High school field hockey: Hurricanes shut out Wasps in state title game rematch
Published: 10-03-2024 5:18 PM |
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — When Hartford and Woodstock meet on the pitch, the game means just a little bit more.
To say the two teams are quite familiar with one another is probably an understatement. Leanne Tapley, the Wasps’ coach, and Heather Scudder, the Hurricanes’ boss, coached together in June in the Twin State Game. Hartford and Woodstock have battled for the Division II state crown in the last two seasons — the Hurricanes blanked the Wasps 2-0 last season after losing to Woodstock in 2022. There is a long-standing rivalry between the schools.
In the lone regular season meeting between the two squads, Hartford used an early two-goal cushion to cruise to a 3-0 victory on Wednesday.
“I’m very happy with the first half,” Scudder said. “Woodstock and Hartford, for decades, we’ve been rivals. So they got fired up to play, and I thought they played a good game.”
Tapley, who is currently overseeing a mini-rebuild following the graduation of six seniors, has seen her team struggle to generate consistent opportunities on offense, especially of late.
The Wasps have been held scoreless in four consecutive games and they haven’t tallied three or more goals since an overtime victory over Windsor on Sept. 10.
Entering the game, however, Tapley’s main focus was on how her defense would perform, rather than the offense. She wanted to see her team limit Hartford’s attacking opportunities.
The Hurricanes have been held to less than three goals just once this season — a 1-0 loss to Bellows Falls on Sept. 25 — so Tapley’s goal was to “not allow them to score as many goals as they’ve been scoring.”
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“I think we were successful in that,” Tapley said of her team’s performance defensively. “I’d like to think it was a 2-0 game, that the third goal (didn’t happen), but it is what it is. For as young a team as I have, I was happy with how they played.”
The chances in the first quarter were few and far between as the squads played a scoreless opening 15 minutes. But Hartford senior midfielder Martha Crasper’s tally, off an assist from fellow senior midfielder Olivia Seaver, just two minutes in the second frame broke the deadlock.
Midway through the second quarter, Hartford got its second goal courtesy of senior Madison Barwood. Junior Charlotte Jasmin collected the ball off an awkward bounce off a “broken corner” and pushed a pass to Barwood in the center of the shooting circle, who rifled a shot into the back of the cage.
“We’ve talked about how good Madison (Barwood) is in the circle,” Scudder said. “(The corner) was not executed well, but they all count as one.”
Scudder was not enthused by her team’s lack of execution in the second half — it took nearly all 30 minutes for Hartford to score its third goal, which came off of Jasmin’s stick as the horn sounded.
Still, as the regular season nears its conclusion in a couple weeks, she was happy that her players were attempting some fresh in-game skills, a point of emphasis for her of late.
“Just not being predictable,” Scudder said of reinforcing new skill development late in the season. “It’s great when you’re in August, you get to figure out what your best move is, and then perfect that. But now we’ve been playing for five weeks, you need to have some diversity in your game.”
Whether it’s developing a non-stick side move or attempting a back pass like senior Paige Trombly — a move Scudder “loved” — having a counter for an opponent is incredibly important come playoff time. It may not work particularly well on Hartford’s grass field, but when games are played on turf, the moves the Hurricanes (7-1-1) are trying out now could “change the shape of a game.”
In a physical contest, Tapley said she saw her team shake off its nerves in the second half, “digging deep” and wanting “it a little bit more.”
Woodstock (5-2-2) is still searching for its first win since a 2-1 victory on Sept. 18 over Fair Haven with five games left on the docket. Despite the defeat, Tapley remained “happy” with her team’s performance, one she and the Wasps will hope to build on as they prepare for an away game at Springfield (0-9) on Saturday.
“It’s always a fun rivalry,” Tapley said of her team’s midweek tilt against Hartford. “It’s a fun game and I definitely think we have things to improve on, but we played as well as I’d hoped.”
Alex Cervantes can be reached at acervantes@vnews.com or 603-727-7302.