RYE – Field Hockey New York

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Sunday, Baker Field – Rye inched closer to a third league crown in the last three seasons with what finished as a comfortable 8-0 win against second placed Greenwich.  Despite the margin of victory the game was very close early on.  Rye started quickly and dominated the early possession with Civico opening the scoring, finishing well after good work down the right flank.  However, Rye were unable to build on their early lead, squandering a number of opportunities and although possession and territory firmly favored the black and gold the score at half time remained 1-0 with only Civico goal and a solitary penalty corner to show for their efforts.  Perhaps it was the rust from a 5 week break finally coming off but the second half was a different story.  Rye upped the tempo immediately and scored within minutes of the restart.  Sandhu, working hard defensively picked of an errant pass, found Lee in space and some great interplay between the forwards left Civico to convert unchallenged at the far post.  It was one way traffic for the rest of the game.  Rye seemed to rediscover their early season form, moving the ball quickly from defense through midfield and Rye’s work rate all over the field soon paid dividends.  Lee added Rye’s third and Cheetham (2), Anich and Stutz (2) completed the scoring.  With a double header coming up next weekend against New York City and New York Islanders, will be looking to wrap up the league in style and take some momentum into the playoffs.

Rye FHC: MacKinnon, Cheetham, Cherifi, Baker, Capdevila, Anich, Sandhu, Strube, Lee, Stutz, Civico, Winterson, Von Thien, Sequiera.

The Rye ladies were back to their fall form as they exploded offensively in the second half for a 6-0 win over the Greenwich Ramblers.

The black and gold came out strong with crisp passing, fast transitions and good circle penetration but had a tough time finding the back of the net early on. Despite a 1-0 lead from a corner, Rye was frustrated by timely saves and tough rebounds but Beatty, with some nifty stick work, pulled the goalie wide and slipped the ball past for a two goal lead heading in to the half.

Not satisfied with their conversion percentage, the ladies worked the corners hard, continued to press and were rewarded with several opportunities. Beatty would take full advantage of her new spot at center forward to give Rye a comfortable lead at 3-0. The corner team of Scherf, Corchrane and Beatty would add to the tally delivering a flawlessly executed corner making the score 4-0. Rawlinson would get on the score sheet pounding in a Heggli rebound and add another beating the goalie from the top of the circle. The Rye defense held tight and MacKinnon saved a stroke late in the second half to preserve the shut-out.

The Rye ladies will next face-off against the Quickstix on April 29th sadly without their vice captain Jess Larson who heads to San Francisco to start a new job. Jess has been a pivotal member of the revived ladies team and will be missed. We wish her the best of luck.

Sugar, de Vries, Kistler, Scherf, Bartsch, Rawlinson, Larson, Dean, MacKinnon, Cochrane, O’Connor, Heggli, Wheeler, Beatty.

Sunday, Baker Field – Rye made it three wins in three games since the winter break with after cruising to a 9-1 victory over Tri-State Falcons. Rye quickly jumped out to a two goal lead and a flurry of goals before half time effectively put the game out of their opponents reach. Rye moved the ball quickly and created chances at will. Stutz and Lee’s movement up front proved far too much for Tri-State to deal with and had Rye been able to finish more efficiently the final score could have been a lot higher. With a month break and three of their remaining games against top four opponents, Rye will have to step up their level of play in order to keep their unbeaten run in tact.

Rye FHC: Johnstone, Cheetham, Jones, Cherifi, Moore, Baker, Anich, Sandhu, Lee, Stutz, Civico, Winterson.

Sunday, Baker Field – Rye recorded their second win since the winter break with a comfortable 11-1 victory over GFHC II. Looking to bounce back after mixed outing the previous week, Rye quickly took control of the game and forced the GFHC ‘keeper into a number of early saves. It was only a matter of time until Rye opened the scoring and Groeneveld finished after some good work from Stutz and Civico on the left hand side. Rye soon added a second goal and it looked like the game would be quickly over as a competitive contest. However, GFHC soon cut the deficit in half. Rye, having hit the post and wasted numerous gilt edged chances found themselves too high up the field and a quick break let to a simple finish on the far post. Despite their early dominance, Rye found themselves in a one score game as half time approached. On the stroke of half time, Rye regained their two goal lead, finally finding the back of the net.

The second half showed a marked improvement. Rye continued to move the ball with purpose and better decision making in key areas started to put the GFHC defense under continued pressure. As the GFHC defenders tired, opportunities began to come thick and fast. Despite the valiant efforts of the GFHC goalkeeper, Rye started to pull away with Cheetham, Stutz, Civio, Sandhu, Anich, Beckers and Strube all adding their names to the score sheet. Rye will be pleased with the result as they continue to inch closer to a third consecutive league title but know there will be sterner tests ahead.

Rye FHC: Von Thien, Cheetham, Jones, Moore, Cherifi, Anich, Strube, Sandhu, Stutz, Civico, Beckers, Groeneveld, Winterson.

With two new faces on the right side and a little rust in their game, the team came out sluggish in their spring season opener and found themselves working hard to keep the score tied at zero. The Rye ladies found some jump and capitalized on a fast break up the left hand side earning their second corner of the match. The corner team was flawless with a strong insert by Scherf, dead stop by Cochrane and a perfectly placed rocket from Beatty putting up the first goal of the game. The lead would be short lived as Greenwich broke back with crisp passing and caught MacKinnon moving to tie the game at 1-1. Adding insult to injury, the defending champs would add another goal in similar fashion shortly after. Not ready to bow out of the contest, the ladies stepped up their game working the ball on the outside and were rewarded with a goal when Cochrane banged in a Beatty rebound. Greenwich would add one more goal to go up 3-2 heading into the half.

Regrouped after the half, the Rye ladies would come out with some punch but Greenwich seemed to be one step ahead with relentless pressure adding three more goals to their first half tally.

With a spring game under their belt, the ladies look to return to their fall form facing off against the Greenwich Ramblers in two weeks.

Sugar, Bredes, Scherf, Barsch, de Chauvigny, willems, Larson, Kaylor, Cochrane, Mackinnon, Heggli, Webster, Beatty

Sunday, Baker Field – Rye kicked off the second half of the season with a comfortable win over a depleted Westchester team. It was a game Rye were always likely to dominate and as such there was little intensity. Rye scored two early goals and then switched off for a large portion of the first half. It took a Westchester goal on the break to give them a bit of a wake up call leading into half time. The second half was much improved in terms of the score line but Rye looked very rusty coming out of the winter break being unusually wasteful with possession, turning the ball over far too regularly. The final score of 8-1 certainly flattered Rye and with Moore, Civico and Beckers returning to add some competition for places, they will be looking to rediscover their autumn form quickly.

Rye FHC: Johnstone, Cheetham, Jones, Baker, Cherifi, Anich, Strube, Sandhu, Stutz, Lee, Groeneveld, Winterson.

February 18th/19th, Trevose PA – Rye FHC will appear on the Big Apple Hockey Federation Indoor International Tournament Trophy for the first time since 2007 after a hard fought weekend culminated with a final victory over the Toronto Titans. Rye finished top of their group with two wins and a draw after Saturday’s play. The day started well with a narrow 2-1 win against Toronto Titans followed by a comfortable 7-0 victory over D.C. Dragons. The final group game however, a 5-5 draw with Cape Ann, left a lot of unanswered questions leading into Sunday. Rye were lucky to escape with a point, needing a last second goal from Stutz to clinch the top seed leading into the knockout round.

Day two started in a similar manner. A quarterfinal match up with New York Islanders stayed to close for too long. Rye dominated possession and rarely looked under pressure but an ineffective penalty corner unit and some sloppy play around the Islanders ‘D’ kept the game tight. Rye eventually came out 3-0 winners but knew better play was needed if they were to break the four year winning streak of the Toronto Lions. The semi-final match up was against NEFHA rival NYC FHC. Rye started the game well and quickly took the lead after Cheetham finished a nice move by Stutz on the right hand side. However, despite numerous chances, Rye were unable to increase their lead by the break. It was becoming a familiar story for Rye, solid defensively with Wagner calling the shots from the back and comfortably dealing with any threats but unable to create any real momentum in attack. The second half continued the theme with NYC starting to take some more risks to get back in the game. Strube was outstanding in mid-field frustrating NYC on numerous occasions and Rye finally earned some more breathing room with Christie adding a second goal from a tight angle on the right hand side. The game was finally secured after Akkaya finished one of the better Rye moves in the dying minutes.

Back in the final for the second year running, Rye were now looking to take back the trophy after having their tournaments ended by Toronto teams in each of the the last four years. Rye got off to the best possible start with Civico scoring the games opening goal after 20 seconds. It was 2-0 soon after, Civico again applying the finish after good work by Stube and Cheetham. Cheetham added a third and Stutz made it four to make the scoreline 4-1 at half time. Toronto only had a penalty corner to show for their efforts. It seemed Rye saved it’s best hockey for the final. What had been inconsistent offensive play from Rye suddenly clicked into gear and Rye were creating opportunities at will. Cheetham added his second of the final and Stutz added another four goals in the second period to make the final score 9-4. Rye were not only delighted to win the tournament but also pleased to have played some great hockey. The defense, well marshaled by Wagner, limited opponents to very few clear cut opportunities throughout the tournament and the mid-field tandem of Strube and Van Oyen worked tirelessly. Strube in particular showing some real moments of class when it was most needed. The forward line ran themselves into the ground defensively and all stepped up a different times when a goal was required. Groeneveld, playing in his first indoor tournament with Rye, was also deservedly recognised as the tournaments most promising youngster. Rye deserved their victory and in an event dominated by Canadian teams since its inception, are now the first American team to win the tournament twice.

Rye FHC: Cheetham, Wagner, Cherifi, Christie, Strube, Van Oyen, Stutz, Civico, Groeneveld, Akkaya.

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.