There is usually a lot of intensity when the field hockey teams of Atlee and Hanover face off against one another, but last Tuesday the excitement reached new levels. The Raiders (9-2 Capital, 12-3) applied pressure with an early goal but Hanover (9-0, 11-1) answered with one in each period to take the match 2-1.

  The contest, originally slated to be played on Sept. 29, was rescheduled four times due to rain and with each move the stakes grew higher. Finally meeting up in the final week of the regular season, Hanover was undefeated in Capital District play while Atlee sported one loss, which came at the hands of the Hawks. Therefore the two teams were virtually playing for the Capital District regular season title. Atlee needed a win to put them in a tie with Hanover for the regular season crown while a victory by Hanover would lock up the title and guarantee the Hawks their first ever trip to regionals.

  To add even more meaning to the contest, the two teams came together as a battle against a common opponent; breast cancer.

  “Today we are playing for Play for the Cure, which is a VHSL outreach to raise awareness of breast cancer during the month of October,” said Hanover head coach Sarah Bottorff, who set up the event. As such, the players wore pink accents to their uniforms and used a pink game ball. Playing before one of the biggest crowds of the season also provided a lift because profits from the gate receipts were donated to the American Cancer Society.

  “I was proud to see that,” Bottorff said. “Hopefully we will have gotten a good sum to donate to cancer.”

  “Obviously we all know people who have been effected by this at some level,” said Atlee head coach Alyssa Farling. “So when I mentioned to the girls that this was something we wanted to try they really got on board and the parents really got on board and were really supportive of the cause.

  “I think it’s a nice way for us to show, though we’re obviously really competitive, we want to beat each other we also have common goals and we can look past the competitiveness to try to play for a bigger cause.”

  But when it came to field hockey itself, the Raiders took an early, and at least to the Hawks, a somewhat unexpected lead on a penalty corner midway through the first period. Atlee senior Sonja Anderson took the feed out top and threaded a shot through the legs of Hawks senior keeper Leeanne Kesler to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.

  Bottorff said her team may have underestimated the Raiders. “That was a little bit of a surprise for me and I think for the girls too,” she said. “I think they realized they can’t let up on this team. They’ve got a lot of players that are dangerous. They weren’t giving them the credit that they deserved I guess.”

  Recognizing the lapse, Bottorff called a timeout to reenergize her team. “At the end of the first half I said we really need to get going,” she said. “If we don’t score now we’re going to go into the second half behind and that’s just going to make everything harder. We really need to play consistently. We need to play aggressively. We need to go to the ball and just tactical things.”
  Hanover did just that and answered five minutes later.

  A save from Atlee senior keeper Annie Lassiter sent the ball out top where Hawks senior forward Maria Piccolomini made a retrieval, drove the ball up the middle and fed it inside to senior forward Taylor Culley for the tying score.

  At the 20:52 mark of the second period, it was Piccolomini again, taking off down the right side of the field on a fast break, turning inside the arc and drilling a shot into the left front corner of the goal for what turned out to be the game-winning score. 

  Throughout the contest, Hanover’s defense continually disrupted the Atlee passing lanes and made movement of the ball difficult, something that Farling feels the Raiders need to work on as the post season approaches.

  “We hesitate and I think that’s happened in some of our bigger games,” she said. “We hesitate just a second too long to get rid of the ball or get in front of the ball. It doesn’t take more than a second to lose it that quickly when you’re playing a team like this.”

  Atlee closed out the regular season on Wed. with a hard-fought 2-1 overtime win over Lee-Davis. Hanover completed their regular season Capital District sweep by beating Highland Springs 7-0, and Lee-Davis 5-3.

  The Capital District tournament will make a move when it begins this week. This year the tournament will be played at Chesterfield County’s Sports Quest, 13030 Genito Road in Midlothian. The move will allow teams to compete on a turf field in preparation for the regional and state tournaments. On Tues. Oct. 26, #1 seed Hanover plays #4 Henrico at 5:30 p.m. District awards will be handed out at 6:45 then #2 Atlee will play #3 Lee Davis at 7.  The championship game takes place Thurs. at 7 p.m.

Directions to Capital District Field Hockey Tournament at Sports Quest
 
  Head South on I-95 S toward Exit 86B. Take exit 79 to merge onto I-195 S toward Powhite Pkwy. Continue onto VA-76 W. Turn left at Charter Colony Pkwy/Coalfield Rd/VA-754. Turn left at Genito Rd/VA-604. Make a U-turn Destination will be on the right.

Atlee ...................................... 1 0—1
Hanover….............................. 1 1—2

A: Anderson
H: Culley, Piccolomini
Saves: Lassiter (A) 5; Kesler (H) 2
Records: Atlee 9-2 Capital, 12-3; Hanover 9-0, 11-1