RYE – Field Hockey New York

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.