Varsity Field Hockey: Knights get used to Carroll County challenge

By Ben Spector
Winning After MidKnight

 

Every athletic season the same thing happens for the Middletown High School Knights Field Hockey team and every year it’s usually the same results creating the same effect for the Knights leading to the same outcome.

When the season starts for the Knights, they don’t see any of the Frederick County competition that makes up their league, the Central Maryland Conference.

They come later in the schedule as the weather cools down and the games take on more meaning.

They don’t see any teams from Washington County because Washington County athletics do not sponsor field hockey as a sport so there is no one to the west for them to play.

So, the next logical step for the Knights would be to play teams from Carroll County. The only issue with that is Carroll County field hockey is extremely tough with some of the top talent from the state of Maryland coming from schools such as Century, Francis Scott Key, and Manchester Valley.

And, like clockwork, every year before they get into their league schedule, the Knights will take on three teams from Carroll County and even for the most part, the Knights hold their own but have been unable to clinch the victories that they would like to get their season on a roll.

There is some benefit to this, even though for most of the players on the team, during these losses it might not seem like it. By playing these games against stronger Carroll County opponents, the Knights get a first hand taste of what the strength of their opponents will look like come playoff time, something that has paid off before.

One need look no further than last year’s success for the Knights who made it to the state semifinal round of the state championship as further proof for why playing the tough schedule at the start pays dividends. Middletown, on their run to a state championship, ended up beating one of those Carroll County opponents as they headed towards playoffs, dispatching Century in order to make it to the regional final round.

So, begrudgingly but seeing the reason behind it, the Knights will start off their season against another Carroll County opponent, the Westminster High School Owls at home on Tuesday September 6^th at 4:00 p.m.

For the Knights, notwithstanding the fact that it is extremely early in the season, this will be a good measuring stick game as taking on the tough Carroll County opponent in the Owls will give the Knights a feel for what they need to work on as they move ahead into their season.

One area that the Knights will play reasonably close attention to will be in net, as Middletown senior goaltender Madeline Hillsman will be tasked with keeping the Owls at bay to give the Knights a chance to win the game.

It would be an excellent sign if Hillsman could keep the Knights in the game, as Middletown will be looking to Hillsman this year to have a big impact as her successor’s (Emma Provost) play was paramount to the amount of success that the Knights had last year.

Hillsman will be challenged in this contest as she will go up against an Owls’ offense that is extremely potent after making it to the state finals last year but missing out on a state championship trophy by a goal. Westminster will feature senior forward Emily Dudley and sophomore forward Veronica Maring, who together scored 23 goals with 15 assists between the two to lead the Owls to the state final.

Dudley and Maring will provide a tough test for Middletown, but Hillsman and the Knights wouldn’t want it any other way. It might just help them in the long run.