Last Thursday, the Wildcats field hockey team beat the Richard Montgomery Rockets in the first round of the playoffs. Although the Cats had a good record this year at 8-4, they were not gifted home-field advantage for playoffs, as they traveled to Richard Montgomery High School to play a higher seed in the first round.
After losing a one-goal contest against the Rockets in their fourth game of the season, there were questions about whether WJ could win in the postseason. Since the game was close the last time they played RM, the team was ready for round two, knowing they had gotten even better since the first time they played.
“The game was close early in the season because we didn’t totally work as a team, but throughout the season we grew and learned tactical skills to help win when it mattered,” right forward, junior Mira Mann said.
WJ struggled throughout the entire season with getting shots up and attacking offensively. A strong defense helped keep most games close but a lack of goals in close games limited their ability to win against good opponents.
“The team struggled to score in the first game against RM so focusing on shooting and movement in the circle during practice helped us a lot and led us to win,” captain, senior Hildi Altman said.
The game was close with the Cats leading aggressive offensive charges. The Cats, needing goals to win this game, looked to their strongest scorer to take the lead. Senior captain Gillian Rosenstock put the Cats up 1-0 with the game’s first goal. However, Rosenstock was not done just yet, as she scored another goal to extend the lead to two.
“I was so impressed with Gillian’s goals but not surprised because she is an outstanding player,” junior captain Abby Bruskin said.
Thinking that the team was running away from this playoff game easily, the Cats were soon reminded of the Richard Mongomery team that beat them earlier this season. The Rockets put one past junior goalie Alex Krouse to keep them in the game and cut the lead down to one.
“It was important to prevent their momentum as we used the parking the bus tactic by adding two extra defenders to stop them from scoring,” Mann said.
WJ was able to hold onto the lead for the rest of the game, finishing 2-1 and pushing through to the second round, where they’ll face off against Whitman.
“It feels great and really satisfying to win the playoff game because I’ve been on the team for 4 years and this is the first time we’ve made it through the first round of the playoffs,” Altman said. “I’m really happy this happened senior year.”
The Cats play Whitman in another away game on Wednesday, Oct. 30. They lost to Whitman 1-0 earlier this season in a tough match, but plan on taking advantage of their momentum and surprise Whitman early on.
“We are just getting started and I really hope that we are able to keep improving and show up the best we can be on Wednesday,” Bruskin said.
