. Unfortunately, Catherine didn’t get her best shot off and the Crofton goalie snuffed out the opportunity.

Crofton started to carry the edge in play and we found ourselves defending. While our attack lacked cohesion, our defense was stout. Our back-line of Frankie Yep ’20, Ava Macfarlane ’20 and Mimi Wallace ’20 were excellent and tenacious defending in our own zone. Among a swath of play in the midfield, leaning towards our end, Allison Kuzyck ’20 took it upon herself to change the tide. She picked up a ball after some good defending from Gracie Korac ’20 in the midfield. Allison charged forward with Crofton defenders throwing in cynical tackles as they desperately tried to break her run: Allison broke through four, maybe five defenders, and into the D, where she calmly picked the high side-netting to put us up 1-0. Still, it wasn’t quite the catalyst for us to turn the game around and more uninspired hockey played out until the half-time whistle.

At halftime, we talked about basics. Passing. Trapping. The team came out with renewed energy, which was especially true of Gracie and Mikayla in the midfield, despite Mikayla playing while feeling very poorly. Quickly our wide-side halves got involved in the play. With Charlie Kan ’22 and Sam Zastre ’20 seeing much more of the ball, we were able to spread out the Crofton defenders. The new space was created allowed for Allison to make several dangerous runs. A lovely spin on the baseline somehow eluded the Crofton goalie and a perfectly executed short corner went from Gracie back to Allison for a 3-0 edge and giving Allison the hat-trick.

The team was now running rampant. Wave after wave of attack had us surging forward. But, to Crofton’s credit, their counter attack is ever dangerous. They got themselves a short corner and executed a nice deflection after it broke down to close the gap to 3-1. If, in past games, the goal against might have created anxiety, it did not today. The girls upped the pressure. Swinging left and right with high speed, the field opened up immensely. Alexa Dodds ’20 found herself open and alone in the D on several occasions as Maya Pasut ’21 tried to find her. After some time, Stephanie Non ’20 took over the right flank while Sam moved left and Steph played some of her best hockey yet in a Senior A uniform. Open and calling for the ball, she was full of good decisions that took us forward with purpose. In the end, though, it was Catherine who found the ball in the D and made a quick, slipped release to put us up 4-1.

Crofton’s swing, meanwhile, lacked the same purpose as ours though their central player, #23, has wonderful vision. That said, Mikayla was reading the game well and perfectly timed her run to cut off one of the cross-seam passes. Mikayla didn’t have her normal speed bit still managed to fight off the defender draped on her and slickly moved past the goalie (once in the D), allowing her to walk the ball into the net for the hardest working goal of the game. Minutes later, Catherine jumped on a lose ball in a chaotic goal-mouth scramble and calmly pushed in her second of the game. Up 6-1, and with Crofton reeling, the girls settled into near complete control of the ball. Back and forth, up and down the field. It was some lovely hockey to watch. Having been on the receiving end of some tough losses to Crofton the past few years, they were in no mood to let up any pressure and they kept moving forward, nearly scoring on a short corner scramble at the very end of the game.

Want to seem some great field hockey played? LFA will have a bye in the first round, but will play at the Zone Championships at Crofton and Hamber on October 24 and 25. Come cheer them on!