Hornets get past Patriots

OXFORD >> Anne-Marie Anderson has seen her fair share in her 11 years at the helm of the Oxford field hockey program. The Hornets also has multiple District 1 playoff appearances during that time.

But, for all the things the Hornets did have, the thing they didn’t own was a win over Great Valley, the dominiant team in the Ches-Mont League American Division for a long time.

That changed Tuesday as Katie Dodson and Sarah Johnson scored twice each to give the Hornets (1-1, 5-1) a 4-2 victory over the Patriots (0-3, 3-3) on their grass field.

“I don’t ever remember beating Great Valley, so that in itself feels great,” said Anderson. “My girls have been working so hard on stick skills and playing together as a team, and it’s really beginning to show on the field.”

The game was scoreless until late in the first half when Johnson grabbed a ball in the circle and sent it over to Dobson, who slammed it into the back of the cage with 9;26 to play.

“When we got that score in the first half, it really gave us a lot of momentum,” said Dobson. “It just set the tone and gave us the confidence to handle whatever happened.  When they scored, we just knew we could answer back.  It just feels good to finally beat Great Valley. I knew we hadn’t beaten in the three years previous that I’ve been here.”

The second half was more of a shootout, with Great Valley striking first on a goal from Amanda Boclair to tie it at 1-1 with 21:37 to play.

Seven minutes later, Oxford went back on top, when Ginger Bradbury fed Dobson with a pass, and she slipped it past Patriots goalie Erin Kratzer to put her team back on top.  Less than two minutes later, the Patriots were awarded a penalty corner. This time it was Morgan Johnson to make it 2-2 with 12:04 remaining.

“Both Amanda and Morgan played great for us today,” said Great Valley coach Stacy Jackson. “Amanda was a leader on offense, and Morgan played great on the defensive side of the field. We’ve got a great group of girls here, willing to work harder and harder to achieve our goals.  We’re not there yet, but I think this team is about the best team you’d want to work with.”

Once again, it took little time for Oxford to answer back, this time with a rocket shot from the stick of Johnson from the top of the circle for the eventual winning goal with 10:45 to go.

Johnson put the game away with 3:31 to play.  Awarded a penalty corner, the Hornets put the ball in play on the insert, sending the ball to Johnson, who unleashed another bullet that found the netting in the back of the cage.

“I think one of the defenders might have gotten her stick on it, but not enough to stop it,” said Johnson.  “We were all doing a good job working together well today, getting back and getting on our breakaways and setting up shots.  It’s great to be getting off to the start we have, and especially nice to rebound after a tough loss to Shanahan.”

The Hornets are off to one of their best in years and feel quite comfortable playing at home on grass.

“We definitely love the grass,” said Anderson. “We know how to play on grass, and because we’re a fast team, it just makes it all the easier to shift over to turf where we can take advantage of our speed.  But grass forces you to develop certain skills, like Sarah with her aerials, and just working together as a team.  We’re all really excited about the start we’ve had, and we just need to keep working to get better every game.”

Great Valley   0   2  –2

Oxford   1  3  –4

Great Valley goals: Johnson, Boclair.

Oxford goals: Johnson 2, Dobson 2.

Goalie saves: Kratzer (GV) 13; Hubley (O) 6.