North Point field hockey tops Stone
Eagles score three secondhalf goals in road win
By AJ MASON ajmason@somdnews.com
Just a week ago, the North Point field hockey team suffered a 2-1 road loss at the hands of La Plata on a late second-half goal. Tuesday, it was the Eagles providing the second-half magic.
Trailing 2-1 early in the second half, the Eagles scored three unanswered goals for a 4-2 victory over the Cougars in a Southern Maryland Athletic Conference Potomac Division contest.
“We talked at halftime because the first half was kind of sluggish, so we just wanted to get the team pumped up and come out with a little
more intensity,” North Point head coach Sandra Fair said. “We needed it to stay more on offense, sometimes it doesn’t translate, but I think today it finally got into their heads that if we kept our sticks down that we would have more scoring chances at the goal. This was a big win for us with it being an in-county game. We need to continue to work our transition and we will be fine.”
North Point senior Sydney Jordan tied the game at 2 with 17 1/2 minutes remaining in the second half. Several minutes later, junior Ayanna Bell took a long shot from inside the 16-yard mark and converted to give the Eagles (2-6, 1-1 SMAC Potomac) a 3-2 lead.
“That goal gave our team an extra boost and put us ahead,” Bell said. “It was a great feeling and after that the intensity went up even more. I’m proud of how we did today and I’m glad this finally happen for us.”
With less than three minutes left, North Point struck again as junior Sydnie Bealle capped off the scoring with her second goal of the game on a hard shot that hit the back of the cage.
Seven minutes into the contest, Bealle scored the first goal of the game in a scramble.
“We played a lot stronger today and we did well as a team and worked together,” Bealle said. “We had a rough start to the season, but we all started to click as a family. We want to finish our season real strong.”
Stone (3-5, 3-1) tied the game at 1 at the 18 minute 28 second mark when Iqura Rehman, who had both of the team’s goals, scored on an assist from teammate Angela Rogers. The score remained the same at halftime.
Rehman gave the Cougars a 2-1 lead in the first seven minutes of the second half on a shot that hit the right corner of the cage.
“We had a couple of defensive breakdowns, and North Point had some momentum in the second half,” Thomas Stone head coach Rebecca Elbert said. “Our girls played a very tough game and tried their best. We have to work on stopping the ball and drives to have a chance against other teams.”
Stone senior goalkeeper Calenna Cauley finished seven saves in the losing effort and Eagles goalkeeper Juli Rosasco added two saves in the win.
North Point is scheduled to host Westlake at 4 p.m. today in another division matchup. Stone is scheduled to host La Plata today at 4 p.m.