By Tom Haley
THE RUTLAND HERALD
Jacks Trim Rutland in Opener
RUTLAND, Vt.- The unknown pervaded Rutland’s field hockey field. First game. Two new coaches.
But Friday afternoon soon had a familiar feel to it as three-time defending Division III state champion Windsor beat Rutland 4-1 with junior Gwen Ambrose knocking in two goals.
The biggest goal for the Yellow Jackets might have been the one off the stick of Gabby Gilbert. Rutland was going toe-to-toe with the Jacks at the time, trailing just 2-1.
“Gabby’s goal was absolutely an important goal. It let us breathe,” Windsor coach Blake Wardwell said.
The Jacks’ first goal was important in its own way. It gave a very young team, with only one senior, some confidence.
“We’re very young and that goal was big for our freshmen,” Wardwell said.
It came from Hannah Tenny and gave the Jacks a 1-0 lead with 7:11 remaining in the first quarter.
Rutland pressed the attack in the first couple of minutes but then the field flipped. Windsor began attacking with gusto and Gilbert took four penalty corners in rapid succession.
The corners yielded no result but Tenny found the net shortly after Windsor’s fifth corner and the 1-0 lead stood up after the opening quarter.
The Yellow Jackets had 10 first-half corners to two for Rutland and the Jacks had an 18-4 edge in corners at game’s end. Windsor had 16 shots on goal to six for the Rutlanders.
Ambrose’s first goal came 13:13 before the half.
Rutland was in desperate need of a goal before the half and Josephine Muro provided it just two minutes before the break.
The statistics show the domination of Windsor but for a stretch in the second quarter it was Rutland having the upper hand.
“In the second quarter, Rutland really picked it up and put a lot of pressure on us,” Ambrose said.
It was the second multi-goal game of Ambrose’s career. She had one last year against Springfield.
“We are looking to score more,” Rutland coach Kayla Ploof said.
“It was a good team effort.”
Lauren Solimano, Jaryn Mazzariello-Peer and Sophia Ellison gave the attack some juice and enabled the Rutlanders to threaten in the circle several times.
Emily Sunderland was stout on defense in front of goalie Emma Cosgrove, who also had a solid game, against the strong Windsor attack.
Gilbert’s goal came with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter and then Ambrose netted her second score with 6:24 remaining in the game via an assist by Alexina Peckinpaugh.
Rutland never quit. After Ambrose’s goal made it 4-1, Jillian Perry and Ryleigh Hughes threatened to score from right on Windsor goalie Sydney Perry’s doorstep.
Bellows Falls Topples Springfield
Ashlin Maxfield hit the back of the cage four times for the Terriers as Bellows Falls took care of Springfield 9-0 on Friday.
Sadi Scott, Hannah Terry, Emma Bazin (2), Ave LaRoss all had tallies for Bellows Falls.
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