The Hill School ripped through the 2024 field hockey season with one mission in mind: to make it back to the championship game.
After coming in second to the Academy of Notre Dame, in a 1-0 loss, at the end of the 2023 season and at the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association championship game, the team’s immediate focus was to rebound and to enact “revenge.”
They had to beat Agnes Irwin before getting there, which they did late last week. Hill won 6-0, but the Owls gave Hill a great first half. Agnes Irwin went on to play Episcopal Academy for third, which ended up being a tied 1-1 game.
“Hill is obviously a really great team,” head coach Nicole Gerdes said. “And, No. 1 in the country, so coming here, for our girls, it’s keep our heads up and fight to the end, keep pushing.”
Agnes held Hill to only one goal in the first half. They had many more chances of scoring in the second, but Hill’s goalie, Tane King, stopped those shots from going in; and, Hill’s midfield and attack players dug deeper to showcase their belief in each other.
“I think we gave them a really strong first half,” Gerdes said. “And, things kind of came loose a little in the second half…We play a lot of competitive teams. They’re a great team, so it’s always tough coming out here and playing against them. I’m proud of them for giving them a game in the first half. I think we got more opportunities and shots in the second half, and more corners. But, more of the fight was in the first half, when we kept it tighter with the score.”
Sara Davis, the Owls’ goalie, remained steady and stopped 12 shots from being scored.
The energy that burst open in the second half, more specifically, the fourth quarter, was not Agnes Irwin’s fault. Hill saw them as the one team left standing between them and their rival. And, the desired rematch that has haunted them for one year.
“I think the fourth quarter is when we really stepped it up this game,” Hill’s Aubrey Turner said. Turner had a hat trick on the day. “I think we played okay, all around, but the fourth quarter is when we went out with a bang as a team. I want some revenge. I’m hungry.”
Hill passing sequence. Goal. Aubrey Turner
1-0 9:40 pic.twitter.com/xsGRTsBzc9
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Her teammates, Riley Savage and Sophia Ferri, said they are reading the same page, same chapter, and same book. Hill lost 1-0 to NDA last year on a smoking diving shot scored by Bucknell field hockey freshman Reese Czajkowski.
“We’ve obviously been working very hard this entire season and we’re really looking forward to NDA on Tuesday for some revenge,” Savage said. “I think we’re two very strong teams, so it just gets to be how mentally strong we are, and it’s obviously going to be a mentally tough game, so not letting anything get to us and just focusing on our game, which we’ve been doing this entire season.”
Savage got the Hill’s sticks scoring starting in the third, and then her energy spilled over into the fourth, when Hill scored four goals total. One being Savage’s and two being Turner’s. Turner scored the only goal in the first half.
In spite of AI’s great corner defense, Hill found a way 10:18
3-0 pic.twitter.com/s3bOeqgt7C— FemaleAthleteNews (@Female_FANews) November 7, 2024
Ferri echoed Turner’s sentiment – who also admitted the offense better drop back on defense when they play NDA or that could present a problem – that Hill wants to start Tuesday’s game the way they ended the game with Agnes Irwin.
“We want to start strong, we want to end strong,” Ferri said. “We want to start how we ended. That’s our motivation coming from this game. All season, we’ve wanted to come out to play, to say it’s not about “I” it’s about “we,” and really show that we are a team instead of individuals.”
Taylor Bigbie added the third goal out of the four scored in the fourth. The first two goals in the fourth were scored four minutes apart, and the third was also four minutes later with 6:53 remaining. Bigbie planted hers with 5:56 on the clock, and then Turner wrapped it up with 4:17 left.
Hailey Elliott assisted Turner on the first goal.
“It’s also important to play our game,” Hill head coach Katherine Bowie said. “Our systems work so well. When we execute our game plan, we play so well. Our principles help us play great hockey. We play a little differently than other teams, but that works for us. So, we need to not get ahead of ourselves.”
When asked how she thinks her players are feeling about Tuesday’s game, she said: “I would say they’re going to be fired up, ready, relying on and trusting each other. They’re going to be firing at a 10 out of 10 level, to try to give it their all. That’s all we can ask of each other at this point.”
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Photo: Agnes Irwin at The Hill School, PASIAA semifinals, November, 2024, Bob Benscoter
