This past Thursday night, Sacred Heart Academy beat Manual’s JV field hockey team, 7-0.
First Half:
The Crimsons started the game with the ball, but it proved difficult for them to keep possession. This left Manual’s defensive line to protect the goal, as the Sacred Heart Valkyries (SHA) took possession and moved in that direction.
Both teams started the game off strong, with a lot of good blocks by the Lady Crimsons. After just five minutes of play, SHA scored their first goal. The Valkyries continued to move the ball closer toward the Lady Crimsons’ goal. However, Manual defensive players were too busy trying to prevent the ball from going in, resulting in a foul and a missed corner play for SHA.
The Crimsons continued struggling to keep the ball in their possession during the second quarter, with several giveaways by SHA offensive players. Manual’s defense was staying strong, stopping goals. Manual goalie, Amina Mbacke (#78, 10) stopped two of the Valkyries’ corner shots.
Manual got the ball back, but quickly turned it over to the Valkyries, who scored their second point. A foul was called on the Lady Crimsons after a defensive player hit a member of the opposing team with her stick. This gave Sacred Heart a free corner, which was successful. The Lady Crimson defense and the Sacred Heart offense played intensely for a few minutes, but no goals were scored.
Sacred Heart kept getting closer and closer to Manual’s goal and they scored twice more before the end of the second quarter. Although there were many great passes between Amelia Gossom (#35, 10) and Juliette Palmer (#52, 10), the first half came to an end with SHA leading 5-0.
Second Half:
Sacred Heart took possession at the start of the third quarter and because of their strong offensive line, they were able to score within two minutes. For the next couple of minutes, it was intense with the Valkyries repeatedly receiving corners, but all were missed or blocked by the Manual’s defensive line.
Play started to pick up for Manual, slowly moving the ball downfield towards Sacred Heart’s goal as a result of great defense from Brynn Powell (#48, 10). Cece Haynes (#80, 10) attempted to pass the ball to Siyona Nagane (#42, 10), but SHA intercepted the pass and moved quickly to the Crimson’s goal. After the Valkyries missed another corner, Baya Friedman (#53, 10) quickly tried to pass the ball to Amelia Roida (#65,10) but Sacred Heart intercepted it again. The quarter ended soon after that with Sacred Heart leading, 6-0.
Sacred Heart started with possession in the fourth quarter, but the ball was turned over to the Lady Crimsons. As they made their way down the field, a foul was called and the Manual and as a result, they were not able to score. The Valkyries quickly took control of the ball but missed the shot.
Sacred Heart was awarded a corner shot, after a foul was called for stick-on-stick contact, but was blocked by Friedman (#53, 10). The Valkyries were able to recover their missed shot and score with two minutes left in the game.
The Crimsons suffered a tough loss, as the final score was 7-0.
The JV field hockey team will face off against Mercy, on Sept. 9 at 6 p.m.
