AUBURN — Leavitt field hockey coach Wanda Ward-McLean watched with a bit of frustration as a handful of Hornet goal-scoring opportunities disappeared into thin air in the first quarter.
However, the longtime coach was pleased with how her team played together and all that cooperation led to a 2-1 victory over Edward Little on Tuesday afternoon.
Those missed chances in the first half never came back to haunt the Hornets (9-2), whose two-goal lead held up even though the fired-up Red Eddies (3-8-1) eventually scored late in fourth quarter.
“We had a ton of opportunities (to score),” Ward-McLean said. “If we can just can covert on a few more of those (chances), we’d be all set. Same thing happened to us Saturday (in a 1-0 loss to Cony). We had a ton of opportunities (but) just did not convert.”
After a scoreless first quarter that featured a bunch of opportunities go bust, the Hornets found a way to slip in the first goal of the game late in the second quarter.
Junior forward Emma Beady passed the ball to senior midfielder Jazzlynn Cark, who then sent it over to senior captain Cierra Barker and Barker tucked it inside the net to give Leavitt a 1-0 cushion going into halftime.
The Hornets gave themselves some breathing room when sophomore Katie Sirois scored an unassisted goal 8:05 into the third quarter.
“I think overall we played as a group and as a team,” Ward-McLean said. “We didn’t try to give the ball to always one person. We moved it around and we made some nice passes, so everybody contributed. This was a big win for us.”
Sophomore Addie Twitchell, who carried the ball out several times for the Hornets, said she enjoys the responsibility of getting the ball to the scorers.
“It is fun. I kind of just carry it out and give it to my offense and they can get the goal,” Twitchell said. “I think we did really well. I just think we really wanted it — wanted the win. I thought we were just very together and making passes right to each other. Like we were just connected very well, playing as a team.”
The Red Eddies gave the Hornets a bit of scare when they scored with 5:51 remaining in the game.
Sophomore midfielder Nora Condit scored on an assist from Leah Thibodeau to cut Leavitt’s lead to one.
Edward Little’s goal was a real morale-booster. The Red Eddies played furiously in an effort to tie the game as the Hornets clung to that one-goal lead.
“If we only played like that last quarter the whole game, that would be a different story,” Edward Little coach Kim Joler said. “So I changed the lineup a little bit and made us a little more offensive (in the fourth the quarter), and just move the ball as much as we could.
“(The Hornets) can stop the ball like nobody’s business. We just needed to get past that.”
Joler liked what she saw from the Red Eddies in the final quarter.
“So last quarter there was fantastic communication,” Joler explained. “They were able to cover and add that pressure when they needed to on our end and move that ball forward and get past some of those really strong defenders.”
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