TWICE IS NICE FOR BLUE STREAKS
2nd try in double OT seals the deal for Saratoga field hockey in quarterfinal
If at first you don’t score on a penalty corner in field hockey, try, try again.
That was the plan, executed perfectly by the Saratoga Springs field hockey squad in the second overtime of Wednesday’s Section II Class A quarterfinal at the Adirondack Sports Dome.
With the score knotted at a goal apiece against Shaker and midway through the second 10-minute overtime of 7-on-7 play, Anna Dennett put the ball in the back of the cage and sent the Blue Streaks into a frenzy.
The Blue Bison sideline remained stunned and motionless, still looking at the cage and the two officials.
After a conference, the apparent game-winning goal was waived off.
“I’ve never seen that before, you just assume that it’s on the line, but she moved her foot and it came off and then she hit it,” Saratoga Springs coach Jo-Anne Hostig said. “Needless to say I think it gave us more fuel.”
Three minutes later, Dennett came up big on another
penalty corner, this time finding Kylie Folts who punched the ball into the cage and the Blue Streaks’ playoff ticket to the semifinals against rival Shenendehowa next week.
“It was frustrating, Anna’s (Dennett) goal, she really worked hard for it the whole game, but she ended up having the assist on my goal at the end,” Kylie Folts said. “We worked really hard to get it back. We didn’t get too angry and we kept playing our game.”
Saratoga went ahead on a goal from its junior rookie Will Pratt, the lone male player on the Blue Streaks team, a backhand goal late in the first half.
“When I first started playing for some reason I just always practiced that and when I saw that happening and I just knew to do that,” Will Pratt said. “I didn’t expect it really to go in, but it went in.”
Hostig was emptying out her arsenal in the quarterfinal, leaving no stone unturned in her game plans and having her head on a swivel making personnel changes throughout the contest.
“I told them ‘its sectionals, it doesn’t matter where you played, this time I’m going to pull anything’,” Hostig said. “They adapted well to it, which was a key thing.”
That included having Pratt playing the entire contest and moving him up from the backfield during the early part of the season to be a threat as a forward.
“He’s been improving along the way and a lot of them have, that’s what’s helped us,” Hostig said. “I’ve been giving him experience so he can see the rest of the field.
“That’s what he’s been missing because he really is new; he’s brand new so he doesn’t know the other parts of it. I’ve been trying to let him see from all angles what’s going on.”
His third goal in regulation this year, fourth overall, even surprised the firstyear player.
“I certainly didn’t expect it, this fast and in this game in sectionals,” Pratt said. “I didn’t really expect to score any goals this season or have any assists. To have just any bit of playing time was fantastic and playing in this game was amazing for me.”
She also relied on her experience to stem the pressure from Shaker.
“Our defense, that’s where my seniors are, it’s Anna (Dennett), it’s Kylie (Kylie), it’s Rian (Davis), it’s Erin (Fleming) who played a lot last year, Kristin (Rodecker) in the back, she’s like ‘I don’t want to go to one-on-one’s, I want us to do it now,” Hostig said. “I just knew if we attacked more we would be alright.”
Shaker evened the contest in regulation when Keeley Frazier found Meghan Schramm in the second half, beating Saratoga goalie Kristen Rodecker to even it at one goal apiece.
That was not part of Hostig’s original game plan.
“I was hoping that after we scored the first one we could get another but there was no way,” Hostig said. “We split with them, we changed up our game for this; we totally changed our game.
“It’s great that we can do it and it shows our maturity level at this point because I asked a lot of them and they definitely brought it to the table. I’m proud of that; it was different people in different places at different times.”
Senior captain Folts had trepidations heading into the quarterfinal.
“Most games I keep my cool, I’m not that nervous, but last night I told everyone that I had a dream and it made me very nervous,” Folts said. “I woke up and I was just so nervous the whole day, I couldn’t focus and then during the game when I got to it I was like ‘I know how to play, I know my game, I know my skills, and I just have to play to it. I kept my calm the whole game, breath in and out and I think it worked.”
SARATOGA 2, SHAKER 1 2OT
GOALS: Shaker – Meghan Schramm (Keeley Frazier) Saratoga – Will Pratt (Hunter Yourich); Kylie Folts (Anna Dennett).
PENALTY CORNERS: Shaker – 5, Saratoga – 9. SHOTS: Shaker 5, Saratoga – 11. GOALIES: Shaker –Davin Testo Saratoga – Kristen Rodecker 5 saves. Shaker0100–1 Saratoga 1 0 0 1 – 2