PC hockey's record not indicative of team's improvement

Posted 10/22/18

Quakers sophomore Lilly Avrigian (left) controls the ball while closely guarded by an Agnes Irwin Owl. (Photo by Tom Utescher) by Tom Utescher Penn Charter’s varsity field hockey team has been …

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PC hockey's record not indicative of team's improvement

Posted

Quakers sophomore Lilly Avrigian (left) controls the ball while closely guarded by an Agnes Irwin Owl. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

Penn Charter’s varsity field hockey team has been making progress this fall, even though it may not be readily apparent by the Quakers’ record.

Finishing scoring plays is usually a challenge for rebuilding hockey programs, an although the Quakers generated a good deal off activity on offense in an Inter-Ac League match at Agnes Irwin School last Thursday, the host Owls were ahead 4-0 at halftime.

The PC defense was on the verge of shutting out Irwin in the second half of the contest, but the Owls attacked relentlessly at the end, scoring twice in the final 97 seconds for a 6-0 final.

Sophomore goalie Zora Johnson made six saves for Charter, which was missing three seasoned players (a senior and two juniors) for this road game. PC departed with an Inter-Ac League record of 1-8 and an overall mark of 3-9. The Quakers picked up a 4-1 Inter-Ac win against Baldwin School, whom they will face again later this week. Outside the league, Penn Charter went 2-1 against Friends School League opponents, defeating Friends Central and Friends Select and losing to Shipley School.

Against Northwest Philly rival Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, the Quakers succumbed 5-0 on their home field in the first encounter, but played better in the rematch, losing 1-0 at SCH.

“We came out and fought hard the second time and it showed what we’re capable of,” said Maiyah Brown, Penn Charter’s third varsity head coach in four seasons.

Having just completed her collegiate career at Temple University (’18), Brown has set about raising the field hockey IQ of the Quakers, who have very few athletes who pick up a hockey stick outside of the school season. In the Inter-Ac, as in other leagues, there is a solid correlation between the number of club players a team has on its roster and the team’s level of play.

“Club hockey is important; the offseason is when you really refine your skills,” Brown pointed out.

The team’s fundamental stick skills are coming along, and Brown noted that since pre-season training in August, “We’ve improved our overall tactical awareness; the players are growing mentally. Obviously, the skills are important, but if you don’t understand what you’re doing as a team on the field, it’s hard to compete.”

Having faced some of the top Inter-Ac teams early in the season, Agnes Irwin was still under .500 in league play (3-4) after last Thursday’s victory over the Quakers. Goalies Paige DiLullo and Paige Crowther shared the shutout, and on offense the Owls received a hat trick from Hadley Evans, two goals by Marissa White and the early game-winner from Katie McGovern.

Penn Charter senior Elisabeth Ross steers the ball away from the Quakers’ goal. The two teammates behind her are sophomore goalie Zora Johnson and senior defender Bianca Bryant. (Photo by Tom Utescher)[/caption]

Attacking at the outset, Penn Charter earned the game’s first penalty corner about a minute-and-a-half into the action. As usual, junior Avery Myers made the insertion for the Quakers, who unfortunately let the ball travel right out of the top of the circle.

Myers worked hard in the midfield all day, as did sophomore Lilly Avrigian. The latter is a rare commodity on the team, being a longtime club hockey player.

With a little over five minutes elapsed, McGovern put the Owls on the board. Penn Charter came back up the pitch a pressed for an equalizer. A shot by senior Elisabeth Ross was saved, but the Quakers kept the ball in the offensive end. Ross only plays hockey during the school season, but as one of the nation’s top scholastic squash players (headed to Yale), she brings great eye-hand coordination and athleticism to the field.

Myers sent a corner in to Ross, who put it back down low for a shot by Myers that found the keeper’s legpads.

Near the middle of the first period, PC weathered an Irwin corner, and then Johnson turned away an Owls shot at the right post. On another corner by the hosts, Evans drove the ball in from the top of the circle to make it 2-0 with 14:36 left in the half. At the other end, the Quakers got a pass through toward the right side of the Irwin goal, but no one was in position to try for a tip-in.

AI’s Evans attacked along the left endline and slipped the ball through to White for the third goal for the hosts. Now, with 9:05 remaining, Charter called a time-out, but when play resumed Irwin would add one more goal before halftime, as Evans scored her second with just under three minutes left.

Coach Brown said that in the halftime huddle she told the team, “The score didn’t reflect how we were playing, which meant that we weren’t capitalizing on our opportunities. We needed to be hungry in the circle and get touches on the ball. We didn’t want to go into the circle and come out without at least a corner or a shot.”

The Quakers foiled the first Irwin corner play of the second half, and they continued to fend off the Owls successfully through most of the period. With a little over 10 minutes remaining, Penn Charter earned three corners in a row but was unable to produce any really threatening shots. Among others, junior Jaylynn Johnson was very active on the offensive end.

In the last few minutes of the match, Agnes Irwin assaulted the PC circle almost continuously. It seemed at first that Charter might squeak through without further damage, but the Owls’ Evans and White each found the cage one last time in the last one minute and 37 seconds.

In front of the young keeper, Zora Johnson, PC senior captain Bianca Bryant remains a steady defender.

Coach Brown also had praise for an up-and-coming sophomore, observing “Ava Coyle is a standout on defense. This is her first time playing field hockey, but she is so strong. When you see how she has improved since the first game, you can see that she ‘gets it’. She’s a fighter and she’s very coachable; each game I see her try to implement the new things that we’ve worked on in practice.”

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