Knights Score with Time Expired to Defeat Rams in Field Hockey

The Clarkstown North Rams and the Nanuet Knights played on through the rain Tuesday afternoon in a thrilling field hockey game that Nanuet pulled through to win, 2-1, with no time left on the clock.

North took the lead early, but Nanuet's smothering defense kept the Rams to the one goal to give their offense the chance to win it in the end.  In what was an excellent and competitive game from both teams, there was a lot of solid defense, passing, and good hustle play.  In the end, while North had 19 shots on the goal to Nanuet's five, Nanuet's defense was able to stop the ball when it counted and their offense stayed disciplined to make good use of fewer scoring opportunities.

"I think everyone played really well," said Rams defender Courtney Regan of their performance.  "Our offense was really together today and I think the middies really stepped it up when Nanuet started to lead the game."  She added, "Nanuet did have really good defense and their goalie stopped a lot too.  We just needed to be more goal hungry."

The Rams came out hard and aggressive to score early in the first.  After some back and forth, it was Laura Brennan with just seven minutes gone in the half who would fire the ball in off the corner to put her team up 1-0.  After North hit a slight rut trying to get their offense going again through the pressure from Nanuet, the game turned into a back and forth match, with both teams executing solid offensive drives.  The half concluded without another goal being scored however, thanks to smothering defense from both teams.

By the end of the first half, North already had five goal attempts to Nanuet's one.  This was thanks to solid execution offensively on their part.  Going into the second half, they were not just trying to hold onto the lead, rather they stayed aggressive to give them fourteen more goal attempts.

"I feel we got the ball out a lot, didn't give them many opportunities, and kept them out of the circle," said Rams defender Courtney Regan.  She added, "Our focus was on offense, we were very offensive-minded while on defense."

Though the Rams got many of these attempts off difficult-to-defend situations like penalties, the Knights as defenders were able to keep up with them to stop the shot when it mattered.  This kept them in it and gave them the chance to score on drives of their own.

It was on one such drive, after some good back and forth field hockey between the two teams, that the Knights were able to tie the game.  With only seven minutes left, it was Alexa Marinelli crossing through traffic in front of the goal to Alyssa Finger, who knocked it into the corner to tie it up 1-1.

North came back with a vengeance after this to keep the ball in Nanuet territory for much of the final minutes.  Despite solid playmaking, passing, and shooting, the Knights hung tough to repel the onslaught.  Then, with what little time was left on the clock rapidly expiring, the Knights got it out of their territory and drove it all the way to the Rams goal, where they got the corner.

Though time had expired, the game cannot end on a corner within the circle, and so Nanuet still had a shot.  They could not put it in off the first corner, but Lea Manitaras made the heads-up play to keep the ball in the circle to get her team a second corner.   This time, the Knights capitalized on the opportunity.  Manitaras was again in on the play, as she passed to Antoinette Saponaro in the midst of the fray, whose shot was good to win the game 2-1.

"It was crazy, everyone was just screaming," said Saponaro of the final possession.  "I didn't know what was happening, everyone was just fighting to get the goal."  So how did she feel about her climactic first goal on varsity?  "It was amazing," said Saponaro.  "The ball was just sitting there at my feet.  It felt so good, my heart was just pounding."

So, after being down 1-0, the Knights turned it around to win it in as spectacularly heart-pounding a conclusion as will happen in field hockey.  Both teams put together many excellent offensive plays, which were only halted by stellar defensive efforts on both ends of the field. 

While North's defense did a better job at hassling players within the circle to keep the Knights to five shots on the goal, it was the scrappy defense from Nanuet that hung on and played with a lot of heart to prevent all but one of North's 19 shot attempts.  At the heart of this effort was Nanuet's goalie Katie Bonner, who was responsible for 14 saves.  North's goalie Nicole Cember had a solid performance as well, although she was not put to work as hard as Bonner, with one save for the game.

"I give our kids credit, they're trying to find a way to win and learning how to win.  It's exciting and they had a great finish," said Nanuet's Head Coach Karen Leitner.  She added, "I think the kids are starting to play more aggressively.  They played with a lot of heart and moxie today."  One of the major things for Leitner was that, "It hasn't just been certain players, it's been a different player emerging each time, so it was really a full team effort."

Nanuet will be looking for another win today when they play at Pearl River at 4 p.m.  North will be looking to recover from the loss when they play today at home against Walter Panas High School, at 4:30 p.m.