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12/05/2015 11:00 PMThe Valley Regional field hockey team had one of its best seasons in quite some time this fall as the Warriors compiled a regular season record of 11-3-0-2 that included a mark of 7-2-0-2 in the Shoreline Conference. Valley qualified for the Shoreline Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed and entered the Class S State Tournament as the 10th seed. Equally as important, the Warriors also took home a coveted sportsmanship award from the state’s referees for the way they conducted themselves on the field.
“We had a strong year and a lot of the credit for that goes to our seniors. They are very skilled players, worked so hard in the offseason, and showed the underclassmen how to comport themselves,” said Head Coach Beth McCabe Powers, whose team finished at 11-5-0-2 overall. “These seniors spent the past four years playing together and were determined to have the best season they could possibly have.”
Led by senior captains Lindsey McKeon, Katie Amara, and Brianna Adams, plus junior captain Francesca Daniels, the Warriors got out to a hot start as they won their first two games of the season over Somers (6-0) and Westbrook (1-0) before losing to North Branford. The Warriors came right back to win three straight versus Suffield (2-0), Morgan (7-0), and Old Saybrook and improve to 5-1. The team then faced its first bout of adversity as it dropped a contest against non-conference foe Immaculate (2-0) and then lost a heartbreaker at home, 3-2 in overtime, to North Branford. At 5-2-0-1, the Warriors came out determined in their next game against Morgan and scored 11 times in a shutout, which was the most goals scored in Coach McCabe Powers’s 10 years at Valley. After its big win, Valley had to twice face the elite of the conference in eventual Shoreline champ and Class S runner up Haddam-Killingworth. The Warriors came up short in both contests, but were able to get a point with a 2-1 overtime loss. Valley now sat at 6-3-0-2 and had a fight on its hands to qualify for the Shoreline Conference Tournament. The defining stretch of the season saw Valley win four in a row behind a quartet of shutouts from sophomore goalie Logan Burdick, who finished the year with 10. In the season finale, Valley faced off with non-conference foe Enfield at home and prevailed in dramatic fashion.
“I felt like this victory was one of the highlights of the season. The 1-0 win over Enfield was huge and for Lindsey [McKeon] to score with .38 seconds left in regulation against a really tough team was super,” Coach McCabe Powers said. “She had been our emotional and vocal leader all year. Lindsey gave us a push whenever the team needed it and she did it again in the clutch versus Enfield.”
The top four teams made the Shoreline Conference Tournament and Valley entered as the No. 4 seed for another duel against its nemesis in 2nd-seeded North Branford, which defeated the Warriors for the third time on the year. In the Class S State Tournament, Valley faced another familiar foe in 7th-seeded Enfield, this time on the road. In a reversal of fortunes from the regular season. the Warriors lost a tough defensive battle, 1-0, as the game turned on one play by Enfield when it slipped one into the cage and held off the Valley attack for the victory. Even with the defeat, Coach McCabe Powers was pleased with her team’s performance in that game and the course of the campaign.
“This team worked together so well and we never had any strife. They played a very enjoyable game to watch and played lots of pretty hockey,” she said. “The team is so supportive of one another and unselfish with their play that they are fun to coach and fun to watch.”
What Coach McCabe Powers was most proud of, though, is an award her squad collected at the season’s end. Every year, Connecticut’s referees honor one field hockey team with the Lucy Goodridge Sportsmanship Award and, across the entire state, Valley was singled out for its on-field decorum and was presented with the award.
“This is super important to me,” Coach McCabe Powers said. “To me, the one thing you can control in the game is how you represent yourself on the field of play. We work on this as soon as the players come in as freshman and it speaks volume to the character of this team. We put a premium on good sportsmanship and to be recognized by the officials is truly an honor.”
For the season, Daniels, a forward, led both the Warriors and the Shoreline Conference in scoring with 21 goals and 20 assists. She was named First Team All-Conference, All-State, and All-Area by the New Haven Register for her performance. Other Warriors who were honored on the season were senior attacking defender Christine Donovan, who was named to the First Team All-Shoreline Conference; as well as fellow seniors Amara (First Team All-Shoreline),Adams (Second Team All-Shoreline), and McKeon (Honorable Mention All-Shoreline), plus sophomores Burdick and Laura Quinn, who were both Honorable Mention All-Shoreline.
At its season-ending banquet, Valley awarded Daniels as the team’s Most Valuable Player, senior Cassidy McGirr received the Spirit Award, sophomore Alexandra Brennan took home Most Improved Player for varsity, and freshman Olivia Kohlmer was named Most Improved Player for the junior varsity. Although Valley is losing a talented senior class that featured Elizabeth Forsythe, Leslie Clapp, Donovan, McGirr, Amara, McKeon, Morgan Hawkins, Acacia Bowden, and Natalie Rosenberg, Coach McCabe Powers feels the future still looks bright for her program.
“We have strong returning attack players and our young goalie back,” said McCabe Powers. “It won’t be easy replacing the seniors, but we have a lot of talented front end players and we will need to evaluate the back end and midfield. A lot of the girls are going to work to improve their skills in the offseason and I think we should field a very competitive team next year.”