Babylon Panthers Capture Field Hockey County Title

In six of the Babylon field hockey team’s nine wins this year, goalie Dottie Barker kept the opponent off the scoreboard. So it was fitting that in the Panther’s biggest game of the year—perhaps ever?—Barker was the difference in Tuesday night’s 1 – 0 win over top-ranked Pierson/ Bridgehampton in the Suffolk County Class C final.

“I remind my team that defense wins championships,” said Babylon Coach Catherine York. “And it all started with Dottie. She was terrific.”

In the first half, Pierson enjoyed the better scoring chances, testing Barker several times. She responded with three key saves. Given that her teammates only managed one goal against Pierson’s Catherine Musnicki, all four of her saves were key.

“We made [the one goal] hold up,” Barker said. “We were unbelievably stoked to be here.”

For a team that hadn’t made the playoffs since 1997, early-season expectations were about making the playoffs, certainly not winning a championship. For York, in her first season as Panther coach, this was a culmination of years of development.

“These players have been working for four years. It was my fortune to come in when I did.”

“It’s so exciting for us to have worked together to come this far,” said Bridget McCarthy, who scored the game’s only goals at 6:41 of the first half. “Maggie [Griffo] passed it across to me and I just tapped it in from the right side,” said Babylon's regular-season scoring leader (tied with Griffo and Michelle Mangini).

With the win, Babylon will now play Class B champion Sayville on Thursday night for the small schools title. That game will be played at Newfield High School, at 7 p.m. Win or lose, the Panthers will face Friends Academy on Saturday for the Long Island Class C championship.

“[The Sayville game] is more for bragging rights,” York said. Maybe so, but Barker wants the win.

“Yes it matters,” Barker said. “It’s all about the integrity of the game.”