On Thursday evening, the Hanover field hockey team added another jewel in the crown of the school’s best season ever by taking the Capital District Tournament championship 1-0 over Atlee at SportsQuest in Midlothian.

  After having never finished higher than third in the district, Hanover (16-1) swept all-comers to end district regular season and tournament play undefeated.

  “It’s been a long road,” said Hanover head coach Sara Bottorff. “The girls have worked really hard to improve with lots of work in the off season, lots of practice during the season. We worked really hard during the month of August and it’s just showing them the work is worth it when you get to this stage. I think that we’ve been really close every other year and this is the team to do it.”

  Bottorff is particularly proud to see seniors Nicole Shelton and Maria Piccolomini achieve the success during their careers. Both players were part of the initial Hawks team that suffered long seasons.

  “It’s been amazing seeing them transition from being where they were four years ago to now,” Bottorff said. “It’s been a journey.”

  The championship game was the third meeting between the two neighboring teams this season with the Raiders (13-4) suffering one-goal losses in the two prior meetings.

  Atlee head coach Alyssa Farling hoped the third time might be the charm, even going so far as pointing out to her team how difficult it is to beat a team three times in one season.

  “Yeah, that’s supposed to be hard,” she laughed after suffering her third one-point loss to the Hawks. “I think we put up a better fight this time though.”

  In a physical, highly contested contest, Hanover forward Piccolomini scored the game’s only goal. Driving the ball up field at the 23:14 mark of the first period, Piccolomini found a small opening on the right side about five meters out. It was all she needed. The fourth year player threaded a shot past the outstretched defensive stick of Atlee’s Paige Brazee, between the feet of keeper Annie Lassiter and into the left rear corner of the goal.

  “She’s very dangerous,” Bottorff said. “I think that was her 18th goal of the season. That’s the most anybody’s ever scored for us. She’s been very dangerous and I’ve loved watching her grow up.”

  Throughout the tournament, both teams had to adapt to playing on SportsQuest’s perfectly flat fieldturf surface, which sped up the pace of the game. But rather than hinder play, the artificial surface accentuated the players’ skills.

  “You don’t’ have to worry about divots and getting around the dirt,” Farling said. “You can really concentrate on good stick work and good handling.

  “It works well for our goalies because I think it give them a chance to show off their skills,” she added. “You see a lot more of the slide tackles because they can do it a little easier on this surface.”

  However, Bottorff pointed out one drawback is the surface also requires players to hit the ball cleanly. “When you hit the ground it doesn’t give so you might miss the ball,” she said. “Whereas if we were playing on our field we would still be able to hit the ball.”

  “I like playing on this surface because it’s basically like a good grass field, which is what we’re not used to,” Farling said. “We play on a couple of fields that are nice like this but we always play with infield (dirt surface) so this is nice. The only down side is it’s a little bit of a hike from Hanover (Co.). It would be nice to have something like this on the other side of town.”
  Playing the district tournament at SportsQuest will aid both Hanover and Atlee as they advance to the Central Region Tournament beginning Tuesday Nov. 2 at the same location.

  Atlee with play Dominion District Champion Cosby at 7 p.m. while Hanover takes on Dominion runner-up Monacan at 5:30 p.m. 

  Though this year’s Hawks squad has gone further than any other Hanover field hockey team, Bottorff said their goals are much higher. “I told them at the beginning of the season that our goal is to get further than any other Capital District team has ever gotten, she said. “So we have our eyes on the Regional finals.”

  No Capital District team has ever won two games in the regional tournament and by reaching the finals Hanover would become the first to advance to the state tournament.

Atlee .................................... 0 0 — 0
Hanover…............................ 1 0 — 1
H: Piccolomini
Saves: Lassiter (A) 5; Kesler (H) 7
Records: Atlee 13-4; Hanover 16-1