Field Hockey Angels Tie in Thrilling League Opener

The start, however, was familiar for our Angels. Despite us taking the push back, we quickly turned the ball over. Crofton surged, making a series of nice passes to gain the D and, before the game was a minute old, put the ball in the back of the net. Suddenly down by one, the girls didn't let their heads down. Eleanor Morrison '19 and Nicole Shi '18 took over the centre of the pitch. Confident to receive passes under pressure, our defence were hitting them with precision, allowing them to start distributing the ball to the wide side halves and up to the forwards. Unlike our game against Crofton in the tournament on Saturday, it quickly became evident that our offence wasn't going to be counter attack blitzes. Rather, we started to put together a wonderful, methodical build-up of really mature and creative passing.

The counter attack fell more to Crofton on this day. Skilled and well coached, they were always dangerous. Frances Scheepers '18 was simply brilliant at central defender. She was in tune with when to step up into the play and when to back off. The team was also here to play, meaning the centre of the pitch always had wide options. Whether it was Ashely Klomp '18 or Jessica Chong '18 providing quick outlets and charging the ball forward or Mimi Wallace '20 and Francesca Yep '20 running down any forays into our end, the defence really set the tone for the game that LFA was here to win.

With Elmo and Nicole dominating the centre, Gracie Korac '20, Ava McFarlane ’20 and Alex Legge ’19 really started to get into the play. We swung left and right and the pressure was on Crofton. You could sense there was a bit of panic in the opposition as their normal crisp and accurate passing failed them for the first time in recent memory.

As the unease creeped into the Crofton play, our forward pounced. Short corner after short corner fell to the Angels. Elmo, Nicole and Ava all had their chances at the top of the circle but we just couldn’t get the injection we needed as nearly every short corner broke down.

Being in and around the D so much, it was only a matter of time before one of our shots got through. Sure enough, Alison managed to sink the first of the game on a scramble of sorts after some tenacious work from our wingers. The wings were on a short shift as we moved to a full press about midway through the first half because there was so much running. Mira Teoli ’18 and Lorraine Fabre ’18 worked as one unit, offering a clinic in positioning to go with their hard work. It was never more evident than when Nicole somehow found a seam to lay a ball through to Alex on the right half. Playing two touch hockey, she hit a Mira in full stride who played it long to Lorraine in the D. In three passes and about 10 seconds, we had moved the ball from our own 25 yard line on the left side to a scoring position in the Crofton D on the strong side. Simply lovely hockey. Mikayla Stelling ’21 and Sophie Morris ’19 spelled off Mira and Lorraine, offering us speed and hard work in droves. The unrelenting effort of our forwards really contributed to LFA keeping the momentum.

Crofton is a top team and for all the momentum we were carrying, they have the ability to be very dangerous. Sure enough, it only took a missed marking assignment for a moment and a small miscalculation on a tackle and the Crofton forwards were able to isolate a two—on-one at our 25. With numbers forward and a lovely slip pass, there was nothing keeper Athena Pucovsky ’19 could do, though she desperately dove back to try and make the impossible play.

There is was: down by one despite having a three-to-one edge in short corners and surging forward for the better part of the game. And again the girls didn’t let their heads down. They dug deep and really pushed the game forward. The press was un-relenting. Minutes ticked by and with maybe a minute left, the Crofton defence had a final free hit from their 16. LFA circled the free hit, moving everyone forward. A short pass to a half-back and Mira was all over it. Alison converged and ended up with the ball. One move out of trouble. A very cheeky slip through the defenders legs and she was in the D and running at the goalie. The angle on the shot was now desperately difficult but the slip pass to Lorraine was questionable as she was well covered. Alison slipped it by the keeper and just caught the inside of the goal on a low shot.

The girls celebrated back to the centre, but they didn’t even get to re-start before time was up. A well-deserved tie and loads more to play for as this group has their focus firmly set on playing at the Provincials this fall.