Stellar defense lifts New Kent Lady Trojans to shutout victory

New Kent’s Macey Smith (left) pushes the ball down the field while being pursued by Mechanicsville’s Mackenzie Clark (1) and Victoria Goodman (18).

Robb Johnson photo

After having a week-and-a-half off due to postponements, New Kent’s Lady Trojans’ field hockey team looked to get back in the win column Monday night. A strong defensive effort along with two second half goals were enough for the Lady Trojans to garner a victory.

Fourth quarter scores by Alivia Snow and Ava Jenkins were enough to propel New Kent to a 2-0 victory over the visiting Mechanicsville Lady Mustangs in non-district competition.

For three quarters, neither team surrendered a goal as defense was superb for both squads. In the beginning of the fourth quarter, Snow made amends for missing an earlier penalty corner in the contest.

Less than two minutes into the final frame, Snow found the back of the goal, providing New Kent a 1-0 lead. The home team’s next score came courtesy of Jenkins, who was at the right place at the right time as the Lady Mustang goalie was out of position, leading to an easy score. From there, the Lady Trojans’ pressure defense continued to force the visitors on their heels, leading to time expiring and the home team evening their record for the year.

After the contest, New Kent Lady Trojans’ Head Coach Erin Borszich spoke about her team’s victory.

“We had a strong defense, and our goalie did not touch the ball for three quarters and only once in the fourth,” she said. “We had a ton of penalty corners, but we had a hard time with their defense.

“Their goalie was really good, but we were able to figure out their play and capitalized on that in the fourth quarter and get some points on the board,” Borszich concluded.

New Kent improves to 4-4 on the season.