B-CC 4, Churchill 1

By Calvin Cobb

On a lovely, sunny Indian Summer October 1st afternoon, the Lady Barons convincingly beat Churchill High, 4-1, improving their record to 6-2.

The Barons dominated the first ten minutes of the game, and Kelsey Kiser opened the scoring assisted by Jenn Dewey. A short time later, Dewey knocked in the rebound of a Sunny Cobb shot off a penalty corner to make it 2-0. Dewey made a strong (perhaps too strong) pass cross-cage to Julie Michon, and even though Michon was in perfect position, the ball was going so fast on the bouncy field that she couldn't tap it into the open net.

But then, leading 2-0, the Barons seemed to lose their competitive edge. Players stopped moving to get open, the passing became more difficult, Barons started mis-hitting the ball on free hits and, overall, the Barons’ level of play generally deteriorated. The Bulldogs sensed the diminution in the Barons’ effectiveness, and seized the initiative. The Bulldogs took advantage of a defensive lapse on the part of the Barons – inexplicably on a long corner the Barons defenders failed to cover in front of their own net, with most of the Barons’ defenders set up outside the circle. When the free hit went all the way from the sideline to the goal, rebounded off the goaltender, and went onto the stick of a Bulldog offensive player, she was left alone in front, and there was no Baron defender in sight. In a one-on-one wth the goaltender, the Bulldogs scored.

The Bulldogs overloaded the offensive end in a strong effort to score the equalizer, but the Barons were unable to take advantage until Ruth Andrews drove the ball downfield to start a four-on-one fast break. Danielle Harkaway, Paige Donnelly, Kiser, and Dewey had clear sailing in on the lone Bulldog defender, but the opportunity for a sure goal evaporated when time expired in the first half, with the score 2-1.

The Barons came out strong in the second half, dominating the play to the point that they ended with 10 penalty corners in the second half alone, to 3 for the Bulldogs. Donnelly, Charlotte Kettler, Dewey, Josie Lopes, Linsay Chan, Michon, Kiser, Harkaway, Cobb, Rachel Ruda, and Rachael Keeling clearly turned up the energy level and swarmed the Bulldogs, generating a series of offensive chances. But the Bulldogs found a way to outwork the Barons in the scrums in front of the net, and chance after chance went for naught.

The Bulldogs tried to counterpunch with fast breaks – but their various forays were broken up by Meredith Storm and notably, Rebecca Natoli, who was the last Baron back on two occasions but turned the ball around and fed it back up front. When they had a penalty corner, flyer Donnelly and her co-defenders made sure the Bulldogs did not get off a shot. Finally, at the 19-minute mark in the second half, Cobb took a clever pass from Kettler and blew the ball past the defenders to make it 3-1. Storm fed Keeling for another score, but the goal was disallowed for unclear reasons. A short time later, Storm inserted on a penalty corner to Kettler, who passed across to Cobb, whose shot on goal bounced in front until Ruda beat a swarm of players to the ball and knocked it in to make the score 4-1.

The Barons finshed the game strong, with Alicia Vieth, Abbie Frank, and Lydia Marks taking up where they left off –the offense kept generating chances and there was no drop off in talent or intensity when they came into the game.

In all, this game was a step forward. In the first half, the Barons were satisfied with their 2-0 lead and suffered when they let up. They became slow to surge on offense and slow to get back on defense – several times allowing the Bulldogs to outnumber them inside the circle. But to their credit they recognized the error of their ways (with some assistance from Coach Amy Woods) and in the second half were noticeably more energetic – flying back on defense and flying forward on offense.

The Barons seemed to realize that they each really could be everywhere, each could contribute on offense and defense, if only they worked hard enough. When that message got through, the passing lanes opened up, the ball found its way to open players, and the Barons simply overwhelmed the Bulldogs. By turning up the temperature and making the additional effort, the Barons blew open what could have been a close game.