EHT Eagles reverse sectional loss last year
OCEAN CITY – The Egg Harbor Township Eagles field hockey team avenged an overtime loss in the sectional final last fall by beating Ocean City 3-2 in overtime Friday afternoon.
The Eagles improved to 5-0 with the victory over the Ocean City Red Raiders. Ocean City is now 4-1.
The game was a back-and-forth battle
Eagle Kara Wilson scored the golden goal in overtime after the teams tied 2-2 in regulation.
Addison Jacobs gave EHT a 1-0 lead in with five minutes to go in the second quarter on an assist from Jenna Gray, but Ocean City’s Carly Hanin scored to tie the game early in the third quarter and then against early in the fourth quarter to give Ocean City the 2-1 lead. Racheli Levy-Smith and Nicole Carey provided the assists on Hanin’s goals.
With less than seven minutes to play and a player out on a five-minute penalty, Anna Smith tied the game with her shorthanded goal with less three minutes to in the fourth quarter. Gray got the assist on that goal as well.
In the seven-on-seven overtime, Wilson won the game for the Eagles with just over two minutes left. Anna Wilson was credited with the assist.
In last year’s sectional final, also played at Carey Stadium in Ocean City, the Red Raiders won 2-1 in overtime.
EHT senior goalie Rebecca Macchia made 12 saves. Ocean City’s Nora Bridgeford and Taryn Dolka split time in goal, making a total of 7 saves.
“It was evenly matched. Ocean City is always a great team,” said EHT coach Kristie Troster. “They’re well coached and have great fundamentals. We’ve been training really hard for this. We knew this would be our biggest test of the year, both in-conference and well into the playoffs.”
“My kids area ready to play,” she added. “They wanted to win. None of us are over the double-overtime loss from the end of last season and I think that only added to it.”
This time around, she noted, they came out on the other side of the overtime win.
“That is really great feeling. I thank them (my players) immensely,” Troster said. “I told them up to this point in my field hockey coaching career, this has been the best moment I have had yet. I was beyond proud of them last season and I would have loved to have had a regional final (win). We’ve never done this with me at the helm before and I’m very thankful to how they played and I’m proud of them.”
Troster credited the victory to a total team effort to get the job done.
With just over six minutes left in regulation, EHT was hit with a penalty that pulled a player off the field, but they were able to get the goal to tie in spite of that.
“When you do stick-to-stick passing, and you take advantage of defenses not shifting, and you do it right and have aggressive, fast attackers, you can get the job done,” she said. “I am very impressed with them. They always believed and stuck with it and just kept working hard.”
Looking at some of her players who had especially outstanding games, Troster said noted Smith for tying the game, and said Gray, her top center-midfielder, “is probably at 70 percent right now. She has a terribly bruised rib … and she still played her very best to get us here.
“My goalie (Macchia) obviously did a fantastic job. She single-handedly save three goals from going in by herself. And Kara put it in to win.”
Wilson has been scoring a lot of goals for the Eagles this season, Troster said, “and today was no different.”
Red Raiders rebound
Ocean City rebounded on Saturday, beating previously undefeated Hammonton by a 4-1 score.
Ocean City got goals from Hanin, Tricia Nicoletti, Julia Neff and Levy-Smith. Levy-Smith also had 2 assists.
Dolka and Bridgeford each made 3 saves. Goalies for Hammonton (4-1) Angelina Catania and Sofia Grasso combined for 14 saves.
Anna Dankel earned Hammonton’s only score to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Red Raiders shut them out the rest of the way.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
