Only a year ago, the Hanover field hockey team was in search of its first Capital District title and first ever berth in Central Region play. Last Tuesday, the Hawks wrapped up their second consecutive achievement in both categories with a 3-1 win over rival Atlee.

  With a 2-1 win over Henrico the following night, Hanover finished the regular season 14-2 12-0 Capital District. Hanover has now gone through back-to-back district schedules without a loss.

  Atlee defeated Henrico 3-2 in overtime on Thursday to finish the regular season 11-4, 10-2.

  Like last season, Atlee came to Hanover needing a win over the Hawks to maintain a tie atop the district standings. And also like last season, the game intensity had time to build as the match-up was postponed due to weather.

  Hanover head coach Sarah Bottorff felt her team was mentally sharp in anticipation of playing the game when originally scheduled October 12. But she was unsure how the additional week of waiting would affect her squad. 

  “It’s just a lot to deal with,” she said. “We had Homecoming this past weekend so everybody’s all over the place and we just really just came back together tonight.”

  Bottorff’s qualms were quick quieted as the Hawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first nine minutes of play.

  In the seventh minute, senior wing Erika Taylor swept in from the left side, took a feed from Abby Bellows and slammed the ball into the box for a 1-0 Hanover lead.

  Two minutes later it was Taylor again, this time working clean-up action to regroup a save from Atlee keeper Hayley Smith and fire it back for a 2-0 advantage.

  Getting multiple scores early was a part of the Hanover game plan. “We knew that we couldn’t go deep into this game not having scored,” Bottorff said. “We had done that before with Lee-Davis and that just made things a lot harder because it seems like you’ve got to climb to get out. But if you have (multiple scores) you can kind of sit back and you can make mistakes. Not that we try to make mistakes but they’re a little more forgivable when you’ve got a two goal lead.”

  On the other hand, one place Atlee coach Alyssa Farling did not want to see her Raiders was in a multiple goal deficit so quickly into the match. “That never helps,” she said.

  But it only took Atlee three minutes to cut the margin in half. In the 13th minute of play, senior Emily Dietrick attacked from the right side of the goal, firing past Hawk keeper Bailey Lien to get the Raiders on the board.

  “Emily Dietrick is a great player and she does a great job for them,” Bottorff said. “That was a great shot. It was a great goal.”
  Yet for the most part the Hanover pressure defense did its job on Dietrick. “They marked her well during the game,” Farling said. “She certainly felt that pressure.”

  After the initial onslaught of scoring, the contest turned into a defensive battle as neither offense could find an effective attack.

  “That’s the one thing about these two teams; they know each other,” Farling said. “They play in a lot of leagues together so they know who to watch.”

  Hanover edged ahead 3-1 midway through the second period when an attempt by Smith to defend the Atlee goal, took the legs out from under Hanover’s Juliana Moore in the box. Bellows set up for the one-on-one penalty stroke and nailed the goal past Smith to create the final margin.

  Bottorff felt there were not individual standouts for her Hawks but rather a complete team effort. “We really played as a team and they all stepped up in different ways,” she said. “This really is about working as a team. Everybody had to step up to beat Atlee. Atlee’s strong opponent so it took all of us to get that in there.”

  Likewise, Farling was pleased with the effort of her Raiders but noted that they need more speed. “I feel like we hesitated a little too much to the ball,” she said. “We were just a step behind sometimes. I feel like we didn’t get enough shots off on offense. That’s one area I feel we were lacking today, is just getting up there and being able to get shots off, which is usually not an issue for us. But they played tough defense against us and they’re quick in the middle. They definitely challenge us in the middle.

  Odds are that as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, the two teams will once again face each other in the Capital District Tournament this week. If so, Farling feels her Raiders have areas they need to improve upon.

  “I feel sometimes we’re chasing them more than we’re playing,” Farling said. “There were a couple of times there at the end that I felt we were chasing them around rather than playing our game. Just controlling the ball better, keep it on our stick, make good sharp passes. Because they do, they double team well and you’ve got to be able to get through that.”

  While not overlooking the Capital District, Bottorff has her thoughts on play beyond that tournament. “To be honest with you, I’m worried about the regional tournament because we’re going there,” she said. “Our goal is to obviously make it out of the first round. We think we need to work on putting pressure in the circle and treat every chance as if it’s our last. As these games get more and more competitive we’re not going to get as many chances to score and we’ve been harping on that in practice for weeks now.”

Atlee….................................. 1 0 — 1
Hanover…............................ 2 1 — 3
A: Dietrick H: Taylor 2, Bellows
Assists: Bellows
Saves: Smith (A) 10; Lien (H) 4
Records: Atlee 7-2, 6-2 Capital; Hanover 12-2, 10-0

Capital District field hockey pairings
At Sports Quest

Semifinals
Tuesday October 25
(Field 5)
No. 1 Hanover vs
No. 4 Henrico 7 pm.
(Field 4)
No. 2 Atlee vs
No. 3 Lee-Davis 7 p.m.

Championship
Thursday October 27
Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner 7 p.m.