GREENE – Greene field hockey coach, Sue Carlin, has several players on her team with as many as three years of experience in state semifinals games. A good portion of her team remains from last year’s squad that fell in the state semifinals, yet, despite the apparent comfort that comes with experience, Carlin expects her troops to be nervous when play commences at 11:30 a.m. this Saturday at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.
Across the field will be Section 11 champion Sachem East, who advanced to the Class A semifinals winning back-to-back games by a combined 11-1 score. “It certainly helps to have experience, but it’s natural to be nervous and excited,” Carlin said. “We just have to channel that in a good way. I want them to be nervous. In my mind, if you’re not nervous, then it doesn’t mean that much to you. We’ve put a lot of time and energy into this. If you want it bad enough, you should be nervous.”
Sachem East avenged a loss to Ward-Melville in last year’s Section 11 Class A final rolling to a 5-0 victory. Just last weekend in the regional finals at Stony Brook University, the Flaming Arrows gave up a goal to Massapequa in the game’s first 90 seconds. From there, they scored six unanswered goals. Over the past two games, Katie Trombetta has two goals and two assists as does Kristen Bagley. Katie Doherty scored twice in the win over Ward-Melville, and Karyn Ryan picked up three assists against Massapequa.
The Flaming Arrows are 19-1 on the season, and like most teams from the Long Island area, are clearly a solid team. Carlin knows the Suffolk County area produces quality clubs, and Ward-Melville proved that in 2008 eliminating Greene from state playoff contention.
“I really don’t know much about them,” Carlin said. “I know they won big their last two games and obviously they’re good.”
Regarding those two blowout victories, Carlin isn’t terribly concerned. During the Trojans’ state title run in 2009, it rolled to convincing wins – similar to Sachem East to reach the state semifinals – but relied on defense to win a pair of 1-0 games. “Really, we don’t know the level of competition that they’ve faced so far,” Carlin said. “The girls (on the team) have been looking at scores online, and they seem to be handling it well. They are talking confidently, and they took (those scores) the same way as me.”
In contrast to Sachem East, Greene has scored four total goals over its last two games. Two of its three goals in a sectional final win over Vestal two weeks ago came in the last three minutes, and last week’s lone tally against Shenendehowa occurred within the first 3 1/2 minutes. The constant in those two games: Zero goals allowed, and less than 10 total shots surrendered.
“Our defense has held it together, and it’s a strength,” Carlin said. “We have put up quite a few goals, and I think we’ve played pretty solid all the way around. But, our defense has definitely come up big when we needed it.”
On the other half of the Class A semifinals bracket, Liverpool of Section III clashes with Mamoraneck of Section I. Semifinals winners meet in the state championship game Saturday at C-NS High School at 10 a.m.