Early Zabriskie goal enough for Lady Trojans’ victory over Lafayette

New Kent’s Reagan Smith (right) uses her body to create a barrier and keeps the ball away from a Lady Rams’ player.

Robb Johnson photo

In a game where sometimes all it takes only one score to win, the team has to be able to grab that opportunity when it is available. New Kent’s Lady Trojans’ field hockey team did just that.

Emma Zabriskie’s score in the first period turned out to be the only point of the contest as New Kent blanked the Lafayette Lady Rams 1-0 in Monday night’s Bay Rivers District contest.

New Kent struck early in the game thanks to Zabriskie, who found the back of the net at the 4:16 mark of the opening frame. From there, the Lady Trojans’ defense stood firm, denying two Lafayette penalty corners and holding that lead heading into the halftime break.

After a scoreless third quarter, Lafayette became more aggressive and attacked New Kent. And while the Lady Trojans’ defense stood firm, a penalty corner was called on the hosts, allowing Lafayette one more opportunity to score.

A shot attempt by the Lady Rams was deflected by New Kent goalie Brianna Otey, with her teammates clearing the ball down to the other side of the field. By the time Lafayette had regained possession, time had expired, and New Kent captured the victory.

After the game, New Kent Lady Trojans Head Coach Cristen Sickal spoke about the tough victory.

“This was a good, physical game with white noise in the background that they blocked out,” said the victorious head coach. “We have things we need to work on and we have to keep winning to get a great seed going into the postseason.”

New Kent’s record improves to 6-8 on the year.