POLAND — For 49 minutes, Poland kept visiting Freeport scoreless. However, for six minutes in the fourth quarter, the Falcons found some offense for a 3-0 WMC field hockey victory.
Sophomore Elizabeth Flower scored twice for Freeport (2-1) and Reed Proscia had the other goal in the win. Madeline Kryzak only needed to make one save for the shutout.
“The first three quarters, we weren’t ourselves, and we finally turned it around,” Flower said. “During halftime, we talked about changing our mindset and attitude; I think that was the key.”
Poland (0-2) was solid for the first three quarters of shutting down Freeport on penalty corners, but the first two of the fourth quarter led to the Falcons’ first goal. Freeport’s first of the fourth quarter led them to another corner. Off the second corner, Flower found the ball loose in the circle and put it into the cage 3:35 into the quarter.
Freeport coach Marcia Wood’s message between the third and fourth quarters to her team was to get shots toward the goal.
“We weren’t really playing our game,” Wood said. “I said, ‘Once we score, we will be fine. We just need to get that first monkey off your back to push through.’ Thank goodness, because we did not want to do 7-on-7 in overtime; that would have been miserable.”
Poland coach Ashley Armstrong said a team like Freeport will capitalize on their chances at some point.
“Our girls played very intense, played very well, played great defense,” Armstrong said. “You can only hold off a team for so long that’s as good as Freeport. We are a young team; we have improved a ton. Hopefully the next time, it’s a different outcome.”
Emily Groves made a pass to Proscia at the far post for an easy tap in, 6:27 into the fourth quarter for a 2-0 lead.
It was a picture-perfect goal.
“That was a pretty goal,” Wood said. “Again, we are trying to get the stick on the ball and not let Poland stop it. That one was fortunate to go across, and we were able to finish it.”
Flower’s second tally came off another mad scramble in Poland’s circle, where she stuffed the ball past Knights goalie Addie Michaud 9:50 into the final quarter.
“The more goals, the more confident we got,” Flower said.
Wood said Flower is taking on a bigger role in her second year.
“That’s why I put her out in front, because of that hard drive she has,” Wood said. “She’s feisty, but she’s calm on the field too; that’s helpful. She played on our team last year and got some time; she understood that. Now, she’s learning a new role, stepping up and being a bigger presence.”
Michaud stood tall in the first half for Poland by making six saves in the first quarter and another three in the second quarter. She stopped 12 shots in the game.
Poland’s defense shut down Freeport’s chances in the final minute of the second and third quarters.
“Our goalie had a lot of great saves and the defense helped out on a lot of those saves,” Armstrong said. “We couldn’t ask for anything better.”
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