If you’ve been watching major field hockey competitions over the last 13 years, you’ll have noticed that the penalty shootout has become the preferred tiebreaker for much of the world. It’s a 1-on-1 battle of speed, skills, and nerve between a shooter and a goalkeeper.
Shootouts like this have been used to break ties in sports since the North American Soccer League instituted a 35-yard breakaway shootout beginning in 1975, using it until the league went belly-up in the 80s. Major League Soccer used this kind of shootout from 1996 to 2000.
But since FIH started using the penalty shootout in lieu of penalty strokes in the early 2010s, a number of competitions including the NCAA and many state high school associations, have fallen in line.
The tension and excitement from penalty shootouts live long in the memory for supporters; the 2023 NCAA final was decided on a penalty shootout when Ryleigh Heck buried her shootout attempt in the sixth round of a shootout against Northwestern on a classic “J” move, where a shooter moves in, turns her body to the right, then whips around to the left to shoot suddenly past the goalkeeper.
But, as was shown in the 70s in the North American Soccer League, the success of the penalty shootout is based primarily upon the skills, imagination, and cunning of the shooter. I remember, in particular, Brazilian players like Marinho and Seninho, who were masterful in using their range of skills to beat the charging goalie.
Which brings us to this week, where a number of field hockey scrimmages are being played before the start of their regular seasons. Many of these preseason friendlies follow a common template: three 15-minute quarters of 11-on-11 play, a period of 7-on-7 to simulate overtime, followed by a penalty shootout, all in the name of giving the players a good runout against live competition.
Which brings us to the town of Crofton, Md., where the host Cardinals hosted Stevensville Kent Island (Md.) in a matchup of two elite teams from The Free State. Crofton is a two-time defending state champion in field hockey, while Kent Island has made the last four eight times since 2013. At the end of the four quarters of the friendly, the two teams engaged in a penalty shootout.
Enter Kent Island junior Willow Yost. She streaked towards the ball at the whistle, lifted the ball on the flat of her stick balancing it like a camogie player, then batted the ball up and over the goalie and into the net. The thing is, Yost had apparently done the same thing one year ago when these two teams also met in the preseason.
It is a skill reminiscent of a SportsCenter Top 10 from 11 years ago, when Rebecca Barry of the University of Richmond finished off a breakaway in regular play with a similar skill.
It’s amazing the skill level being introduced to young field hockey players these days, but what is more amazing is the players’ willingness to execute these skills in game situations. Time was, scholastic coaches often tried to coach out what players had learned in Futures, camps, or club play, or by watching videos of top players at an Olympics.
And in 34 years of covering scholastic field hockey in various roles, it is the most outstanding penalty shootout goal I have ever seen. Sure, the universe of penalty shootouts is pretty small, given the fact that, at one time, New Jersey was the only state that used to break ties using that method.
But given the fact that more states have moved to that method to break ties in tournament games, you’re going to see more opportunities for players to break out their shootout moves under pressure, which is great for the game.
