Lakeland Gold blanks Harrison

Harrison's defense was playing well early on in its Hudson Valley Summer Field Hockey League contest against Lakeland Gold.

With that being the case, Lakeland Gold's Megan Bradbury knew that her squad had to get the game's first goal and it did just that.

Bradbury scored an unassisted score and that got Lakeland Gold on its way to a 4-0 victory Monday evening on the turf at Putnam Valley High School.

"It was good to get off to an early lead," Bradbury said. "Harrison's defense is very good and they were stopping us a lot at first so it felt good to finally score and get the lead."

Harrison senior captain Sofie Sanmarco and teammates Michelle Loguidice, Kaitlyn Talibon and Kaitlyn Gotte did a good job of putting pressure on Lakeland Gold at the outset of the contest.

"They were keeping the ball closer to them when they put a skill on so they weren't losing it or turning it over," Harrison coach Sara Gonzalez said. "They were just more aggressive toward the goal today."

Unfortunately for Harrison, it went up against a goalie in Krista Servideo who just refused to let anything get by her.

 "Krista was stopping the ball really well, moving her feet and clearing the ball to the side instead of the middle," Bradbury said. "She made a great play too at the end of the game by stopping the ball and sliding."

Playing against a goalie like Servideo and a solid Lakeland Gold defense has its challenges, Sanmarco said.

"We have a lot of younger players on the field but I feel like we are all working together," Sanmarco said. "It's just hard for us to get shots off but if we keep on practicing, we will be able to do it for the season."

Before halftime, Bradbury assisted on Rebecca Bard's score that put Lakeland Gold up 2-0.

"I tried to get it off quick so that Rebecca could just slip it into the goal and she really did a good job by finishing it," Bradbury said.

While trailing at the half, Sanmarco thought her team was playing well and that she was grateful to have the chance of playing Lakeland Gold.

 "I think it's a good experience for us to play Lakeland," Sanmarco said. "I always learn a lot whenever we play Lakeland because they are really good."

Lakeland Gold continued to show why it is really good in the second half when it scored two more goals, both by freshman Gabby Celentano. The first goal was an unassisted score and her second tally was assisted by Bradbury.

"Gabby really works hard," Bradbury said. "She is only going to be an incoming freshman and she has just been playing really well and gets along with everybody."

Sanmarco feels that everyone on her squad is getting along and playing solid field hockey as well.

"I think we are playing really well," Sanmarco said. "I think we are getting a lot better. Especially this year, everyone is involved in doing a lot of different things like summer league and camps. Individually, we are all getting better."

Gonzalez, a 2001 Lakeland graduate and former Con Ed Scholar Athlete award winner while playing field hockey at Lakeland, said that two of those players that are getting better are  first-half goalie Sammie Rhodes and the second-half goalie Ali Menetti.

"They are both really young but they each have a good skill set and just with extra work they will keep improving," Gonzalez said. "They both have some potential."