by Bea Peterson
Port Jefferson scored first in the NY Class C semifinal game on Friday, November 20, at Vestal High School. Samantha Skott, with an assist from Rachel Quackenbush, managed to even the score just minutes later. Port Jefferson, however, struck again before the half was over. During the second half HF worked hard to scored again, but it didn’t happen. The final score was 2-1, Royals, and the Panthers ended a fantastic season, 19-3.
Hoosick Falls Field Hockey came into the season with seven first year varsity players and a freshman goalie. “We had a pretty young group of girls this year,” said Coach Denise Campbell. “But we had six returning starters
with the experience of winning sectionals last year. That experience really helped us this season.” Each year the team goals are about the same, according to Coach Campbell. “We want to win our tournament, win the league and win sectionals. Anything after is usually unexpected, but it feels great when it happens. The final four was definitely unexpected. “When we defeated Greenwich in that amazing game (Class C/CC), I believe that was when the girls felt they could make it to states. I, of course, was saying, “Take it one game at a time.’”
Record Tied
In 1990 Coach Campbell, then Denise Taber, set the school field hockey record with 23 goals in a season. Junior Samantha Skott equaled that record with the goal in Vestal. “I’m thrilled to see all the hard work Sam put into the off-season payoff,” said Coach Campbell. “She is an amazing young woman, and I couldn’t ask for a better person to share the record with.” The Coach admits, “I really thought she was going to break it [the record] in the last game.”
The Coach summarized her team this year. “We were an unselfish team; not always the fastest team, but we played with a lot of heart, and we never gave up. Many girls really stepped up this year and took on leadership roles besides our three captains, Melody [Mentiply], Marissa [Davendonis] and Andrea [Niles]. Our biggest surprise was Frankie [Pearson] in goal. She worked so hard this season. We always knew that she was going to be good, but to have this kind of season [14 shutouts] her first year was amazing.”
Credit goes to “Karley Morin who controlled our midfield, Rachel Quackenbush and her powerful drives, the team relied a lot on her to get the ball out of our defensive end, and Amanda Vitro for her incredible speed and her ability to carry the ball up the field. Andrea Niles was our back-up goalie. Anything that got by Frankie, Andrea usually stopped.
Other powerhouses were Samantha Skott and her ability to score this year, Marissa who played two, sometimes three, different positions each game and Melody and her stick skills. Lacey, Meaghan and Amanda Lewsey came on strong in the post season. Emily Wilwol, Ashley Costantino, Amelia Reynolds, Emily Hoag and Carsen Williams all played key roles as well.”
