Despite a stalwart defensive effort from Lee-Davis, the Atlee field hockey team battled its way to a 2-0 win last Wednesday and took control of its own destiny in the Capital District race.

  Though Atlee (4-0 Capital, 9-1) rolled to a 5-1 win over the Confederates (4-2, 7-5) on September 21, Raiders head coach Alyssa Farling said the first meeting between the two teams was an aberration.  “Their first game they just weren’t on,” Farling said of the C-feds.

  Lee-Davis head coach Courtney Jones agreed. “Lee-Davis was not at Atlee that day, at all,” she said.

  But neither coach expected nor got a repeat of the initial matchup between the county rivals.

  “They played more like Lee-Davis today,” Farling said. “They made us play and I told the girls that. That’s what they should look like.”

  “We were here today and we played a much better game,” Jones said. “I’m proud of what we accomplished on the field and what we’ve been working towards. It just wasn’t our day.”

  Atlee, ranked No. 6 in last week’s Fox/Digital Sports poll, put the pressure on Lee-Davis with an early score.

  In the second minute of play, senior Lizzie Leitch pushed the ball into the open left corner to attack the cage. Her shot inside was blocked by C-fed keeper Sara Clare, who turned in a solid performance all game.

  Clare warmed up for the competition by allowing teammate Haley Matthews, the C-feds hardest hitter, to drill shots at her from 20-feet away.

  “Today she said she wanted it,” Jones said. “Whatever it takes to motivate her, we usually give it to her.

  Clare deflected every warm-up shot from Matthews and took that attitude to the field of competition by picking up 13 saves on the evening. “With her in my cage I’m very confident,” Jones said. “She’s a solid keeper. She’s one of my seniors. One heck of a game.”

  But as Atlee has shown proficiency at this season, Raider sophomore Emily Dietrick took the rebound from the block of Leitch’s shot and drove back it into the cage for a score. 

  “One of our main focuses was, we knew they were going to come out more like the team that we expect,” Farling said. “So we knew that we were going to have to start from the whistle and play hard. They knew that was coming. It’s a rivalry.”

  It only took two minutes for Atlee to strike again. Once again it was Leitch bring the ball into the attack, passing off to senior Jaimee MacKay who punched it in for a 2-0 lead with 16:27 remaining in the first half.

  Facing a double-score deficit, Jones called a timeout to regroup her team. “The only adjustment we made was, gave them water and gave them a chance to take a deep breath,” Jones said. “Kind of bringing them back, centering them and reminding them what their focus is. We’ve had great opportunities. We’ve played excellent teams this season where we’ve been down, 5-2, 5-3 and made it back. So the opportunity’s there but sometimes we just need to bring ourselves together and remind ourselves of what we’re doing and go out there and give it our best shot.”

  From the moment the C-feds returned to the field the battle was indeed joined and neither team scored for the remainder of regulation.

  Atlee mid-fielders Sonja Anderson and Laura Beckler turned in impressive performances, sweeping away almost every C-fed attack and turning it into one of their own. “That’s a nice little combo,” Farling said. “They communicate well without even talking. They play off each other well.

  “The mid-field just transitions it so well up to give us scoring opportunities,” Farling added.

  However, despite eight corner shots and four shots on goal, the Raiders could not penetrate the solid defensive effort of the C-feds’ cage work.

  Most impressive was a final flurry of shots within a foot of the goal that Atlee could not push past Clare and her teammates. “Their goalie was tough,” Farling said. “Give her credit today. She had a heck of a lot of saves. That last little round of shots on her, that’s impressive.”

  With the win, Atlee takes control of the Capital District race with two weeks remaining in the regular season. The Raiders have defeated every team except Hanover at least once and have yet to face the Hawks. “One of our goals was try get into regionals in a good standing and if we keep it up we should be able to do that,” Jones said.

  Though Lee-Davis no longer controls its own destiny as far as the regular season race, Jones expects to see the Raiders one more time. “We’re looking forward to seeing Atlee again come district championship time,” she said. “I think it will make for a good tournament. I’m excited. It’s nice to have this kind of competition in our district. Atlee has definitely come a long way. They’ve proven a lot this season. But I also know that Lee-Davis has been known to pull things through and I’m confident that we will.”

Atlee ...................................2 0 — 2
Lee-Davis…........................0 0 — 0
A: Dietrick, MacKay
Saves: Lassiter (A) 0; Clare (LD) 13
Records: Atlee 4-0 Capital, 9-1; Lee-Davis 4-2, 7-5