Arruda delivers for Bears in OT
Stonington rallies past EL in sudden death in showdown for first
Stonington — In a quirk of high school field hockey, overtime sessions are played 7-on-7, with six field players and a goalie (as opposed to 10 players and a goalie), drastically improving the chances of scoring by opening things up significantly.
Stonington High School's chief weapon in that scenario: Miranda Arruda, who covers the field from endline to endline as part of her regular duties and has manufactured 45 goals over the last two seasons.
"Yes," Stonington coach Jenna Tucchio said of whether having Arruda gave her team the advantage in that situation. "I specifically said, 'Give Miranda the ball.' If you have a player that has a specific skill — offense, defense, goalkeeping — you don't want to deny her the opportunity. Miranda has the potential every time she has the ball to score.
"She does everything from end to end with a high degree of success."
It was Arruda who provided Stonington with a sudden victory Thursday night in a game against East Lyme, being played for the Eastern Connecticut Conference regular-season title. The Bears edged East Lyme 3-2, capturing at least a share of their 10th straight ECC championship on a night the team celebrated its seniors,
including Arruda, who plays the game with a combination of quickness and ingenuity.
The Bears (13-1-1, 10-1) can clinch the title outright with a win or a tie Saturday against Woodstock Academy. East Lyme, which beat Stonington 1-0 last week to tie the teams atop the league standings, finished the regular season 12-4 overall and 10-2 in the ECC.
The teams were tied 2-2 headed to Thursday's overtime. East Lyme had the first scoring opportunity with a penalty corner less than a minute in, but Katie Durkee's shot ricocheted off Stonington goalie Abby Mann and the ball quickly changed fields.
With 7 minutes, 29 seconds remaining in the single 10-minute session, East Lyme had a player sent off due to a yellow card — a 5-minute infraction, with the Vikings playing a man down — for bumping Arruda to the ground. It took Arruda just 7 seconds after that to score, firing the ball with a resounding thud off the back of the goal cage.
Mann, the goalie, came sprinting down the field in celebration, as the Bears wound up in a triumphant pile.
Arruda, who doesn't usually initiate the play on restarts, took the ball herself. She said she faked a pass to teammate Maddy Cassell, who had scored previously, which gave her a little more cushion.
"She took it upon herself to do that," Tucchio said. "She had the confidence. She thought she could generate a shot."
Tucchio said it's not often the Bears, who have dominated ECC play, find themselves in a must-win situation, which they put themselves in with the loss last week to a talented East Lyme team.
Stonington led 1-0 at halftime on a goal by Cassell assisted by Ellie Korinek off a corner, but later trailed 2-1 when East Lyme scored back-to-back goals by Durkee unassisted (16:58 remaining) and by Lilly Moffett assisted by Nancy Alden (14:53).
"A lot of times we're playing up for most games," said Arruda, The Day's reigning All-Area Field Hockey Player of the Year, who has 21 goals this season. "But East Lyme is so competitive; I think being down by one, it clicked something in our brain. It's Senior Night. No one wants to lose. It doesn't take too much time to score, we just needed to get it back."
East Lyme still had the ball in its end, awarded a corner with 3:03 remaining in regulation. Stonington did manage to get the ball back, however, and with Tucchio yelling, "Attack! Attack!" the Bears scored with 1:59 to play on a tip-in by Casey Boumenot assisted by Arruda.
"We made a few adjustments on our transition game," said Tucchio of improvements the Bears tried to make after last week's loss against East Lyme, which marked the first defeat in ECC play for Stonington since 2013, a span of 66 straight games.
"It doesn't hurt to have Senior Night at home on a big night," Tucchio said. "You can't be completely confident. We have high school kids. We get nervous. But when you have this kind of support around you, it makes you confident."
The teams will now compete in the ECC tournament beginning Tuesday, with the potential to meet for the third time in as many weeks should both reach the championship game. East Lyme coach Kristy Behbehani said she hopes her team doesn't come out of this game with any lingering disappointment.
"I'm not disappointed at all," Behbehani said. "It was a very good game. They did a really, really good job. The card in overtime was a game-changer. We held on to a 2-1 lead ... I think they should be proud of the way they played. They should not be disappointed for anything." v.fulkerson@theday.com