Fly under pressure: New Kent scores with 3.7 seconds to top Monticello

New Kent’s Emma Zabriskie (right) clears the ball from Monticello attacker Dorothy Shoup (1) to deny her a score on a penalty corner.

Robb Johnson photo

New Kent’s Lady Trojans’ field hockey team has a flare for the dramatic. And at this point, maybe they should keep all of their contests close because they’ve resulted in wins.

A penalty corner by Meghan Fly with 3.7 seconds left in regulation lifted the hosting Lady Trojans to a 2-1 victory over the visiting Monticello Lady Mustangs in Sept. 5 non-district competition.

After both teams played on even terms in the first half, it would be the hosts who cracked the scoreboard first. Olivia Allen’s blast to the back of the goal at the 13:12 mark in the third quarter put New Kent in front.

After the hosts thwarted a penalty corner attempt by Monticello, the visitors used misdirection to confuse the Lady Trojans. With crossers attracting the attention of New Kent defenders, it would be a goal by Lady Mustang Ellie Loura to tie the score up at the 8:30 mark of the third frame.

The teams battled back-and-forth, with neither yielding a goal and making great defensive stops. Fly’s key defense and speed forced an errant shot by Monticello with 2:45 remaining in regulation, returning the ball to the hosts.

New Kent controlled the ball for a majority of the remaining time, forcing the Lady Mustangs into an error that resulted in a penalty corner. From there, an inbound to set up Fly’s score was successful, firing it in the net with just mere ticks remaining. The clock expired shortly after, lifting New Kent to victory.

After the contest, New Kent Lady Trojans’ Head Coach Cristen Sickal spoke about her team being active when it came to protecting their goal.

“I was happy about the defense tonight and we stressed to them about different things and scenarios,” she said. “We showed them that and wanted to see how they would bounce back and tonight, they showed that along how we practiced those situations.”

New Kent improves to 2-1 on the season.