B-CC 15, Gaithersburg 0

By Calvin Cobb

On a crisp fall September 29th evening under the lights at BCC, the Barons warmed up while the Gaithersburg Trojans trickled onto the field, late, having been caught in cross-town traffic. When the goalie finally arrived, the game could begin, but the Trojans never really shook off the ride, suffering a 15-0 defeat.

The Barons dominated the play throughout, but did not score until the 19:00 mark, when Sunny Cobb drilled a Meredith Storm insert into the back of the net on the Barons’ 5th penalty corner. From that point on, it was a Barons’ shooting gallery on Trojan goaltender Olivia Schermerhorn, who had many fantastic saves despite the final score.

There were too many excellent offensive moments to describe separately, but Charlotte Kettler and Ruth Andrews combined with Paige Donnelly, Jenn Dewey, and Rachel Ruda in the right corner and the front of the goal, in any number of ways, to generate shot after shot and scoring opportunity after scoring opportunity. On the 7th penalty corner Rebecca Natoli inserted to Cobb, who passed to Kettler, who crossed to Kiser, who shot right on; Jenn Dewey knocked in the rebound to make it 2-0 at the 15:40 mark in the first half. Meredith Storm scored on another penalty corner (there were 17 penalty corners in the first half alone), and Kettler made it 4-0 by carrying the ball past several defenders into the circle and burying it in the back of the net.

Danielle Harkaway entered the game and immediately dominated inside with her speed and skill, working with Donnelly and Kettler to score three consecutive goals – a proper hat trick – two of them assisted by Kettler. Lydia Marks made it 8-0 at the start of the second half deflecting a feed from Sunny Cobb, followed by a truly terrific Marks play: Marks carried the ball 30 yards into the circle, made the goalie commit to her, and unselfishly passed up a good shot for a better one -- dropping the ball across the goal mouth so a hustling Josie Lopes could knock it in. Marks scored immediately thereafter by knocking in a Cobb rebound, and then scored her third goal of the game (to make it 11-0) off a crossing pass from Sarah Hainbach. Hainback scored herself shortly thereafter, then Julie Michon finished a great long corner pass from Alicia Vieth to make it 13-0. Michon scored gain and was very close to her own hat trick as the shooting gallery continued late into the second half. Rachael Keeling finished the scoring as the game ended, the Barons winning 15-0.

Coach Amy Woods gave the apple to Marks and Vieth, who made the most of their minutes and proved they are both ready for prime time. Lindsay Chan did a good job working the strong-side corner – in one sequence, Cobb passed up to Kettler, who immediately passed to Harkaway, who passed to Chan in the corner and received a return pass right on her stick – forcing the goaltender to make a great save and earning a penalty corner. On the other end, Vieth, Meredith Storm, Ruth Andrews, Katie Bazyluk, Abbie Frank, and Katie Webster combined to smother the few Trojan forays over the 50-yard line, such that poor goaltender Lauren Serpan must have felt sad and lonely throughout – she ended up with one save (a good one, though) for the game.

It was fun to get everyone in the game and give them ample opportunity to strut their stuff, but with Churchill coming up the Barons need to keep their focus and keep their discipline.

Offensively, little passes onto the stick of a teammate in the box can have a big effect. Marks showed the way by passing up the first shooting opportunity and setting up a teammate -- turning a so-so scoring opportunity against a hot goaltender into an easy goal.

Defensively, the Barons still seemed a little slow getting back (especially the players away from the ball) making them vulnerable to a fast breaking offense. They tend to challenge the free hits outside the circle, leaving them vulnerable if the ball gets through the crowd to the front of the goal, where the offensive players are allowed to outnumber the defenders. It is true the defenders block the pass and turn the ball around 95 percent of the time, but that 5 percent failure rate could hurt the Barons in a close game.

Expectations for the upcoming season

Expectations are tricky -- especially for a coach in preparing her or his team for the season. Here's what Amy Wood wrote in a pre-season note to the team, which appeared on the BCC Field Hockey website:

``I am setting my sights very high for our team this season. We have all of the tools necessary to again vie for a division, region and state championship. It will take all of the hard work from you prior to the start of preseason. I am starting the season off as if our team goal is our highest attainable goal. The one we set every year. But this year, if that is what you want, show me from day one. the entire team will need to be in excellent physical shape, mentally tough and with much improved basic skills. If this occurs, we will begin at a far more advanced level than in recent years.''

New season, new, tougher league (4A), same high expectations.