Field Hockey: Hornets Win Home Opener

Defending State Class B champion Lakeland (2-0-1) may have led 4-0 at the half of its home opener against Arlington, but the Hornets quality of play needed improvements.

In the second half, the Hornets scored two more goals to win the Monday, Sept. 20 contest 6-0.

"The energy was much better in the second half," coach Sarsen said. "We really came out flat with no emotion in the first half. We made mistakes and it didn't seem like people really stepped up to correct them in the first half but the second half we looked like we played with a lot more intensity and heart so I was happy with the second half."

Leading the Hornets with three goals was Shannon Scavelli.

"We are getting her there," Sarsen said. "She definitely is a great shooter and she had some good goals today. But there is definitely more ahead."

Kristen Conroy started the scoring for the Hornets 29 seconds into the game. She then scored her second goal of the contest a little more than 10 minutes later, which put Lakeland up 2-0.

"She was aggressive on the post, which was great," Sarsen said. "She played not just on the post, she made great plays in the midfield also."

Then with 11:38 to go before halftime, Scavelli scored the first of her three goals to give the Hornets a 3-0 advantage.

"I just knew that I wanted to really score," Scavelli said. "There was no one on me so I got it to my strong side and just got a nice strong hit to get it to the back of the board."

Then with 2:06 to go before halftime, Rebecca Bard registered a score that gave Lakeland its 4-0 lead.

Scavelli and her teammates had to listen to Sarsen at halftime tell them that their quality of play had to improve.

"It meant a lot because our team, we really have to connect more," Scavelli said. "In our first few games we struggled a little, especially the tie against Putnam Valley. It was just good motivation for us, it was a reality check for what everything that was going on. It made us go out there and play harder. No matter who we are playing, we should be playing the best that we can."

Scavelli played the best that she could and registered two second-half goals, with the latter coming on a corner.

"I just really wanted to keep our momentum going," Scavelli said. "When I got that ball I was just going to hit it as hard as I could."

Due in part to Scavelli's performance, it allowed the Hornets to earn what should be the first of many victories.

"It felt awesome to win," Scavelli said. "Being at home is such an advantage, especially with our turf field. It just meant a lot to come out with a bang in our first home game."