Varsity Field Hockey Wins Overtime Thriller at Home Against Episcopal

NCS Varsity Field Hockey won its league opener in dramatic fashion on September 17 at home, with a sudden victory overtime win against ISL opponent Episcopal.  After Episcopal had scored two second half goals to tie the game in regulation, Meghan McGovern '17 scored with two minutes left in overtime to give Eagles the 3-2 win.

 

NCS came out strong from the opening whistle, putting early pressure on the Episcopal defense, and broke through with a goal in the opening five minutes.  Forward Selin Everett '17 sent a shot towards post and a lunging McGovern tipped it past the Episcopal goalie.  On the defensive end, the Eagle defense of Addy Wolf '17, Co-Captain Hadley Irwin '16, Mia Millstein '19, and Fiona Heaps '19 successfully held Episcopal to two shots on goal in the first half.  The NCS midfield combination of McGovern (11 tackles), Rosie Delk '17 (11 tackles), and Meredith Sherman '16 (a team-leading 12 tackles) proved especially effective at controlling possession and keeping the ball in the Episcopal side of the field, aided by the brilliant defensive work of Wolf in a full-field mark of Episcopal's top offensive threat.

 

In the second half, the Eagles again came out strongly and scored another goal -- this one by Everett off a crossing ball from Margaret Dent '16 --in the opening five minutes of second-half play.  The two-goal lead proved short-lived, however, as Episcopal counterattacked a minute later with a quick goal to make it 2-1.  Episcopal maintained its pressure, drawing penalty corners and generating high-quality chances.  NCS goalie Samantha Gibby '19 made several acrobatic saves (10 total saves on the day), but midway through the half Episcopal scored the tying goal.  It appeared that Episcopal might go on to take the lead, but defenders Wolf and Millstein both made dramatic goal-line saves to preserve the 2-2 tie in regulation.

 

The fireworks continued in overtime.  The seven versus seven overtime format seemed to play into Episcopal's strengths in ballhandling, and only minutes into the sudden victory period an Episcopal player dodged through midfield and fed a teammate a pass through the middle for a clean breakaway.  With no defenders remaining for the Eagles, Gibby charged out of her goal high into the circle to cut the angle, and dived full-length to deny Episcopal what would have been the game-winning goal.  Episcopal had several additional chances, with multiple penalty corners in overtime, but NCS flyer Claire McGinnis '17 succeeded in stifling their shots and eventually won possession for the Eagles.  With most of their team upfield for the penalty corner, Episcopal was vulnerable to a counterattack.  On the breakout, Delk gained possession in the center of the field and smashed a ball into the circle, where McGovern corralled it and flicked it past the Episcopal goalkeeper to give the Eagles the win.