New Kent celebrates successful senior night with shutout of Lakeland

New Kent’s Emma Zabriskie (right) shields the ball from Lakeland’s Cadence Creason (left) during a second half battle.

Robb Johnson photo

Braving the cooler air and taking on the visiting Lakeland Lady Cavaliers, the Oct. 23 Senior Night contest looked to be one for the New Kent Lady Trojans to remember. And they received some key performances to make it one of celebration.

Behind a shutout performance by goalie Charlie Richards and a pair of goals, New Kent defeated Lakeland 2-0 to capture the victory and conclude their regular season slate.

In the first quarter, Lakeland attempted to pressure New Kent, resulting in the visitors notching several penalty corners. However, the Lady Trojan defense would not be denied, as they cleared the ball after Richards made nearly a dozen saves in the first half.

Meanwhile, it would take a while before New Kent found the scoreboard. With 40 seconds remaining until the halftime break, Anna Hetzel’s slapshot put the home team ahead 1-0 just before the intermission.

The score remained the same until the fourth quarter when New Kent senior Reagan Smith scored with 4:16 remaining. From there, the Lady Trojan defense tightened up as they went on to victory.

After the game, New Kent Lady Trojans Head Coach Cristen Sickal talked about the defensive display.

“Tonight was a morale boost and it shifted the tide after the first goal,” the coach said. “Getting a goal from our Senior Reagan Smith was huge for us.”

New Kent’s Lady Trojans will look strong next year as they only will lose two players on the team due to graduation. New Kent concludes the regular season with a 6-11 record.