MALVERN, Pa. — Ten years ago to the week after the last time a “Most Anticipated Scholastic Field Hockey Game” was played between Voorhees Eastern (N.J.) and Newtown Square Episcopal Academy (Pa.), an equally anticipated contest took place today at Maurene Polley Field at Malvern Villa Maria (Pa.).
Unfortunately for the hosts, celebrating the school’s homecoming and the 1994 PIAA Class AA championship team, Villa Maria faced a Hill team which played at a level rarely seen amongst scholastic teams in the United States. The Hill School, using an array of passes and attack movements, got three goals from senior Ella Kaplan and 10 saves from Natane King in defeating Villa Maria 5-0.
As was the case 10 years ago in the game between Eastern and Episcopal Academy, the victors were able to jump out to an early lead and kept pressing the advantage. The Rams’ opener, from Opal Sparling in the ninth minute, was a deflection off a Villa Maria stick.
That one goal was enough for King, who survived pressure from Villa Maria throughout, as well as the mental pressure leading to this enormous contest.
“I’ve just been training and recovering; we had a long weekend last weekend, so I took the time to rest,” King said. “We had three hard practices this week, and I’m taking in everything, making sure I’m communicating with my defense, and focusing on what I need to work on.”
Being a goaltender for a team which keeps the ball at the other end of the pitch for long stretches at a time does have its drawbacks and its benefits. King has enjoyed the opportunity to face the best shooting of her Hill School and WC Eagles teammates in training.
That practice certainly came in handy at the close of the third quarter. On an untimed corner at the end of the period, King made a stop on the initial goal shot, but the ball was swept towards the cage by the Villa Maria attack. Hill fullback Claire Turner made a pair of sparkling defensive saves off the line, but a stroke was called when a sure goal was stopped illegally.
King, facing VM’s ace scorer Caitlin Connell, was able to react with her mitt even after a momentary commitment in the opposite direction.
“I was ready to go right,” King said. “In my mind, I’m ready to go there because that’s where most shooters like to go. But I also have to react to the ball, and I saw that Caitlin was ready to put it to my left, so that’s where I went.”
It was that kind of day for Villa Maria, who did not play bad hockey on the day. Jack Shaw, Alexandra Coupe, and Georgi Kondrath were magnificent in defense, making plays against the Hill attack and showing the willingness to keep the ball in order to beat the Hill high-line of pressure with well-places aerials.
“If we’re going to lose, we’re going to lose to a team that has to be perfect. And I thought Hill was excellent,” said Villa Maria head coach Katie (Evans) Ordonio. “They are excellent at capitalizing. Because we’re a great team, we made them play that way today.”
What Hill exhibited for the crowd of nearly a thousand who came to see the game at Polley Field was an attack which created missed chances which were as or more memorable than the goals that were scored. In the third quarter in particular, the Rams executed a pair of buildups, using one-touch passing out of the FC Barcelona playbook, that were not just sport, but art.
Add this kind of passing and movement to the dead-eye shooting of Sparling, Kaplan, Riley Savage, and Aubrey Turner — and the goalkeeping of King — and this is a team which is going to be hard to dislodge from its No. 1 designation in the TopOfTheCircle.com Top 10.
“What I really harp on for this team is ‘We all want the same thing.’ I said, ‘Play together, play for each other, and try to lift each other up within our systems,” said Hill head coach Katherine Bowie. “When we do that, our systems work really well. We’ll produce what we want to produce.”
Consider that team goal accomplished.
HILL SCHOOL (13-0) 2 1 2 0 — 5
VILLA MARIA (16-1) 0 0 0 0 — 0
H: Opal Sparling (Aubrey Turner), pc, 9th
H: Ella Kaplan (Abby Gerdeman), fg, 15th
H: Kaplan, fg, 19th
H: Riley Savage, pc, 37th
H: Kaplan, fg, 38th
Shots — H: 24; VM: 12; Saves — H: Natane King 10, defensive 2; VM: Catie Connolly 19
POSTGAME Yep, Hill is that good. If you have a chance, go see this team play; they are a truly special team
POSTGAME Hill’s overall game is reminiscent of some of the best hockey we’ve seen over the course of the last quarter-century, but today, the Blues showed a different level — a level of play we’ve seen only with the likes of Emmaus (Pa.), Voorhees Eastern (N.J.), Virginia Beach Frank W. Cox (Va.), Kingston Wyoming Seminary (Pa.), and Delmar (Del.)
POSTGAME The result was comprehensive and surprising; it wasn’t as though Villa Maria played bad hockey; they were unlucky in the final third, while Hill was merciless in taking its chances
FULL TIME And that’s all; the final klaxon blares over the trees, with the score Hill 5, Villa Maria 0
59:00 HILL PC Aubrey Turner’s shot deflected over the top of the net
58:00 Rams just two minutes away from a famous victory
57:00 HILL PC Aubrey Turner with the 1-Up but whistled for danger
55:00 Riley Savage gets a sliver of open space and shoots; Connolly with the stop
54:30 Hill breaks in on the cage 2-on-1 and is able to get the goalie on the ground but cannot put the ball in; the Rams are still pressing using more of that sophisticated passing movement
52:55 Aubrey Turner is open in the second-goal area but hits the tire on the outside of the goal cage
52:30 HILL PC Option-left to Sparling; Connolly says no
50:00 This is how skilled the game is: not a single card has been shown thus far
47:39 Hill is in the circle again and Aubrey Turner finds time and room for a shot but she is not able to get a goal shot off the chance
45:00 The fourth quarter is under way
END THIRD The period ends with Hill still leading 5-0
44:59 VM PS Connell shoots a shoulder-high stroke which King gloves!
44:59 VM PC King with a marvelous stop and the rebound is sent to goal. Claire Turner with at least two defensive saves and she is then called for stopping a sure goal illegally. A stroke is called
44:00 Connell makes an angled pass to the right wing to Lauren Kurak; how did King make that save? Wow!
42:00 Caitlin Connell jets in on the right wing and aims a shot which goes just wide; unlucky!
38:00 TIMEOUT, VILLA MARIA
37:50 Kaplan is in the circle with a lane to goal and makes no mistake; hat trick for the senior, and it’s 5-0 Hill!
36:10 I don’t believe what I am witnessing here
36:10 HILL PC Riley Savage follows up her own shot and puts it in off the pads; it’s 4-0 Hill
34:00 HILL PC Gerdeman with the shot; Connolly says no
33:30 An amazing one-touch sequence by Hill springs Aubrey Turner and Ella Kaplan into the circle; how they didn’t score is beyond me
31:00 HILL PC Shot is blocked; rebound is not able to be directed on frame
30:00 The second half is under way; clock is still malfunctioning
HALFTIME The scoreline belies the fact that Villa Maria has played well this half, but Hill is ruthless in the circle and jumped all over their chances
HALFTIME The siren signals the end of an entertaining and skilled first half; Hill leads 3-0
28:00 The TopOfTheCircle.com Sixth Law of Field Hockey is coming into play: in this high-level game, I have seen something I have never seen before. The clock is stuck in a loop between 3:40 and 3:30; the umpires have notified the benches that they are going off their watches to time the rest of the half
25:00 Sophia Ferri breaks up a promising attack by VM off an aerial
24:00 Hurricanes in the circle 2-on-1 but the Hill defense is able to manage; 23M for Villa Maria
21:00 VM PC Hurricanes run the Wally corner, option left to Caitlin Connell, who blasts her backhander wide
19:42 HILL GOAL But on the recovery, Hill’s Kaplan is able to push to a 3-0 lead
19:20 HILL PC Left-angle shot broken down and cleared by Kondrath!
17:30 Hurricanes break in on the right wing and force a save by Natane King
15:00 The second quarter begins
END FIRST The siren sounds with the Rams leading 2-0
14:36 HILL GOAL Abby Gerdeman carries the ball in from the right, passes left to an open Ella Kaplan, who finds the cage; Hill leads 2-0
13:30 HILL PC Sparling’s shot denied by VM goalie Catie Connolly; rebound by Rehak is denied for an uncontrolled stick
13:10 HILL PC Opal Sparling’s backhand is deflected by VM dangerously; will re-rack
9:30 HILL PC and GOAL On a 1-Up, Opal Sparling strikes a ball that is deflected in by the VM defense. It’s unlucky but the Rams will take it. Hill leads 1-0
8:55 HILL PC VM foot; will re-rack
8:20 Hill works the right and loses it over the end line; 16Y free out for the Hurricanes
4:00 VM cross-field pass winds up on the stick of Abigail Gerdeman; she bears down on the VM defense but the Rams cannot get off a shot
2:20 Hill breaks into the circle but Georgi Kondrath with the steal and gets a free out
1:15 Villa playing possession hockey, using aerials to try to break Hill’s high line
0:00 The game is on
PREGAME Hill is in the all-blue with white trim, Villa Maria is in the white tops with blue numbers and navy kilts
PREGAME The teams are warming up under sunny skies, temperature around 70 degrees; perfect field hockey weather
PREGAME I’ll refer you to the preview of earlier today for my insights on today’s match
PREGAME Welcome to Maureen Polley Field in Malvern, Pa. for this intersectional field hockey game between The Hill School and Villa Maria Academy
