Horsley helps Pennington topple Hun
PRINCETON » Kat Horsley grew up watching, learning and practicing field hockey in her backyard with her sister, Annie, and now as a senior at Pennington she is emulating her older sister.
It appears the younger Horsley was a good listener as she has developed into a pretty good player, too.
Horsley scored two goals and assisted on Maddi Seibel’s game winner to give the Red Raiders a hard fought, 3-2 win over Hun on a sunny Thursday in a prep clash on the Raiders Complex.
Twice Hun (0-1-1) grabbed a one-goal lead only to see the Red Raiders (1-0-1) come back to tie the game. Seibel took a pass from Horsley on the left side of the cage and found the backboard with 7:14 left in the game.
After that it was a defense led by Julia Miller in goal and anchored by Emma Garry that denied the Raiders another goal.
“A win always builds confidence,” said Pennington coach Wendy Morris. “But, what was more exciting for me regardless of the outcome of the game was the fact we played so much smarter and with more poise than in the tie with Stuart.”
It was a matchup of two young teams
Pennington has three seniors, Horsley, Seibel and goalie Julia Miller, and Hun has six, but very few have varsity experience. So, it’s going to be a work in progress for both.
“We are very young and we made the mistakes of a young team,” said Hun coach Kathy Quirk. “We’re going to struggle for a time.”
Hun’s goals came from Gigi Venizelos and Julia Revock. Revock and Meghan Donohue had assists for Hun. The Raiders got a great game from M.C. Shea in the goal with 15 saves.
Other than Seibel’s gamer a key goal came with no time on the clock at the end of the first half. Pennington was awarded a penalty corner as time expired and Seibel, who had two assists, found Horsley to knot the game at 1-1.
“That was a big goal,” said Horsley. “We like coming off the half with a goal and it was impressive to get one off a corner.”
Hun’s Revock converted a corner for the lead early in the second period and then Horsley tied it with a sweeping shot with 19:09 left.
“Annie and I spend most of our summers in the backyard practicing shots like that,” said Horsley, of her sister a senior playing at Franklin & Marshall, “She is a huge inspiration and a role model. I loved watching her play and her helping me play. She has taught me a lot of the things I know.”
The game winner came as Horsley took a ball in the midfield and sent a perfect pass to Seibel giving the two seniors points on every Pennington goal.
“On the field, we know each other’s mind and off the field we are best friends,” said Seibel of the connection with Horsley. “We have a lot of chemistry and we are on the same ice hockey team together. We know where each other is all the time.”
Pennington (1-0-1) Hun (0-1-1) Goals —
Horsley 2, Seibel (P). Revock, Venizeols (H).
Seibel 2, Horsley (P). Revock, Donohue (H).
18 (P). 5 (H).
Miller 3 (P). Shea 15 (H).
Assists — Shots — Saves — 1 2 — 3 1 1—2