Sports
Patriots Field Hockey Advances With 1-0 Win Over Northport
Ward Melville earns a birth in the championship game against Sachem East on Thursday.
The Ward Melville Patriots are going back to the large schools field hockey championship game, defeating the Northport Tigers 1-0 on Monday to earn a spot in the finals. Abby Beltrani scored what would be the gamewinner for Ward Melville with 8:57 left in the game for the three-time Long Island and Suffolk County field hockey champions.
The Heroes: Beltrani's goal came after the Patriots had been on offense for a couple minutes. After enduring a showering of shots, the Tigers couldn't stop Beltrani's strike into the corner of the net. Vanessa Pryor was there for the assist.
The Turning Point: With about 13 minutes left in the game the Ward Melville goal apparatus was blown over by the wind and play was suspended for about 5 minutes while sandbags were retrieved to hold it down. Once play resumed, the Ward Melville offense got aggressive and put continuous pressure on the Tigers defense. The Patriots drew penalty corner after penalty corner and took shot after shot until finally Northport goalie Gabby Gallo cracked and one slipped passed her as she tried to make a play.
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Quotable: "They're a very strong and aggressive team, and they always are against us," said Ward Melville head coach Shannon Watson. "I wasn't expecting anything less than the performance they gave us today. Plus, I think it'll help us get in the right mindset for Thursday."
The Bottom Line: The Patriots seemed to be on offense all game, but they couldn't put the ball in the net. Gallo seemed to play like a brick wall and she did a great job clearing the ball with her leg pads once she made the save, making it hard for Ward Melville to get rebounds. The Patriots set up some excellent opportunities and made some impressive shots that were met by even better saves. They'll be in good shape moving forward, but the finals will be a grueling battle.
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Key Stat: The Tigers gave Ward Melville 16 penalty corners, one of which lead to the only goal of the game.
Who's Next? The Patriots will play Sachem East, Thursday at 2 p.m. at Newfield High School.
Field Hockey A Division Playoffs – Box Score