’Canes, Pats battle to draw in finale, set for postseason

Kevin Pomeroy
Posted 10/28/14

In the regular season finale for both teams, the Warwick Vets and Pilgrim field hockey teams each earned a point, but more importantly they also earned plenty of confidence with the playoffs on the …

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’Canes, Pats battle to draw in finale, set for postseason

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In the regular season finale for both teams, the Warwick Vets and Pilgrim field hockey teams each earned a point, but more importantly they also earned plenty of confidence with the playoffs on the horizon.

The ’Canes and Pats battled to a 1-1 draw on Friday, with Vets’ Natasha Savage scoring on a penalty stroke just 6:08 into the game and Pilgrim’s Paula Cavanagh tying the score in the final minute of regulation.

For Vets, the tie halted a two-game losing skid and it brought to an end the program’s best regular season since it went 14-1-1 in 2005 and won the Division II title. The ’Canes finished up this year at 10-4-2.

They were also playing without their top player, senior Savannah Hersey, who is out with a concussion. With that in mind, it was a solid performance with the playoffs scheduled to start today.

“If you told me at the beginning of the year I’d end up 10-4-2, I’d be very pleased,” said Vets head coach Jim Areson. “We’ve had a phenomenal year. I thought we played really well.”

Pilgrim was pleased too. It finished the regular season at 7-8-1 and qualified for the postseason for the first time since 2009. After spending the last three years in Division I, this season was quite a treat for head coach Steph Shields and the seniors who stuck with the program through a difficult stretch since 2011.

“It’s really nice,” Shields said. “It’s a good opportunity for our girls, especially our seniors that have put up with three years in Division I. They played hard every game, but the outcome was never great. This is a nice change for them.”

Vets is the No. 4 seed, and it will host a D-II quarterfinal playoff game today against the No. 5 seed, which is still to be determined. The game is scheduled for 4 p.m., and will be against either South Kingstown or Chariho.

The ’Canes went 1-1 against both of those teams in the regular season.

“I just hope we play well,” Areson said. “That’s all. I hope they enjoy it. I hope we get to the semis. That would be really cool.”

Pilgrim, which is now riding a two-game points streak, is the No. 6 or 7 seed, and will play on the road today against either Cumberland, South Kingstown or Chariho.

If the Pats play at Cumberland, the game will be at 6 p.m. If they play either South Kingstown or Chariho, the game will be at 3:45 p.m.

“This has been a great week for us,” Shields said “We’ve been playing some of our best field hockey of the season going into the playoffs.”

The outcome seemed bleak for Pilgrim early on Friday, as Vets held play for much of the first half and broke through with a goal in the first seven minutes.

Pilgrim goalie Alex Pouliot stepped on the ball in front of the goal, causing it to sink into the wet turf. The result was a penalty stroke, which Savage took and lifted high into the left side of the goal for a 1-0 lead.

“In the first half, we created a ton of opportunities,” Areson said. “Natasha took a nice stroke.”

The score remained that way deep into the second half, until Pilgrim came alive. Chrissy Cavanagh had an opportunity with eight minutes remaining the game, but it was saved by Vets’ goalie Naomi Franzen. Thirty seconds later, Franzen was forced to kick out a ball rolling towards the goal.

The Pats followed that threat with a pair of penalty corners, and on the second one, persistence paid off. Madison Yehle took the corner from the left side of the net and flung it into the middle, where Paula Cavanagh ran to it and corralled it in traffic. She somehow got it towards the goal and it found its way in for the equalizer with just 52 seconds to play.

“At the end we had our opportunities and finally it worked out well,” Shields said. “I think they dug deep to get there.”

The momentum carried into overtime, where the Pats dictated play for the first few minutes, but they never got a good look at the goal.

Vets then seemed to catch fire, as it had a penalty corner four minutes into the extra period that resulted in a shot just wide by Savage. Lexi Santos-Smith put one on goal for Vets just afterwards, but Pouliot kicked it far away.

Finally, in the last two minutes, Pilgrim was awarded a penalty corner but nothing came of it, and the final whistle sounded not long afterwards.

It was a tie both teams could be proud of.

“I was very pleased. I thought we played really hard,” Areson said. “We played yesterday and it was not a very good game. I’m glad they came back and played hard. They didn’t get down.”

Both teams now will try to make some noise in the postseason. Pilgrim hasn’t won a playoff game since 2009, while Vets hasn’t won one since 2005.

“Hopefully they’ll carry this over into next week,” Areson said. “We’ll build on this and we just keep on going.”

The semifinals – if either team reaches them – will be held at East Greenwich high school on Thursday. The championship game is at Roger Williams University on Sunday, Nov. 2.

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  • BobSavage

    See Natasha Savage's penalty shot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQi44v_ukZ8

    See Paula Cavanagh's goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9teszQmF0I

    Tuesday, February 3, 2015 Report this