As the remnants of Hurricane Harvey struck the Rockville area, the RM Field Hockey team stood ready to face the school’s infamous rivals: the Rockville Rams.

The previous year, the Rockville-RM field hockey game had fallen victim to the elements, ending early due to lightning, and this year it seemed Mother Nature was trying to rip the teams apart again as the rain fell unceasingly.

Nevertheless, the girls trekked on.

Richard Montgomery struggled in the first half to keep themselves as poised as they had been in the preseason scrimmages versus aggressive opponents such as Quince Orchard and Springbrook. Much of this, said senior Lizzie Kinnard, the team attributed to sloppy warm-ups. “Solid warm-ups are key before games,” Kinnard said. “We were hitting balls left and right and were careless during our pregame drills.” Rockville took advantage of the Rockets’ slip of focus and kept the ball high in RM’s territory. Despite a strong defensive effort, it was not long before the Rams scored their first goal off of a penalty corner.

Their opponent’s threat sparked an anger in the Rockets and provoked a thirst for revenge. “It was only a matter of putting in the effort to beat [Rockville],” said senior Amy Gersten. “We knew we had better skills and more speed than [the Rams] and if we could only maintain our passion into the second half, we’d win.”

While Rockville celebrated the goal, RM dominated the footrace, outrunning the Rams and making smarter passes. After a Rocket timeout, RM utilized more effective methods of getting the ball up the field, where their forwards were waiting to finally do some damage.

Throughout the remainder of the half, RM kept up a constant challenge against Rockville, but to no avail. The Rams tightened their defense in the circle, causing each Rocket penalty corner to result in the same frustrating outcome, and after many close calls, RM was yet to find their way onto the board.

At the start of the second half, the Rockets decided it was time to turn things around. The defense sent the ball toward the sideline, initiating a collective effort to shift the play up the field. RM skillfully wove their way through the wall of Rockville’s defense, and when the Rockets broke into the circle, senior Emily Conway stood perfectly positioned at the post of the goal, merely seconds into the half. The score was tied 1-1, and RM was fired up.

Each team fought endlessly to reclaim the lead. The Rams and Rockets both had strong hitters who could drive the ball up and down the field effortlessly. Despite their endeavors, the rivals were both sapped of energy and soaked with rain. The winner was yet to be determined, and the game shifted into overtime.

By county regulations, overtime was simple. 7 players from each team would play two full-field, 10-minute halves. Score and it’s all over.

The seven players took the field in a fury. RM began with possession and maintained it throughout the beginning, losing possession for only moments at a time before regaining it quickly. An interception by captain Rosa Boehler allowed the Rockets to enter into Rockville’s defensive circle, and she drew a penalty corner with ease. The Rams set up their corner slowly, drawing out RM’s nerves as the clock wound down. The ball was inserted, and senior Ella Scarano took a shot from just inside the circle. It went clean to the back of the goal with a resounding thunk. The Rocket sideline erupted into cheers and the team stormed the field, chanting and shouting and jumping with triumph.

The Rockets will play Seneca Valley next Monday in their second home game of the regular season. “We’ve always played really well against Seneca [Valley],” said Kinnard. “Hopefully it’ll give us a chance to work our team chemistry as well as a lot of the mistakes we made playing Rockville.”

Featured photo by Taylor Thomas