Field Hockey: Yorktown Uses Balance To Earn 4-1 Triumph Against Harrison

Teams get a chance to work on developing their chemistry for the upcoming high school fall season while playing in the Hudson Valley Summer Field Hockey League at Putnam Valley High School.

The Yorktown Huskers are already well on their way judging by the fact that the team was able to get four girls to score in its 4-1 triumph against Harrison on July 12.

"A lot of these girls are new, they are working really hard and they are working well already as a team, so that is a good thing," Yorktown coach Becky Bronzi said.

Yorktown was able to put pressure on Harrison in the first half, but it was unable to score until Sarah Scott tallied the first goal of the game with less than 30 seconds remaining before halftime.

"It was definitely a good thing and our team was very confident at halftime," Bronzi said. "It was definitely a big goal from Sarah."

Scott's goal definitely seemed to catapult Yorktown in the second half as Lisa Littleton and Nicole Quigley scored to put the Huskers up 3-0.

Harrison continued to attack the Huskers' goal and its efforts paid off when Michelle Loguidice scored to cut Yorktown's lead to 3-1.

Huskies coach Sara Gonzalez, a 2001 Lakeland graduate who won the Con Edison Scholar Athlete award as a field hockey player and was also a standout soccer player while playing for the Hornets, was happy with Loguidice's efforts on the goal.

Gonzalez said that Loguidice, who will be a sophomore in September, has a very bright future even though she is a young player and has a lot to learn.

"The good thing about Michelle is that she has a natural instinct to go towards the goal, so that's something you can't teach," Gonzalez said. "With that instinct, she'll keep progressing and as long as she keeps the skills up, she is going to be a great goal scorer for us."

Somebody Gonzalez also thought highly of is Sofie Sanmarco, a forward, who will be a senior captain for the Huskies come September.

"She is a player who has put a lot of time and dedication to get better," Gonzalez said. "She is a player who no matter what opportunity I give her, she goes to camps, she participates in futures. She is a natural leader for us."

Yorktown continued to put on the pressure after Loguidice's goal with Lauren Keenaghan, scoring to put the Huskers up by three.

"We played excellent," Bronzi said. "We were very aggressive in the circle, we got some great shots."

Gonzalez also thought her team played well and was happy to see the team's effort to play in the summer, as this is the first year Harrison has competed in the HVSFHL.

"Playing in this league is very important," Gonzalez said. "We are just getting the girls to commit to this sport and outside activities, other than just the season in the fall. It's really important to get feedback and coach these girls as much as possible. So for us this experience isn't necessarily about winning or losing it's more about getting better each game."