Thursday evening’s home match against Orange County was senior night for Monticello field hockey’s six seniors, their final regular-season opportunity to make an impression in front of their home crowd. The Mustang seniors certainly made a lasting final impression, rising to the occasion in their final regular season match with a 1-0 win over the Hornets.
Monticello rode the high of its senior night festivities for the majority of the first half against the Jefferson District’s top team, dominating early possession and generally controlling the tempo of the early parts of the first half.
“We were pumped for the game, definitely. Thinking about it all day, playing loud music in our cars, the whole deal,” Monticello senior midfielder Brittany Haun said. “We had to get up for this game and we did.”
Haun was the focal point of the Mustangs’ forward drive, often weaving the ball through multiple Orange defenders on the right side. Haun and her teammates advanced inside the opposing 25-yard area and the penalty circle, however, they started to sputter shortly after. Orange County in its attacking sequences also struggled as it approached the opposition’s final third, often misplacing passes or losing stick challenges.
Monticello coach Katie Owens commented that her young team is still learning and will eventually learn how to execute. Owens noted that in such an important, emotionally-charged district game, hustle would prevail and cover for lapses in technical execution.
“We wanted the opportunity to play Orange County again after they beat us [2-1 away] a few weeks ago,” Owens said. “Considering the circumstances of the game, I’m proud of our girls’ effort and intensity. There’s always room to improve, but plenty of positives to take from how we played.”
The Mustangs’ intensity would finally pay off with 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Sophomore Georgia Proutt injected a penalty corner to junior Kaitlyn Bodine, who centered it to Haun. The senior captain saw Proutt sneaking towards the far post corner — the side which she injected the ball from —and passed it back to Proutt for a one-timer and the match’s only score.
“We pulled the goalie [away from the far post] like we thought we would, so that play was open and we converted,” Haun said. “We’ve been practicing, and practicing corners and that was a focus.”
From there, Owens said Monticello’s objective was to simply preserve its lead and not give up a win in front of its own fans.
“[When we last played Orange County], we were up by one [at their place]. The emphasis at halftime was to keep our lead, because we knew that they were going to fight for a win,” Owens said. “They are No. 1 [in the Jefferson District] right now, so this game was seeing what we’re all about and bringing our game.”
Orange County ratcheted up its intensity in the second half and dominated possession for most of the latter half, but like Monticello in the first half failed to create opportunities inside the opposition’s final 25 yards. The Hornets earned a series of penalty corners in the closing moments of the game, but were unable to convert on any of them in route to its first conference loss of the season.
Despite the loss, Hornets coach Trish Grabeel was proud of her team and extracted many positives from the match. She noted that her team losing its first conference game this late in the season is a testament to the team’s determination and ability.
“We’ve been successful all season, so in a sense I’m appreciative of this loss tonight,” Grabeel said. “It’s tough losing obviously, but I guess you can categorize this as a good loss. We need to get into a team mentality again; become a collective unit again; get our swagger back.”
She lamented that her team needs to be more composed and astute if it wants to achieve its goals.
“This team has experienced success. It’s all about replicating it and wanting more though, and we need to see more of that, that hunger,” Grabeel said. “Monticello beat us tonight and deserved to win, and we need to reflect on both the good and back and get ready for Monday’s match against Western Albemarle.”
Grabeel is confident that her team can regain its confidence and composure before the Monday showdown, which will most likely determine the winner of the Jefferson District regular season.
Monticello, on the other hand, gets some deserved rest as it waits for the Jefferson District tournament to kick off in two weeks’ time.
