RYE – Field Hockey New York

On a balmy autumn Saturday in the Bronx, Rye FHC continued their impressive start to the season with a commanding 8-2 victory over New York City.

Facing a much stiffer test than in their opening game, Rye started quickly with a penalty corner goal from Cheetham after 2 minutes. Dominating the early exchanges, Rye quickly added to their tally with a second from Cheetham and goals from Sandhu, Halim and Stutz. However, New York City, playing in their second NEFHA season were not prepared to lie down and struck twice in quick succession through Tom Sheridan and new addition Harry Jawanda.

With a 5-2 lead, Rye began the second half knowing they could take nothing for granted. A far more controlled performance from Rye after the break starved NYC of possession and nullified their counter-attack threat. Lennart Cherifi stood out in defense with a number of fine tackles but more pleasing for Rye was their execution in the final third of the pitch. Many of last weeks mental errors were corrected and Rye will be pleased with the number of penalty corners and goal shots they created. With the life choked out of NYC’s attacking ambitions, Rye put the finishing touches on an important victory with a third goal from Cheetham and further strikes from Sandhu and Singh.

Rye will go into their bye week pleased with their first two games but knowing there are tougher games on the horizon. Up next, in a repeat of last years Championship game is Tristate Falcons. This will be a real barometer of how far Rye have progressed this season.