Game at Pope John Paul The Great Catholic High School

On Friday we had a game at Pope John Paul the Great Catholic High School (try putting that school name on a T-shirt!).

We got to the fields, and noticed that they were in less than acceptable condition. The grass was in big, thick, long clumps, and very sparse. In between patches of grass, there was a thick, swampy mud! In front of the goals, they had dumped clumpy cat litter to absorb some of the moisture. Parents may not know this, as players certainly do, but the type of field the game is on, plays a huge role in the reffing, the style of play, and even the outcome of some games. For instance, on a smooth turf or astro-turf field, the ball is going to move WAY faster than even the fastest player on the team. The lightest tap will send the ball flying. A hard drive towards goal will be incredibly hard and incredibly fast. On fake fields, stickwork is much easier, including lifts and left/right/back pulls, and sweeps of any kind. The kind of grass that our local competitors have, slows the ball down a bit. It is smooth, soft, padded, and without bumps, so you know, that if the ball goes in the air, it is due to an angled stick or a purposeful lift. All of that being said, we knew that the PJPTGCHS field, would produce a slow moving ball (mud), that would bounce (clumpy), and would it be difficult to execute pretty stickwork. This is a hard type of field for a goalkeeper to defend, because they not only have to predict a player's direction and shot, but how the ground might force the ball.

Varsity started the game out hard. Unfortunately the reffing was atrocious and the style of game was "physical". As difficult as it was to overcome these factors, the Gators looked good! They even managed to execute beautiful dodges, and exhibited a great passing game! Budi ('12), senior captain, Harlan ('11), and Budi ('13), held their defense, as always! Budi ('12) and Harlan ('11), are no strangers to Varsity and full length games, but this is the first season for Budi ('13) on Varsity, in a starting position, for the full duration! She had an amazing defensive save in the PJPTGCHS game on Friday, that showed everyone just why she earned the spot! In offense and midfield, Puchalski ('13) had another "game of her life". This is her second year on Varsity, and the experience is really paying off! Puchalski ('13) stepped it up to transfer the ball upfield, again and again, making PJPTGCHS players foul again and again. She was on fire! On the other side of the field in mid, DeBell ('13), another second year Varsity player, was doing the same! Great stickwork, and a knack for passing at all the right times, helped DeBell ('13) to push up to our offenders. Caudill ('12), a third year starter on Varsity, and Wolpert ('13), who was pulled up in the beginning of last season, worked well in center. The Gators were itching for a goal, but were having some trouble penetrating the circle. Finally, with some pushes from offenders, Curtin ('12), senior captain, Albright ('11), and Cyr ('12), they got some shots on goal. Just before the half ended, I put in Morris ('13), in her first season on Varsity. Morris ('13) used her speed several times to fastbreak the ball upfield. Finally, once the Gators got inside the circle, they made PJPTGCHS cause a foul, and got the corner they had been looking for. Caudill ('12) set up a simple corner, and Albright ('11) took a shot on goal. A PJPTGCHS player made a nice solid stop inches from the goal line. After some battling for the ball, Caudill ('12) sent the ball across goal and Morris ('13) was ready to slam it into the boards! Morris ('13) claimed her first goal of the season, her first goal on Varsity, and her first goal in a game! Caudill ('12) got the assist, putting her record up to 4 goals scored, and 4 goals assisted for the season so far. In the second half, the Gators pushed hard, but couldn't find the back of goal again, despite many shots on goal. The PJPTGCHS players knew they had to push hard because time was running out. A PJPTGCHS player got off a lucky shot, and somehow slid into the bottom corner of the goal. The half ended at a tied 1-1 game. We went into overtime, with Harlan ('11) and Budi ('12) in back, Puchalski ('13) and Caudill ('12) in mid, and Curtin ('12) and Albright ('11) in forward. The Gators pushed hard towards goal, narrowly missing a few shots on goal. The PJPTGCHS players pushed upfield and got a shot off on our Goal Keeper, Wyatt ('11), who is playing field hockey for the first year! (She was interested in playing her freshman through junior years, but was out with a recurring injury. She has been our manager for the past 2 years.). Wyatt ('11) has 75 saves so far this season, pretty good for a first time goalie, right?! The Gators did not want to have any more shots on goal, and rushed the ball upfield. Curtin ('12) pushed hard towards, and after seconds of battling it out, Puchalski ('13) made a hard shot towards the back corner of the goal and scored the winning goal! This was Puchalski's ('13) first goal of the season and first game winning goal! The Varsity Gators go on to play Collegiate at the Robins Campus today, and Maggie L. Walker Governor's School on Wednesday!

The JV Gators pushed hard in their fourth regular season game. The refereeing and field were still horrible, and under the circumstances, they played a great game! The physical contact, high sticking, hacking, and third man were even worse than in the Varsity game and the refs failed to call ANY of it. The trainer for PJPTGCHS even failed to come on the field when we had a player down. The refs even failed to pause the game. M. Gregory ('14) held down center mid, using her dodges, reverse sweeps, and awesome timing to make the PJPTGCHS JV players foul, time and time again. L. Gregory ('14) and Spicer ('14) had some great fastbreaks and pushed hard for a goal! Bouchard ('14) worked on the left to push upfield from mid, and Veillette ('14) used some great stickwork and timing on the right! Defenders Aiken ('13), Puccinelli ('14), and Morgan ('14) kept the ball away from goal! Somehow, a lucky shot got by them, and the JV team lost by 1. It was a mixture of bad reffing, a bad field, and a lucky shot, however sometimes that is how it goes. The JV team looked good though, and I am expecting a super competitive game today against Collegiate Gold! They play Maggie L. Walker Governor's School on Wednesday after the Varsity Game!

Come out and support the teams as they play away games this week!