Stellar New Kent defense, late offensive surge falls short in upset bid

New Kent defender Ashby Holsapple (5) takes the ball away from Lafayette's Olivia Nice.

Alan Chamberlain photo

New Kent’s defense answered all but one Lafayette challenge during Monday night’s field hockey encounter. The visiting Rams pushed in a late second half goal and repelled a furious New Kent rally in the waning moments to stave off the Lady Trojans’ upset bid on Senior Night for a 1-0 win.

“If we had played with the same urgency for the entire game that we had in the last 10 minutes, it would have been a different story,” said Lady Trojan coach Matt Duckworth.

“I was happy with the chances we had, but we just didn’t close the deal,” he added.

With defenders Chandler Dagenhart, Jennifer Critz, and Ashby Holsapple keeping pressure off Lady Trojan keepers Darla Johnson and Brooke Forsythe, the host withstood a dozen Ram penalty corner situations. But with 13:02 left to play, the Rams Carly Orlovski provided the difference-maker, backhanding a close range shot that rolled into the goal.

New Kent, meanwhile, could not mount a consistent attack until the hosts were awarded their first penalty corner with 10 minutes to go. Abbie Clark’s looping shot, however, was stopped by Ram keeper Jackie Boesler.

Down the stretch, New Kent controlled play. Peyton Slater’s long pass through the Ram defense found teammate Marley McCartney poised in front of the Ram goal. McCartney, however, could not get a proper shot angle and her effort missed wide left.

With under a minute left, another Slater pass aimed at McCartney eluded Ram defenders, but velocity drove the ball out of bounds, just beyond McCartney’s reach.

“That’s the way it bounces sometimes,” Duckworth said after his team fell to 6-8. “We’ve never had that come-from-behind mentality so it was good to see the fight in them. I hope we can carry that into the playoffs.”