Poquoson’s speed, quick scores down Lady Trojans

New Kent's Brittany LaPrade shields the ball from a Poquoson defender.

Andre' Jones photo

An Oct. 2 Thursday night matchup between host New Kent and the visiting Poquoson Lady Islanders was supposed to be a contest of two up and coming field hockey programs. Instead, it was the visitors who put the contest away early.

Poquoson’s Emily Deeds scored the first of her three goals less than four minutes into the contest en route to a 6-0 victory over New Kent.

The visitors’ speed proved to be a key factor early on. After Deeds opening score, teammate Caitlyn Cason avoided New Kent defenders and punched the ball into the back of the net. At the midway point of the opening half, Deeds scored her second goal of the night.

New Kent’s best attempts to score came on two penalty corners. However, the Lady Islanders defense thwarted the scoring attempts and turned them into fast break opportunities. The Islander’s speed eventually led Deeds assisting teammate Mackenzie Miller just before the break and gave the Poquoson a 4-0 halftime lead.

Exchanging goals wouldn’t help the hosts Lady Trojans. Every opportunity to clear the ball resulted in Poquoson intercepting it. Deeds added her third goal of the night at the five minute mark of the second half, and Cason added the final score of the game as time expired.

After the game, Lady Trojan coach Matt Duckworth stressed the simple mistakes the team made throughout the night.

“We didn’t do the little things that we had been doing recently,” said the disappointed head coach. “Every time we looked around, they had three of their players covering our one.

“It’s hard to move the ball like that,” he continued. “They had a lot of fast kids and they took away our passing lanes tonight.”

New Kent drops to 6-4 on the year.