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09/16/2014 12:00 AMSometimes in sports, it’s not about who wins the battle in the stat book, but more about never quitting and finding the right spot to strike, which is just what the Guilford field hockey team did to gain its first victory of the year.
After two shutout losses to open their year, the Indians traveled to Haddam-Killingworth on Sept. 15 and scored a 2-1 overtime win. Despite being outshot by the Cougars and HK holding more corner opportunities, Guilford emerged victorious when junior Abby Miranker got the game-winning goal 90 seconds into the extra session.
“I’ve been trying to work on insertions for a while, and I just finally got the stick in and that’s what happened,” said Miranker on the tally. “We knew it would be a tough season, but everyone came out ready to play today.”
HK had 10 swipes at the cage compared to the Indians’ four, though junior netminder Brooke Misbach turned aside the Cougars nine times. While the Cougars had more chances of the corner variety (9-5), the Indians also took an early edge in the first half when senior Mackenzie Cattaruzza found the back of the net via a penalty stroke.
“This win brings us on an upward spiral, because we lost a lot of seniors from last year,” said Cattaruzza. “We had to come out ready to play this year after those losses and after losing those first two games this season, we needed a win today and we executed.”
As the matchup began, HK (1-0-0-1) dominated possession of the ball by forcing turnovers and winning whistles to regain offensive control from Guilford (1-2). At the 22:53 juncture of the opening half, the Cougars earned an early corner play, yet the Indians’ defense turned aside the threat.
Following a Guilford corner and with 13:49 left before intermission, the visitors appeared to grab the inaugural tally, although they were awarded a penalty stroke, which Cattaruzza shot into the net off the left side of HK junior goalie Meghan Cerino to give her squad a 1-0 lead.
The Cougars had another pair of corner looks, including one as time expired in the first period, but the Guilford defense again stood up to the HK offensive pressure.
The Indians came out of the gate in the second by working for three corner opportunities in the half’s first 5:10 and none of them gave Guilford any insurance. The Cougars then countered with four corners of their own over the course of the contest’s next five minutes.
“The penalty stroke by Mackenzie was great, but we can’t continually give up corners,” said Head Coach Kitty Palmer, whose squad returns three players with previous varsity experience. “The problem is the grass field. I’m not making excuses, but we are used to turf and with grass, you have to move your feet or else the balls are on the wrong side or ahead of you, yet we played a lot better today.”
With 12:12 remaining in regulation, HK finally struck for an equalizer when senior Kolby Burger found classmate Julia Babbitt on another corner to knot the score at one. Following a Cougars’ timeout with 2:09 to go, both sides had late drives to the deciding point, though neither team was true to the task, so overtime was needed.
In the 10-minute, 7-on-7 extended frame, Guilford had a big opportunity 45 ticks in, and 45 second later, it sealed its initial triumph when Miranker found the net in traffic to give the Indians a hard-fought and thrilling win.
“We needed this win because it was a frustrating first two games for everyone, including me,” said Palmer, whose club faced 2013 SCC finalists Hand and Cheshire for its first duo of tilts. “This is a killer stretch to start. I was nervous because this is such a young group that has never played together, but we had some good signs today. I’m hoping this is what kicks us in and helps us have more confidence. I knew this season would be a work in progress, but I hope this is the beginning of good things.”