Field hockey: McCarthy, Ortiz score as Hen Hud dominates and shuts out Panas 2-0

MONTROSE — Throw out two recent nightmarish games — an 8-0 loss to John Jay-Cross River and 9-0 loss to Lakeland — and, on paper, anyway, the Panas field hockey team has been in every game.

Thursday, for instance, until the end of the fourth quarter, it was within one good shot of tying host Hen Hud.

But, like in so many Panther games this season, that shot never came.

In fact, Panas didn't record a single official shot on net thanks in large part to Hen Hud correctly anticipating, then picking off countless passes to keep the ball in Panas's defensive side of the field for the vast majority of the game.

And at game's end, Hen Hud had a 2-0 victory and its ninth win of the season and Panas had its ninth loss.

What it means

The meeting was likely to be the only one between the two teams this season, although there's an outside chance they could face each other in the Section 1 Class B playoffs, which will begin next week.

Class B is probably the strongest overall class in the section and both teams will wear an underdog label entering the postseason, despite Hen Hud's strong record.

Key plays

Of course, if it plays as it did Thursday in controlling the ball the bulk of the time, it could go farther in the playoffs than might be anticipated.

It held a 9-2 penalty corner advantage, the Panthers, who spent 90% of the first half pinned in their defensive zone, getting back-to-back corners in the last minute of the first half but failing to put the ball near the net.

The score, as has been the case in many Panther games this season, would have been worse without Kate Astrab's strong goalkeeping.

She had 10 saves, including on a couple of absolute rockets from Hen Hud senior Rowan Dapson. Astrab also helped herself by stopping multiple crossing passes, including from Dapson.

But Astrab also received help and had a bit of luck. Defenseman Kaitlyn Wilkowski made a nice stop in the first half, which is when Eva Facciola missed a goal by probably no more than an inch, blasting a shot off Astrab's right post on a penalty corner.

And Hen Hud missed just wide on another first-half shot and again on a second-half deflection.

Ardsley coach's fun volunteer job: High school basketball coach enjoying the ride as a NY Liberty practice player

But, of course, it didn't always miss.

With the game scoreless and 2:37 left in the first half, Kayla McCarthy redirected a crossing pass from Eva Facciola into the net.

The game was sealed late in the fourth quarter when Dapson unleashed a strong right-to-left crossing pass that was out of Astrab's reach and found Carleigh Ortiz's stick in front. Ortiz then scored the game's final goal.

They said it

The closest Sailor goalie Emily Hunt came to having to make a save might have been in the game's last minute on a bad-angle shot by Hayley Madden but that hit the right outside part of the cage.

Hunt, though, did a good job directing traffic during the handful of times Panas was in the neighborhood, although she noted keeping her eye on the ball and for open opponents is "risky."

Hunt had a front-row seat to watch her squad and it played very much the way the four-year player is accustomed to seeing.

"The best part (of our game) is just working together," she said, adding in part, "Me and Rowan make a very good dynamic."

Dapson, who like Hunt, plans to play college field hockey but has yet to decide where, indicated her team's positive attitude has helped it so far.

Noting the frustration of seeing shots just miss or be stopped by Astrab, as well as the frustration of plays not quite working, Dapson said she and others followed their coaches' directive to keep things upbeat.

"We try to pick each other up and keep being positive," Dapson said, explaining staying positive has helped generate positive results.

Up next

Panas , 4-9-2, will play at 14-win Putnam Valley Saturday at noon. That will be its final regular-season game of the season.

Hen Hud, 9-4, which will still have one game left to play Monday vs. Nyack, will also play Saturday, traveling to defending Class B champion Lakeland for a 1 p.m. start.

Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Field hockey: Hen Hud gets 9th win as McCarrthy, Ortiz score vs. Panas