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Field Hockey
Hornets sting Tigers, continue dominance
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| By Isaac Cass |
Photos by Isaac Cass
Putnam Valley’s Sara Kastuk (right) and Lakeland’s Megan Bozek (left) fight for the ball in the Hudson Valley Summer League field hockey championships on Thursday at Putnam Valley High School.
Head Coach Sharon Sarsen’s Lakeland Hornets graduated a whopping eight seniors from last year’s Class A state finalist field hockey squad. Among those to depart were Chelsea Robinson and Caitlin Collins — both pillars of the dominant Lakeland program during their tenure in the yellow and green.
As a result of the losses, it would be completely understandable if the Hornets underwent a rebuilding stage in 2008.
But for a team that has gone 45-2 over the last two seasons — winning a state title in 2006 — the world “rebuilding” just isn’t part of its vernacular.
This was evidenced by Lakeland’s 7-4 win over the Putnam Valley Tigers in the Hudson Valley Summer League field hockey championship Thursday at Putnam Valley High School. The win capped off an 8-1 summer league campaign and marked the Hornets’ sixth championship in the last seven years. Their lone loss this summer came against Mamaroneck, who fell to Rye in the third place game. Lakeland defeated Rye, 5-3, on Monday to advance to the finals.
“With the number of kids we have graduated the last year or two it gives us confidence, which is important for this young team,” Sarsen said of the win.
Leading Lakeland over Putnam Valley were the Bozek sisters, Emma and Megan, as the duo combined for six goals. Emma, only a freshman, scored four goals, while Megan, a veteran junior, added a deuce.
According to Megan, the summer league experience helped the rookies bond with the veterans, which should make the transition into the regular season that much easier. She also said that Putnam Valley’s fast artificial turf helped a lot in fine-tuning their stick skills.
“It’s going to be so much better when we get back to our turf,” Megan said.
Putnam Valley’s turf — unlike many local high schools that feature a rubber and grass field turf — is composed of a carpet-like material. As a result of the minimized friction, the ball speeds up quite a bit, forcing the players to be precise with their touch.
The Tigers, playing without their last line of defense in a goalie, were at a decided disadvantage before play even began. To try and even things up, they were given an extra field player.
“It is really hard without a goalie,” Putnam Valley junior defender Nicole Scott said. “You have to learn to work together as a team and talk to each other. You have to watch everyone, calling out who is open. We had to focus really hard with the defensive players that we had.”
Despite its dicey predicament, PV hung tough. Caitlin White and Ciara Walsh’s back-to-back second half goals cut Lakeland’s lead to 5-4.
Lakeland, however, eventually wore down the goalie-less Tigers, who also had a thin bench comprised of only one substitute. Emma and Megan Bozek sealed the win, scoring back-to-back goals late in the second half.
Megan said that playing against an empty net wasn’t exactly rare in the summer league, where players are always missing games due to vacation. With that said, the Hornets concentrated on lifting the ball with their shots, according to Bozek.
Sarsen said that it’s different playing against a team without a goalie, but not as drastic a difference as one might assume.
“You just have to get shots on goal, and sometimes that’s hard no matter who is in the goal, or if anybody is in the goal at all,” the coach said.
In terms of Lakeland’s play as a cohesive unit, Sarsen was pleased. She said neutralizing the uber-talented Ashley Morgan — a captain of the gold medalist Hudson Valley squad at Empires — was an entire team effort.
“I thought [Lakeland] did a good job of holding the middle,” Sarsen said.
Putnam Valley, who lost one-goal games to Rye in the Class B sectional finals in ’06 and ’07, is looking to get back on top this season. The Tigers are now three years removed from their 2005 Class B state title.
According to Scott, there are some areas they must improve upon before achieving that goal.
Ultimately, like it does for most longstanding powerhouses such as Lakeland, it will come down to how well the team handles its personnel and performs as a whole.
“We lost Brittany Kinsley and she’s a good defender,” Scott said. “We have to talk with each other and work as a team. It will come down to who can work the best as a team.”
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