Varsity Field Hockey: Knights play tough in 2nd; still fall 2-0

By Ben Spector
Winning After MidKnight

 

If someone had shown you a video tape of the first half of the Middletown High School Knights Varsity Field Hockey team’s season opening match against the Westminster High School Owls, it wouldn’t have been wrong of that person to assume that the match did not go the way the Knights had intended for it to go.

The Owls dominated possession, were stifling the Knights’ offense, were getting chance after chance off of penalty corners, and just looked like the better team during the first half.

All those advantages led the Owls to a 2-0 advantage and it seemed as if it could be a very long day for the Knights if things didn’t turn around quickly.

The Knights would do just that as they played a much better second half and even though Middletown did end up losing this contest there were plenty of positives to be accentuated from a close game against a 4A State Finalist in field hockey last year.

At the start it didn’t seem as if there would be many positives with the Knights falling behind in the first five minutes on a Westminster goal from Haleigh Moore and the Owls would continue to pressure the Knights throughout the first half.

Westminster was taking all the chances but not being able to convert any of them until late in the first half as the ball would fall to Owls forward Emily Dudley who would slot the ball home for Westminster and give the Owls a 2-0 lead as they headed into halftime.

From there it was make or break time for the Knights, the game wasn’t out of reach and Middletown had two options – they could give up and let things get really ugly or they could dig in their heels and keep fighting.

The Knights chose the latter option and it turned out it suited them very well. Westminster would have their chances to score in the second half but with some help from Knights senior goalie Madeline Hillsman, who recorded twelve saves, Middletown was able to flip the field and generate some offense of their own against a stingy Westminster defense who used their defensive strength to propel them to the state championship last year.

For Middletown, it was a positive sign for the rest of the season as Middletown was able to stay competitive with one of the top teams in the state and play with them for the full 60 minutes something that the Knights were also able to do last year when they made it to the state semifinals.

Through a little resiliency and some determination the Knights may have proven more in their first game than any result could all year.