RYE – Field Hockey New York

It turned out to be a big Sunday for the Swiss.

Roger Federer set the tone early in the New York morning by finally overcoming the last obstacle to immortality in Paris. For Rye FHC, the June league playoffs had become the club’s personal “Roland Garros” over the last 10 years. The title was missed summer after summer, often by final defeats against our club’s “Rafa Nadal”, Greenwich FHC. But 2009 brought a smashing end to this frustrating series, with Rye being crowned NEFHA playoff champions after an indisputable 5-2 victory over Tri-State Falcons, the defending champions. It was Tristate which delivered the first upset of the day by eliminating regular season winners Greenwich 2-1 in an exact repetitionof last year’s semifinal outcome. Rye faced regular season’s 3rd ranked team, the New York Islanders, in their semifinal. The tactical road map was to control the Islanders fast forwards who have caused much damage to Rye in the season’s first encounter back in October. Rye made some personal changes to address the threat: James Richardson and Chris Cheetham, two physical players, joined the Rye defense, supporting Ageless Wonder Peter Jones and Eldrid Sequeira.

David Geerts gave a superb playoff debut as keeper. Rye was in control of the game from the start and created immediate danger in the Islander’s circle, leading to an early series of short corner opportunities. But it took Adrian Missen’s well-placed shot following the 4th short corner to take the initial pressure off Rye. The early lead cemented Rye’s dominance and it was the Islanders who now needed to up their creativity. This opened the field for Rye’s fast counter attacks: Shortly before half time Rye’s Australian midfield engine Alex Anich connected with Akhlaq Tabassam and Sukhi Sandhu, who went on to penetrate the circle from the right and find Max Rijkenberg completely free on the penalty spot. The Dutch forward, who had just entered the game 15 seconds earlier, made no mistake and buried the ball into the roof of the goal. The second half of the game saw a continuationof the recipe that worked so well for Rye: The Islanders, unable to build up their game, continuously handed over the ball to Rye’s midfielders who turned around to quickly launch the rapid counter attacks. Rye produced several more short corners in that fashion, one of which was converted by Patrick Stutz to seal the Islander’s fate and secure Rye’s final berth.

A few Rye players must have thought of last year’s final when the gruesome heat took its toll on the team against a Tristate squad that was much better prepared for playing under such conditions. Again, Tristate enjoyed the luxury of an extra two hours of rest, but this turned out to be an advantage for Rye. Tristate completely missed the start of the game and found itself overwhelmed by the Rye offensive. The first half of this final playoff game saw some of the best hockey that Rye has produced in many years. Patrick Stutz opened the score 2 minutes into the game with a mis-hit turned lob which somehow found its way over Tristate’s keeper into the net. This was all the luck Rye needed in this game. Attack after attack rolled into Tristate’s 25-yard zone, producing several short corners and delicate moments in front of the Tristate goal. Chris Cheetham and Adrian Missen converted a short corner each, putting Rye up 3-0 20 minutes into the game. Sukhi Sandhu made it 4-0 with a skillful close-angle shot, and Patrick Stutz delivered the final blow minutes before half-time by dribbling around the Tristate keeper and buring the ball in the right far corner. Rye shifted into a lower gear for the second half which gave Tristate some room to get better into the game. However, the 2 late goals only had cosmetic value and could not derail Rye’s championship train. After 7 years in New York, the “other Swiss” finally lifted the so longed for trophy for the Rye Fieldhockey Club, who in the current composition is at its strongest in years.

Semifinal: Rye FHC – NY Islanders 3-0 (2-0)
Goals: Missen, Rijkenberg, Stutz Final: Rye FHC – Tristate Falcons 5-2 (5-0)
Goals: Stutz (2), Missen, Cheetham, Sandhu For Rye played: David Geerts, Peter Jones,
Patrick Stutz, James Richardson, Eldrid Sequeira, Alex Anich, Christopher Cheetham, Sukhi Sandhu,
Jas Preet Singh, Akhlaq Tabassam, Adrian Missen, Maximilian Rijkenberg, Simon Singh, Alexander Rooks