Sterling, Va. – On a brisk night in Sterling, the field hockey teams of Stone Bridge High School and Potomac Falls High School met to determine the Potomac District tournament champion. The Bulldogs generated enough offense to squeak by the Panthers, 2-1, to claim the district championship on October 26.
“The girls played really well in the first half,” Stone Bridge head coach Richard Hayden said. “They created a lot of chances. It was a good all-around team performance tonight.”
[adrotate banner=”10″]Stone Bridge ended the feeling out process at the 8:14 mark of the first half. Bulldogs sophomore forward Immy Smith beat Panthers sophomore goalie Anna Shaprio for the early 1-0 lead.
The Bulldogs controlled play for the majority of the first half, before Stone Bridge junior midfielder Emma Logue added to the Bulldogs’ lead, beating Shaprio to extend the Bulldogs lead to 2-0.
The Panthers attack woke up with three minutes to play in the first half, but each of Potomac Falls’ dozen scoring opportunities were met by Stone Bridge senior goalie Rachel DeMay, who made some amazing saves to preserve the first half shutout.
“It was similar actually to the semifinal game, when we played against Broad Run High School,” Hayden said. “We played really good hockey, scored goals in the first half and then had to defend in the second half.”
Potomac Falls made a change in goal to start the second half when they started freshman Caroline Brady to try and get a spark going.
The Panthers’ attack dominated the second half by keeping the pressure on the Bulldogs’ defense for the almost the entire second half. However, Stone Bridge’s defense – and DeMay – still had an answer for every opportunity.
Potomac Falls finally broke through with four seconds left in the second half when junior forward Abby Asuncion finally beat DeMay.
“I think we’ve now won maybe eight or nine in a row,” Hayden said. “We’re hopeful that the way the girls are improving that we can keep the momentum going and continue to play good positive hockey.”
Scoring:
1H SB 8:14 Immy Smith
1H SB 23:46 Emma Logue
2H PF 29:56 Abby Asuncion
