RYE – Field Hockey New York

Rye dominated third place QuickStix this week and solidified their fourth place finish for the first half of the season. Early in the match, the black and yellow created many goal-scoring opportunities thanks to the offensive efforts of Heggli, Willems and O’Keeffe. Cochrane converted a cross from O’Connor in the mid-field for Rye’s first goal. Bartsch, Scherf, and Helwig controlled any counter-attacks by the QuickStix offense, who had no short corners and only two shots on goal during the first 35. O’Connor carried the ball 20 meters, dodging the QuickStix defense, and entering their circle at the 20 minute mark. She finished her quick stick-work with a hard drive from the top of the circle to the back of the cage. Cochrane slipped one more in the net again before the end of the first half to put Rye up 3-0.

In the second half, Rye scored early and often. Cochrane added 2 more, Heggli scored off a Cochrane cross to the far post, O’Keeffe had a lovely aerial shot to the upper 90 region of the cage, and Helwig added one with a reverse chip shot. QuickStix managed to score once at the 50 minute mark off a fast break. This goal withstanding, Rye’s defense, lead by Sugar, Scherf and Larson was consistent, composed and poised during the entire game, allowing few corners and shots on goal. MacKinnon actively deflected all shots on goal and organized her squad. Larson contributed to these efforts with a defensive save in the 60th minute. Feeding off their impressive defense, Rye ended the game with two more goals. Bredes, a rookie at the forward position, contributed to the scoring tally with a reverse shot past the keeper’s pads in the at the 55th minute. Cochrane scored her fifth and Rye’s final goal off a hard shot in the last minute.

Now with a strong fourth place spot, Rye eagerly awaits the spring season. The ladies have their eye on a playoff spot for 2012, and proved this week that they have earned a new reputation as a high scoring and dangerous threat.

Rye suffered an unfortunate loss at the hands of first place Big Apple this week. Our ladies dominated the first fifteen minutes of play with smart passes by Bartsch and Helwig in the midfield and tough pressure on BAFHC’s defense line by forwards Heggli and new comer Devries. Rye had several opportunities on goal early on, including a strong corner effort by Scherf and Cochrane, but failed to convert. Big Apple slipped in a goal off a cross in the 20th minute and never looked back. At the half, Rye was down two.

Rye started off the second half fired up by strong defensive efforts by Dean, Scherf and Sugar. Goalkeeper Mackinnon made several strong saves eliminating Big Apple’s fast break opportunities. Again, Rye’s offense, lead by Cochrane and Heggli, had nice looks on goal, but could not get on the scoreboard. BAFHC scored thrice before the end of the second half to beat our ladies 0-5.

Rye faces QuickStix this week for their last fall season game.

Sunday, Baker Field – Rye closed out the first half of the season with their seventh straight victory, defeating previously unbeaten Greenwich 4-1. Going into the game missing their entire regular starting forward line, Rye knew it would take a disciplined performance to maintain their position at the top of the table. There were few opportunities for either team during the opening ten minutes as both teams were sizing up their opposition and were reluctant to open the game up. Despite creating a couple of chances, Rye fell behind to a quick break goal after a lack of patience in the final third of the pitch led to a needless turnover. Greenwich capitalised on their numerical advantage and Michaels slotted the ball past Johnstone to give Greenwich a 1-0 lead. As the half progressed, Rye started to exert continued pressure in the Greenwich half of the pitch and Von Thien scored a well deserved equaliser from a penalty corner break down. Rye doubled their tally 5 minutes before the break. Cheetham rattled the underside of the crossbar from a penalty corner and Anich turned in the loose ball from close range.

Despite their territorial advantage, Rye knew they would need to maintain their concentration in the second half if they wanted to take all three points against a dangerous Greenwich team. As the game wore on, Rye began to push Greenwich back. The Greenwich ‘keeper made a number of fine saves from Sandhu to keep the game close but had no answer to another Cheetham penalty corner after 45 minutes which gave Rye a 3-1 lead. Down by two goals, Greenwich tried to step up and build some pressure on the Rye defense but some composed play at the back and relentless work rate from Strube in the midfield allowed Rye to weather the storm. A Rye fast break with ten minutes remaining resulted in a penalty stroke which Cheetham converted to give the league leaders a 4-1 lead. Rye comfortably saw out the remainder of the game to make it a perfect 7-0 at the seasons half way mark.

Rye will be very pleased with their performance during the fall schedule and excited to see they are still capable of getting results in the absence of so many key players. There will still be a lot of work to do to retain the trophies won last season but Rye will be confident they have the squad to make another run at the league and playoff titles.

Rye FHC: Johnstone, Cheetham, Cherifi, Jones, Moore, Strube, Anich, Sandhu, Beckers, Groeneveld, Arthur, Von Thien, Sequiera.

Rye took on the Islanders this Sunday for their second win of the fall season. With some new talent in the defense (Scherf) and offense (O’Connor), along with the consistently strong play of Bartsch and Cochrane in the midfield, Rye was able to dominate their this crucial league game. The Islanders were short sided with only 9 this week, but they fought hard throughout the game.

During the first 15 minutes O’Keeffe made several nice crosses from the right wing position and Heggli had nice stickwork on left side resulting in many strong, though unsuccessful, opportunities on goal. Finally at the 20 minute mark, Scherf passed the ball to Larson who crossed it from the right midfield to Kistler at left wing, who quickly hit the ball into the cage. After their first goal, the ladies did not look back. Goal number two came off an unstoppable hit from Helwig, assisted by the corner team (Scherf and Cochrane). Rye had a solid first half, but the team knew that they could do better.

In the second half, Rye scored an additional 5 goals and continued to dominate. O’Connor started out the high-scoring half with some nice stickwork from the midfield into the circle followed by a strong drive into the back of the cage. Goals four and six for Rye came off other corner unit successes, and O’Connor put in another one thanks to smart passing by Rye for goal five. After hitting the post, Larson scored Rye’s final goal of the game via a shot off a corner cross from Helwig.

Rye’s reliable defense saw little action this week, as the Islanders failed to make it into their offensive circle the entire game. Strong tackles by Sugar, Dean, and Bredes along with the leadership and patience shown by Scherf and George on the back-line set the pace for the entire team. The defense was so solid that goalkeeper Mackinnon received no shots on goal. Rye follows up their biggest win and goal tally in history with the undefeated league leaders Big Apple next week.

The Rye ladies dropped their first game of the season falling to the defending champions GHFC Rovers 6-1 on a warm fall afternoon.

Once again working with a short bench, the Rye ladies quickly found themselves in their own end as Greenwich took full advantage of key defensive absences. They would get on the board 18 minutes into the first half as a defensively redirected ball caught MacKinnon moving in the opposite direction. Rye would escape the first half only down one despite having spent the majority of the half in their defensive end.

The second half would be all Greenwich as they knocked in 5 goals despite the often heroic saves of MacKinnon. Rye did manage to get on the board when Willems took the ball down the right wing and made a well timed pass to Heggli inside the circle. A reverse chip shot found the back of the net denying Greenwich the shutout.

The Rye Ladies next take on the Wildcats in an important game as the two teams jockey for a spot in the top four.

Bartsch, Heggli, Willems, Kistler, MacKinnon, Sugar, Maguire, Rawlinson, Cochrane, Dean, Franzone, Kantarian

Sunday, Baker Field – Rye came away with another victory after a mixed performance in their penultimate game of the fall schedule. With season debuts for Baker, Maagdenberg and Dry, Rye struggled for consistency from the start. Despite a couple of early chances on the break, it was Islanders who had the first real pressure and Johnstone was called into action twice to keep the game scoreless. As the first half progressed Rye managed to create a number of chances albeit without playing the kind of hockey that lead to their early season success. Despite a significant amount of possession, Rye were unable to open the scoring as chance after chance went begging. Sandhu finally broke the dead lock from a penalty corner as half time approached and Rye were relieved to head into the break with a 1-0 lead.

Despite their one goal advantage, Rye were well aware of the dangers posed by Islanders speedy forward line and new a far better performance was needed in the second period. After some harsh words, Rye started the second half with renewed energy and focus. Moving the ball effectively through mid-field, Rye started to exert significant pressure on the Islanders back line. Having defended stoutly in the first half, Islanders were not able to repel the relentless Rye forays into their 25. Lee added two from open play, Stutz and Dry both deflected in penalty corners from Cheetham and Civico finished a fantastic move that started deep on Rye’s left side of defense with Cherifi and ended up in the back of the net four passed and a matter of seconds later. The scoring was capped off with a well worked free hit on the edge of the Islanders ‘D’. Cheetham slipped a square ball to Anich on the edge of the circle, his first time pass was deflected towards the far post where Stutz applied the finishing touch with knee high volley into the back of the net.

Despite a much improved second half, Rye will be need to improve their finishing and maintain their standards for the entire game when they play fellow unbeaten team Greenwich.

Rye FHC: Johnstone, Cheetham, Cherifi, Moore, Jones, Maagdenberg, Baker, Strube, Sandhu, Anich, Buttignol, Beckers, Stutz, Lee, Civico, Dry

Sunday, Baker Field – On possibly the last hot weekend of the year, Rye put in another fine performance against Westchester to remain unbeaten at the top of the standings going into a bye week. Despite missing a couple of regulars, Rye continued where they left off in the previous game against NYC, moving the ball quickly and creating numerous chances. Lee opened the scoring with a fine finish after a quick interchange of passes between Cheetham and Anich and from that point on the floodgates opened. Westchester were unable to cope with the movement and pace of the Rye forward line and the scoreboard was soon ticking over with Groeneveld adding a couple of nice finishes from open play, Lee increasing his tally and Cheetham and Anich both getting on the scoresheet from penalty corners.

The second half produced more of the same. Strube and Anich, tireless in midfield, quickly dealt with any Westchester forays into Rye territory and Sandhu continued to cause problems for Westchester defenders. Despite the score line and the temperature, Rye’s work rate was excellent for the entire match and they were rewarded with a number of fantastic goals. Rye will also be heartened by the fact they were able to produce such a fine performance in the absence of Stutz, Moore, Jones and Civico. With strong debuts from Von Ritter and Heesters as well as Beckers returning to the line up, Rye have their strongest squad in years and will be looking forward to the challenges posed by GFHC and New York Islanders (second and third in the standings respectively) in their final two games before the winter break.

Rye FHC: Johstone, Cheetham, Heesters, Von Ritter, Cherifi, Strube, Anich, Sandhu, Lee, Groeneveld, Beckers

On a hot and humid evening, the Rye ladies showed determination and heart as they battled 70 mins against a strong, deep NYC team earning a 1-1 tie.

Faced once again with a short bench, the black and gold had their work cut out for them. After a slow start, the new corner team of Heggli, Cochrane and Helwig struck gold with Helwig’s perfectly placed shot finding the corner to put Rye ahead 1-0. Sugar and Geoffrey would each add a defensive save to help MacKinnon preserve the lead going into the half.

NYC would not be kept off the board as a scramble in front of the net led to the equalizer. Continuing to take advantage of fresh legs, NYC was unrelenting forcing Rye back on their heels and into sloppy play in the circle. The defensive corner unit came up big time and time refusing to yield the go ahead goal. Then all went black.

With 1:47 left in the game, the lights cut out at Baker Field leaving an exhausted Rye team and an exasperated New York team in the dark. After much debate and 20 minutes, the Rye defense held of the NYC offensive corner team one last time and the game ended in a draw.

Up next, the ladies take on the defending league champions, the Greenwich Rovers, on Sunday October 9th and will look to continue their strong start.

Sunday, Baker Field – The most anticipated game of the young season was something of a let down after it became evident NYC were missing 3 key players. Despite their absentees, NYC still fielded the strongest side Rye have faced this year and it was evident early on it would be no walk over. After a frenetic opening few minutes in which Rye had to keep out a couple of penalty corners, Rye started to control possession. Pressure started to build with NYC struggling to contain the movement of Stutz, Lee, Civico and debutant Groeneveld up front. After a denying Cheetham and Anich from penalty corners, Sheridan in the NYC goal was finally beaten by Stutz who finished a fine move at the back post. Rye quickly doubled their lead through Lee who found a gap at Sheridan’s near post after beating a couple of NYC defenders at the top of the circle. Rye extended their lead to three just before the break when Civico added his name to the score sheet.

The second half continued in much the same manner. Rye were patient at the back and moved the ball very effectively resulting in a lot of work for the NYC midfield. Chances started to pile up as Rye’s movement proved too much for the NYC defense. Groeneveld who had been a effective but a little nervous in front of goal in the first half started to find his stride and added three second half goals, and Sandhu who had been a thorn in NYC’s side all afternoon finished the scoring.

Despite an under-strength NYC team, Rye will be very pleased with a professional performance that sees them sitting atop the standings with three games remaining before the winter break. Westchester are next up for Rye who will be welcoming Beckers back to the squad for his first game of the season.

Rye FHC: Johnstone, Cheetham, Jones, Moore, Cherifi, Anich, Strube, Sandhu, Stutz, Lee, Civico, Groeneveld.

Sunday, Baker field – Rye 1 improved to 3-0 for the season on a humid fall afternoon with a comfortable 7-0 victory over Rye 2.  Early season injury and unavailability continued to plague Rye 1 who were missing a number of regulars.  Despite a two man numerical disadvantage, Rye 1 dominated the game from the outset and were only denied an early lead by stout defensive play from Sequiera at the back and MacKinnon in goal for Rye 2.  Despite some sloppy finishing Rye 1 eventually found the back of the net through Lee.  Sandhu added a second quickly after with a fantastic strike into the top corner of MacKinnon’s goal.  Lee added two more before the break, one of which was a fine finish over the advancing ‘keeper with very little room to work in.

The second half was a little scrappy.  Rye 1 started to tire and the game became increasingly more disjointed.  Cheetham, Strube and Heggli all scored from open play to make the final score 7-0.  Rye 1 will be looking forward to getting some regulars back for the top of the table clash with New York City next week.

Rye FHC:  Elsabbagh, Cheetham, Moore, Cherifi, Strube, Anich, Sandhu, Lee, Heggli.