As rain began to drizzle on the Roy Lester stadium, the RM field hockey team awaited a familiar opponent, the Albert Einstein Titans. RM often played well against Einstein, defeating them 9-0 at last year’s Senior Night game. However, the girls knew anything was possible and would still have to give it their all.
The Rockets entered the game on a slow start, going back and forth in possession with Einstein. Neither team made it far into their offensive side before the ball was stolen.
Only a few minutes into the first half, the Titans called a timeout. Head Coach Alie Brooks urged the girls to stop playing sloppy and wake up. Taking in the pep talk, the Rockets entered the field with a newfound energy. Within moments, senior Ella Scarano sent in a corner shot to captain Ryan Westpfahl, who snatched up the rebound and stuffed it into the goal.
The Rockets continued their momentum through the first half, scoring another goal by junior Addie Carr. Einstein tried their best to stop the Rocket offense, but to no avail. Another goal in the late first half by Scarano made the score 3-0 at halftime.
The blow of the whistle started the second half, and RM quickly went to work. Scarano scored her second goal of the game almost immediately, with sophomore Caroline Maggio following after with her first of many goals that night, leaving Einstein trailing in the dust.
RM quickly realized that bringing the ball down the sideline would help in getting up the field. “Playing the sidelines worked well, ” Captain Rosa Boehler remarked. “Passing it wide and dribbling it up the sideline instead of just taking it up the middle.”
With their realization, Boehler swiftly dribbled up the sideline, sliding easily through the Titan defense, before sending the ball straight to post. With just a touch from her stick, Maggio had scored her second goal of the game.
The Titans would not give up quite yet, playing harder than they had previously been, breaking through to RM’s defense. However, the Rockets refused to let them score that easily.
Captain Sierra Longest blocked the ball coming in to RM’s defense, earning a free foul hit. With her angle just right, Longest was able to send the ball spiraling through the entire Einstein defense, straight to post. Once again positioned perfectly at post, Maggio tapped in her third goal of the game.
In the final minutes of the second half, the Rockets were simply unstoppable. Junior Brooke Carter scored two goals back-to-back and Maggio locked in her fourth goal.
The Rockets defeated Einstein in a complete shutout, 10-0, but there was still room for improvement. Going forward, Coach Brooks hopes to improve on working together as a team.
“One thing we need to work on is not getting frustrated with each other because that just makes us more frantic,” Boehler added. “Once we calmed down in second half we played a lot better than we did in the first half.”
RM’s record improved to 5-5, and the hoping to keep the victory going forward into their next game against the Damascus Hornets on Monday, October 16th.
