Severna Park field hockey builds confidence with fourth shutout of the season, 3-0 over South River – Capital Gazette

A 12 months off its state-best twenty fifth Class 4A name, Severna Park field hockey selected to stroll thru fireplace when it scheduled 3 tricky groups from Delaware to fill the first few video games of the season. Out of the ones defeats, the Falcons — an overly younger squad — have emerged combat examined.

After blanking South River, 3-0, on Thursday for his or her 3rd shutout in a row and fourth total, trainer Shannon Garden can in point of fact see how temporarily confidence is development in her Falcons (5-3).

All 3 of Severna Park’s targets got here off corners, of which Severna Park had 16. And whilst 3 of 16 isn’t the best possible proportion in the international, Garden was once inspired to peer her workforce pounce on probabilities.

“Corners are not easy to score on at this level, all the pieces have to come exactly correctly for it to work, but three is pretty good for us,” Garden stated. “We’ve been working really hard on corners and opportunities to score.”

The Falcons have all the time been recognized for a powerful protection. But when a generational defender like Zoe Day graduated, Garden positioned Ava Drexler-Amey in the backfield to shore it up. The catch was once Drexler-Amey was once the Falcons’ most sensible scorer final season with 18 issues.

“After the first couple games, I really needed to flip the script and work hard on our offense and spread our talent,” Garden stated. “That means we tried to develop our talent up front, take more risks and create more opportunities for themselves.”

And that purpose, the trainer stated, is best now being learned as the more youthful and not more skilled forwards regulate to the tempo of play.

Neither offense had a lot good fortune early, regardless of the Falcons lining up for a number of corners.

“When we have a team as skilled as ours, it’s not a skill thing when we’re making mistakes, it’s a need-to-relax thing,” junior Alyssa Gore-Chung stated. “We just needed to get in a rhythm, and then we scored a goal.”

As the outdated adage is going, 3rd time was once in reality the attraction.

Though the insert didn’t to find its position in the internet, Severna Park forwards furiously poked and prodded at the ball. When sophomore midfielder Ava Zimmerman discovered a small opening, she fired for the first Falcons purpose, her first at the varsity stage.

[ High school sports roundup from Sept. 22. ]

Once the pressure broke, the Falcons offense may exhale. Within a minute, on any other nook strive, Gore-Chung buried her shot for a 2-0 lead.

Garden knew what she was once getting in a single of the county’s maximum prolific lacrosse gamers, who overlooked the 2021 field hockey slate with an ACL harm: a natural athlete.

Her gentle, glad demeanor on the sidelines transforms temporarily into spitfire the second she touches the field. Her teammates describe her as, “Human sunshine off the field, human tornado on the field.”

“She’s a machine with no off button,” Garden stated. “With her, it is ‘go’ all the time. And she’s creating opportunities for other kids to come in and deposit it.”

The Falcons bolstered their monopoly in the 2nd quarter, almost reducing the field in part as the offense hardly let the ball go away its sight. Gore-Chung credited ball motion and communique, in addition to certain power.

“When we turned the ball over, we didn’t put our heads down,” Gore-Chung stated. “We thought, ‘Next ball,’ clapped our hands and went on with the next play.”

Sixteen corners additionally lend a hand.

On the 8th Severna Park nook (of 11 in the first part), Meredith Schepens fed a move to sophomore ahead Kelsey Rowe, who rushed the purpose, clipping the ball and arcing it over the shoulders of the Seahawks, pushing the Falcon result in 3-0 at the part.

“They’re starting to relax and have more fun now,” Garden stated. “They don’t feel like they have to prove themselves anymore.”