Winning After MidKnight
For almost the whole game the
Middletown High School Knights field hockey team was under siege from the
Century High School Knights.
At times, the Century attack was just
too much for Middletown.
Middletown would give up two early
goals and face numerous bracing attacks after that as they fell to Century 2-0
in the sectional final round of the 2014 Maryland Public Secondary Schools
Athletic Association (M.P.S.S.A.A) 2A Field Hockey Championship.
Century would take the opening faceoff
and control the pace of play from there using the slightly slanted grass
surface in their favor controlling the play in Middletown’s half.
Middletown would be able to sustain
and deflect the picture during the first seven minutes of the half, clearing
the ball up to the midfield line.
Century would break through just
inside the eight minute mark. After a shot on goal coming across the corner,
the ball would fall on the stick of Century senior forward Mandi Trostle who would
sneak it just to the right of the out-stretched pad of Middletown junior
goalkeeper Emma Provost and into the back of the net, giving Century the early
1-0 lead.
Century would continue to pound
offensively from there using a offense that seemed to be just a bit faster and
stronger than Middletown, to get to the front of the net, search for
deflections, get shots on goal, and earn corners off of goal line scrambles.
“Our biggest problem was that we weren’t
getting to the ball,” said Middletown junior forward Emily Delauter, part of a
Middletown attack that didn’t record a single shot. “We thought that our
teammates would hit the ball to us without cutting but Century was too fast for
us to do that.”
After the Trostle goal, Century wouldn’t
be satisfied striking just 5:50 later in the first half. After a scramble in
the goal line that resulted in a Middletown player falling on top of the ball,
Century would be given a penalty stroke by the head official.
Century senior midfielder Marissa
Donoghue would step up to the spot and put the penalty stroke directly on net.
The penalty stroke would hit Provost on the inside of the right pad and trickle
just behind her left leg falling in to the back of the net, allowing Century to
take a 2-0 lead.
That would be all Century would need
as they would continue to dominate the pace of play, control possession, and
strangle any attempts by Middletown to shorten the lead or even move the ball
up the field.
If not for the stellar play of
Provost, the scoreline between the two Knights could have been much larger.
Century would rack up 21 shots and 11
corners throughout the course of the game, with a good majority of the chances
coming late in the game as Century tried to tack on insurance points late in
the game.
Provost though would come up big
multiple times, stopping multiple shots from long range and up close, keeping
Middletown in the game up through the final whistle.
“Emma (Provost) is the reason we
stayed in the game with only letting two goals in,” said Delauter. “She saved
or butts a lot with all of her great saves and communication.”
The offensive strength of Century
would cause Middletown to have to fall back and cave in throughout the game as
the speed of a Century team that Middletown only saw briefly during the regular
season was at full force.
“Century has a lot of good players who
know how to pressure the goal and we might not have been ready for that,” said Delauter.
“Considering it has been the other way around the last couple of games.”
It was a heartbreaking loss for a
Middletown team who after being hot recently, winnign five of their last six,
believed they had a chance to knock off a county power in Century.
“We had a good team this year,” said
Delauter. “We had high expectations of winning so (it’s) sort of a letdown.”
Middletown will have to look on this
season with frustration as their elimination comes at the hands of a common foe,
who dominated them with an offensive onslaught.
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