by Steve Bradley
The Hoosick Fall field hockey team traveled to Williamsville North High School, just outside of Buffalo, for the Class C Final Four State Championships. The Panthers took the field at 3 pm Saturday in a blustery wind and temperatures hovering around the freezing mark to play Whitney Point. Section 4 Whitney Point is in the Binghampton area and was the state champion in 2017.
Lillian Hickey scored within the first two minutes of play to give the Panthers momentum. By the time there was tweny-two minutes left to play in the game, the Panthers were tied with the Eagles at two goals each. Over those last twenty-two minutes five goals were scored, one by Hoosick Falls and four by Whitney Point. The final score was Whitney Point 6, Hoosick Falls 3.
In the other semifinal, Section 8 Carle Place (Long Island) defeated Section 6 Barker (along western Lake Ontario) 6-0, for the right to play Whitney Point.
Whitney Point defeated Carle Place 3-0 on Sunday to take its fifth straight Class C championship win.
Although the outcome of this game was a disappointment, when you look back on a season with a 20-1 record and the only game your team lost all year was the last one in a NYS final four game, that’s a great season.
The team will be back next year. Lillian Hickey, a key player, graduates this year. But head coach Denise Campbell will have replacements ready to fill in the blanks when the 2019 season begins.