CHITTENANGO – It took three seasons for Greene to get past the first round of the state playoffs and into the semifinals. The Trojans will have to wait another year to move past this year’s performance.
Section 11’s Ward Melville scored 52 seconds into overtime, and despite getting outplayed for much of the contest, advanced to the finals of the New York State Field Hockey Class A tournament beating Greene, 2-1, Friday at Chittenango High School
The Patriots (22-1), outshot 12-3 in the contest by Greene, finished off its title run with a 2-0 championship win over Section 6’s Williamsville North on Saturday.
“We played so well and it’s a tough loss,” said Greene coach Sue Carlin, who piloted Greene to a 2002 state title. “Obviously (Ward Melville) is a great team to get to this point. We just didn’t execute (and score) that one goal when we needed it.”
Ward Melville seldom tested the heart of the Greene defense, but when it was in the penalty circle, the Patriots proved dangerous. Gaining control of the ball in 7-versus-7 overtime, the Patriots drew their ninth penalty corner of the game. After the initial pass was sent into the circle, a scramble ensued, and Callie Vitalo slipped the ball into the left side of the cage for the winner.
“I don’t think we played our best game of the season, and I think we were a little tight,” said Ward Melville coach Nancy Cole, who also won a Class A state title coaching Centereach. “We did make the most of our opportunities, and today it came on the corners. We always feel good in overtime. We have a good corps of players and our goalie (Kaitlyn Deturo) is pretty good.”
Deturo consistently fended off Greene’s offensive pressure by aggressively coming out to the ball. It made up for the Patriots’ support defense, who Cole said was not as good as usual. Deturo did give up a couple extra of penalty corners due to saves that were booted into the air; however, other than Greene’s opening goal, the Ward Melville defense was up to the task.
“I’ve seen this coach (Cole) at conferences, and her specialty is defense,” Carlin said. “I knew this would be a tough battle for our kids.”
Unlike the previous week when it was playing from behind, Greene (16-3) tallied first after generating one of its eight first-half penalty corners. Andrea Day sent in the initial pass, and Christine Conroe delivered the goal with 10:02 left in opening half.
Less than two minutes later, Ward Melville was able to knot the game. On a perfectly executed penalty corner, Georgia Holland slid a pass to the right to Emilee Rahner, who nailed a hard shot just inside the left post at 8:14.
The immediate response by Ward Melville stemmed the momentum, and Carlin said that quick answers to initial goals are a common occurrence. “It happens all the time,” she said. “I don’t know...you’re on such a high, and I think you (as a team) lose your focus.”
Conroe was named to the all-tournament team following the loss, and Erin Smith received the sportsmanship award.
Score by half OT
WM 1 0 1–2
Gre. 1 0 0–1
Goals-assists: (G) Christine Conroe, 1-0; Andrea Day, 0-1. (WM) Callie Vitalo, 1-0; Emilee Rahner, 1-0; Georgia Holland, 0-1.
Shots-penalty corners: (G) 12-14, (WM) 3-9.
Saves: (G) Devyn Staley, 1, (WM) Kaitlyn Deturo 8.