First Field Hockey Shows Grit & Grace in Postseason

First Field Hockey had another strong season, finishing with a record of 12-4-0 and ranked No. 3 in New England Class A.
 

In the quarterfinals, the team defeated Deerfield Academy 2-1 in a rain-soaked game played at Suffield Academy on Nov. 16. Westminster had beaten Deerfield 4-2 in the regular season, but the Deerfield team came ready to play in the tournament and led 1-0 at half. At the start of the second half, the Martlets came out with a sense of purpose and a relentless attitude. Brooke Heron ’13 put the Martlets on the board after a feed into the circle from Rachel Kennedy ’13. Rachel put away the game-winner with 13 minutes remaining in regulation off of a feed into the circle from Eleni Tebano ’14. Goalie Kat Pate ’14 finished the Deerfield game with 12 saves and was supported by strong play by Brooke Heron ’12 and Alli Devins ’13 in the midfield, while Megan Walsh ’14 and Brooke Wolejko ’14 were solid on the forward line.
 

The Martlets then travelled to Taft for the semifinal game against Greenwich Academy (GA). Having lost to GA 7-3 the previous weekend, the Martlets matched up much better in the semifinals, holding GA to just two goals. With GA leading 1-0 in the second half, Rachel Kennedy scored on a breakaway to make it a 1-1 game. Despite the hard work of the entire Martlet team, GA scored to put them up for good. Goalie Kat Pate ’14 had an incredible 24 saves against GA, an impressive feat considering that she had never played goalie or field hockey before.
 

Kat Pate ’14 and Rachel Kennedy ’12 were both named to the NEPSAC Class A New England All-Tournament team. Also, Alli Devins ’13 and Rachel Kennedy ’12 both played in the WNEPSFHA All-Star game earlier in November.

The final results of the Class A New England Tournament were:
 

No.1 Hotchkiss def. No. 5 Taft, 1-0

No. 2 Greenwich Academy def. No. 3 Westminster, 2-1
 

No. 1 Hotchkiss def. No. 2 Greenwich Academy, 2-1