Loretta Blakeney takes her shot on goal. (Beth Robinson Photo)
A hat trick by Miranda Johnson and a single by Loretta Blakeney were more than enough for the Woodstock field hockey team to power its way 4-2 over U-32 in East Montpelier on Friday afternoon, September 9.
Coach Anne Doton expected that the perennially fast Raiders would turn on the jets from the very first whistle, and they did just that. So the challenge for the Wasps was not to get into a foot race with U-32, particularly with a couple of their exceptional speedsters, but to have the fastest Wasps rotate man-on-man coverage and have a teammate lend support at a critical time.
Sarah Yates stepped into the shadowing role in a big way in the second half as the visitors got the hang of pressuring the U-32 offense before they could do any damage.
For their part, the Wasps continuous counter-attacked the U-32 goalie and dominated the home team’s circle.
“At first we were bunching up too much in the circle, but we were tenacious and adjusted to get more room—we really want our middies on the outside — and it helped,” Doton said.
And that kind of playing paid off: two Wasp goals were tallied off robust play in the circle, while two others were set up from corners as the Raiders had to resort to fouls to keep the Wasps at bay.
But it also took some very solid goal-tending by Molly Henne between the pipes to nail down the win. Henne made 10 saves to keep the Wasps in the game and to preserve the lead until the final horn. While it is too soon to foresee just how well the Wasps’ season will pan out, Doton likes the progress that sophomore defender Khaira Brettel has made, and is impressed by the adaptability of freshman Mackenzie Yates.
“I can use her (Yates) where I need her,” Doton said.
With 10 seniors and a lot of good underclassmen, Doton exudes a lot of confidence that the Wasps will continue to get stronger as the season advances.
The Woodstock girls hit the road again Thursday to face the Colonels in Brattleboro, and travel to play at Mt. Anthony on Saturday. They will be back at Frates Field on Sept. 21 to play Hartford at 4 p.m.
This article first appeared in the September 15, 2016 edition of the Vermont Standard.