Not since the 2010 season has Covenant enjoyed a win over rival St. Anne’s-Belfield in field hockey. On Tuesday, the Eagles — who’ve taken down the local public schools between Western Albemarle, Charlottesville, Monticello and Albemarle — picked up arguably their biggest win of the season with a 3-1 victory over a team that’s been their Achilles’ heel in the previous four seasons.
“I’ve been here three years a coach and we haven’t beaten them and so it was just really nice for us to beat them, a team that’ve we lost to by a good amount before,” said Eagles coach Annie Gumbs. “We played with composure and held the lead. It was a really nice experience. It was a lesson in never giving up and playing under pressure and extreme competitiveness. STAB never let up, had a surge after our first goal and I give it up to the girls for keeping their composure when things got packed in. I think we learned how to play with the lead in this type of game.”
Covenant broke open the scoring in the first half with Wynston Archer connecting on a goal. But the celebration was a little short lived as St. Anne’s responded with a score from Elizabeth Carden to knot the game up at 1-1.
“The girls played hard and I was proud of them for that, you know the ball doesn’t always bounce your way but you just want to keep fighting and they did,” said STAB coach Kim Katsuk. “That’s a really good team we’ve played and they’re having a great season, but our effort was there and we just have to build from that.”
The Eagles were able to keep the Saints’ offense in check though from there as they gave up just one short corner while they earned six for themselves in the rest of the half. Senior Liz Llera came up big before the break with what turned out to be the go-ahead and game-winning goal.
“She’s a senior captain that just a great job of leading this team,” Gumbs said. “She gives us strength on the right side and for her, she’s just a work horse and scoring isn’t what we ask of her. But she works and works and works, and that’s what happened in this game. She got rebounds and scored. She’s a great push passer and is so scrappy and so she was just ready for those rebounds and that was the key to her success today.”
In the second, Llera struck again half way through to put the game out of reach. While St. Anne’s’ offense was stronger in the second as they earned four short corners to Covenant’s three, and the Saints managed to finish ahead with a 14:13 shot ratio, they could not slip another goal past Eagles keeper Santia McLaughlin who had seven saves.
“We’ll continue to work on the cohesiveness, the connection between our midfielders and forwards,” Katsuk said. “We need to do a better job finishing at the net but we’re getting there. I see improvement.”
STAB will look to bounce back quickly with St. Gertrude at home on Wednesday. Covenant will host Middleburg for its senior night on Monday.
“Good competitive games are exactly what we needed right now,” Gumbs said. “That and seeing the girls respond well, playing really well in that kind of game.”
