Somers Rebounds with Two Straight Victories

JV Slideshow v Yorktown

No matter what the record says, Coach Deb Daly has her own standard for measuring success. “We always want to see progression,” she said. So despite an 0-3, she still felt her girls were on point, but now, the bottom line is catching up.

The Tuskers beat Pelham 12-11 last week, and on Saturday April 6, the girls turned a close 8-7 game into an 11-7 victory over Pleasantville.

The day began with Marissa Grippo stripping Erin Drillock in the near corner, and the larceny got her fellow elephants on their horse. Up the field play went, and at the wire, Sydney Ingraham and Molly Fink finished one and two. From the top, Fink dumped inside to Ingraham, and she went overhand to get Somers on the board.

At 10:34, turnovers had play go back and forth, so defense got the Somers offense back on track. With Jessica Beck positioned on the free shot, the middie deferred the shot, cut right and had the whites of Campbell Sternberg’s eyes in view. Refusing to give ground, the Somers goalie calmly reached up, twirled her stick upon securing and got the stampede started.

The outlet to Caitlin Mayfield, Somers was soon set up, and around the horn, Ingraham didn’t hesitate when she saw only one defender on the right. The senior got around the corner and beat Ciara McCarthy one on one at 2:03.

45 seconds later, Pleasantville gave Somers a look at what would turn this game into a contest. With Ella Collins holding the ball on the goal line, Faith Brown waited for the pick, and when the convergence occurred, she cut left. Only a step advantage, Brown received the perfect pass from Collins and made easy work of Sternberg.

A 2-1 game, the momentum actually carried in the other direction, and once again, defense started the roll. A pass into the interior had Grippo step in and her pick would get Fink in under the wire. From the end zone, the middie came forward, circled back to the goal and shot overhand with 1.7 remaining.

Up two to start the second, Ingraham teed up in the middle and revealed her draw approach. “I like to tell Molly (Fink) where to go and then make her get the ball,” she smiled a little tongue and cheek.

Exactly what happened anyway, the clockwork put Fink in position to score. She drew the penalty and easily beat Ciara McCarthy for a 4-1 lead.

Next a little the luck of the draw had Somers taking advantage. Not in the middle of the field, Ingraham to Fink was no surprise, which led to a loose ball in front of McCarthy. The scramble ensuing, the rubber went up, and Mayfield was on the stick. Into her catcher, she was able to flip back and beat the goalie for a 5-1 edge.

Three straight goals, Sternberg didn’t get rusty in her loneliness, and she proved her proficiency on the Pleasantville possession. First, she deflected a point blank shot on the left and then made sure that Drillock and Brown didn’t break out of their shells just yet.

Brown swung right and masterfully hit Drillock as she came in front of Sternberg. On target, Drillock’s powerful whirlwind caught nothing but net. - Sternberg’s, that is.

An amazing save, the Tusker’s nonchalance made it look like old hat, and Daly tipped hers to the “the goalie attitude” that Sternberg exudes. “She basically just expects to make the save,” said the coach.

Moments later, Sternberg made good again. With Collins right in her grill, the goaltender was the one doing the cooking. She stood up and snared the point blank shot.

So Somers showed Pleasantville how going close range is done. On the left goal line. Lyla Mancini thread a perfect diagonal across the crease to Ingraham, and McCarthy didn’t have a chance.

6-1 with seven minutes left in the half, Pleasantville took the wake up call. First, Beck scored on the penalty shot at 4:20, and 31 seconds later, Drillock was both finesse and force. A little juke to get some space on the goal line, her bigger frame didn’t shrink in the face of the converging defense, and she willed the ball into the goal.

3:49 remaining, Somers wasn’t ready to relinquish the momentum yet, and Sternberg made sure by not letting Drillock take advantage of her size. Posting up Mancini and getting by, Sternberg came to the rescue, and her catcher played hero ball again.

Back the other way, Jocelyn Klein also found herself with only one defender to beat. This time on the left, she made her move around the corner and closed the half with Somers leading 7-3.

But Pleasatville didn’t oblige in terms of a shift. Not yielding to Somers on their opening possession of the third, McCarthy got Fink with her catcher, and the usual suspects readied to engage.

Brown held the ball up top, Drillock bided her time from behind and received the pass on the cut forward. She moved right and swung across her body for a 7-4 game at 8:56.

Klein did answer with a penalty shot goal, but Brown was not impressed. She assisted to Juliana Karaqi at 6:14, received from Collins with 6.1 left in the third and took it herself to open the fourth quarter scoring.

A one goal game, the freshman wasn’t done. Running down the draw, she eventually set up from 15 yards away and ended up face to face with Sternberg. The shot away, the ivory was too sharp, and the confident stick twirl on the save gave the home crowd reason to smile.

Still, Pleasantville pressure did force a turnover, but the Panthers quickly returned the favor. A false start gave Somers the ball back, and Ingraham would shift the momentum for good.

Confidently swaying in front of her defender, she juked, cut left and got around the double team. So getting face time with McCarthy, her overhand caught the top right corner of the net and Somers led 9-7.

The senior then did it on the draw. The ball to Somers, Mayfield broke downhill, hit Klein on the right, and she made it a three goal game with 5:47 remaining.

Pleasantville wasn’t giving in, though. Brown took the toss up, and Drillock tried the post up again. Not this time, the Tusker defense refused to give ground, and the attacker was whistled for a charge.

4:25 to kill, the time got even shorter on the Somers grind. Klein won a 50-50 ball on the left, broke away from the pack and turned to find an open Mia Parisi. The attacker shot, and not in only sounding the death knell, she verified the winning formula. “When we spread the wealth, that’s when we do well,” Daly concluded the morning.