Varsity Field Hockey: Knights Look to Win On Mental Side

By Ben Spector
Winning After MidKnight

 

Yogi Berra, the New York Yankees all-star and cunning linguist, once remarked about life saying that “90 percent of it is half mental.”

And, while the former Yankees catcher most certainly did not have a small town Maryland field hockey team that predated him by almost 50 years in mind when he uttered these words, to a degree they ring true for the Middletown High School Knights Varsity Field Hockey team when they take on the Manchester Valley High School Mavericks on Tuesday September 13^th at 4:00 p.m.

Middletown has been facing a battle that the Knights hope they will overcome sooner rather than later. But, this battle won’t take place in the goal crease or off of a penalty corner and it won’t happen at the faceoff dot or on the wings, a streaking run by a midfielder making the difference.

The battle will be won inside the heads of the Knights as they will admit that some of the issues they have faced this year stem from already penciling in losses to their opponents before the game has even started.

“We talked about it the other day,” said Knights junior midfielder Tess Queen.”We can’t go into games telling ourselves that we have already lost it.”

That mindset will be huge for the Knights as they go into their contest against the Mavericks as right now Middletown will look to overcome those issues against the Mavericks.

That fact might be a blessing in disguise for Middletown as issues that are in the players' heads can be easily overcome while physical issues or issues with how the team plays usually take much, much longer to correct themselves.

The Knights match-up against the Mavericks is a match where both teams play very different styles but are in the same boat in that both teams are trying to determine what their strengths and weaknesses are as they move into the season.

For, Middletown one of the goals will be to spread the offense that has been so dynamic in the second half for Middletown into the first half as Middletown hopes to get out on early on their opponents and force the pressure on them early. Middletown's offensive pressure in all of their games so far has been excellent in the second half, something the Knights hope to carry over.

Or it could just be a byproduct of the fact that in both matches Middletown has been down heading into the second half meaning that if the Knights want to win the game that they would, logically, have to up the pressure that they play on both sides of the ball. Whatever it is Middletown will look to correct this on Tuesday as if they play a full 60 minute match the Knights can beat the Mavericks and, frankly, most teams in the state.

The Knights will have their work cut out for them against Manchester Valley as this is a Mavericks team that likes to score and score often as the Mavericks scored six goals in their season opener against Walkersville as the Mavericks took over 30 shots in the opening day win. The Mavericks have also shown an ability to be two-dimensional as they would drop back and take a more defensive posture in game #2 against C. Milton Wright as they would drop that contest by a 2-1 decision.

The key for Middletown to take down the Mavericks will be to strike early and strike often, something that just might relieve the mental burdens they are holding on to.