’Canes continue hot start with rivalry win

Posted 9/16/14

It’s all about beginnings for the Warwick Vets field hockey team.

And the beginnings are leading to some pretty good endings.

Head coach Jim Areson preached about the importance of a good …

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’Canes continue hot start with rivalry win

Posted

It’s all about beginnings for the Warwick Vets field hockey team.

And the beginnings are leading to some pretty good endings.

Head coach Jim Areson preached about the importance of a good start to the year in the preseason, and he’s been preaching about good starts to games before every contest.

On Friday, the Hurricanes blitzed rival Pilgrim for two quick goals and rolled to a 3-0 victory. It continued a hot start to the season for the ’Canes, who are 3-0 and have won all three games by shutout.

“I was telling them at the beginning of the year, if we could just get off to this start, it would just carry us,” Areson said after Friday’s win. “It makes everything easier, makes practice easier. I’m very happy, very pleased.”

Pilgrim dropped to 1-2. The Patriots own a 6-1 victory over Rocky Hill but their other two games were against Vets and South Kingstown, the early leaders in Division II-South. Both those teams are undefeated, and the Pats were shut-out by both.

“We had a good game against Rocky Hill,” said Pilgrim coach Steph Shields. “We scored six goals. We know we can do it. I think we just need to get that momentum earlier in games.”

On Friday, momentum belonged solely to the ’Canes. Just four minutes into the game, Vets pushed forward and got itself a penalty corner. Taylor Axtmann played the ball in to Savannah Hersey. She knocked a perfect pass to the center of the circle, where Natasha Savage timed her shot and ripped it into the cage.

Just over two minutes later, Vets struck again on another corner. Axtmann played it to Hersey, who again made a centering pass. This one bounced past a group of players to the far post, where Maddy Axtmann was waiting for it. She touched it in for the 2-0 lead.

“We got off to a real good start and banged two goals in,” Areson said. “I just felt like if we could get off to a good start, it would just carry us for the rest of the game and it did. Two pretty goals.”

Once Vets got the corner opportunities, there was little Pilgrim could do in the face of well-executed plays.

“Perfect execution,” Shields said. “There’s not much you can do about that.”

At the other end, Pilgrim didn’t have a single penalty corner in the first half. Other chances were few and far between, with Vets defenders Sam Harris, Lauren Vuz, Julie Ye and Arietta Chevian limiting opportunities in front of goalie Naomi Franzen.

“I thought the three senior fullbacks played great,” Areson said. “Every chance Pilgrim had, they snuffed out. They kept the pressure on. It was just extremely hard for Pilgrim to get the ball down in our end, and that was a lot because of Sam Harris, Lauren Vuz and Julie Ye. I just thought they played extremely well.”

That continued a trend for the ’Canes, who are the only team in all of Division II that hasn’t yet given up a goal.

“We’ve only given up maybe 14 shots in three games,” Areson said. “We’ve done a really nice job.”

On Friday, Vets added to its lead midway through the second half on a carbon copy of the first goal. Axtmann passed to Hersey, who passed to Savage. She again timed it perfectly and smashed a shot past Pilgrim keeper Alex Pouliot.

“Everything we’ve been working on in practice, they executed,” Areson said. “Natasha had two pretty goals. Maddy, I’m glad she scored because she’s been working hard in practice. Savannah obviously played really well today. She’s been great.”

Pilgrim finally got a few penalty corner opportunities in the second half but couldn’t convert any into goals.

“We had some moments of strength, but Vets definitely has some great players,” Shields said. “They play tough and they’re incredibly skilled. I think that helped them immensely.”

Pilgrim had beaten Rocky Hill last Wednesday with an offensive barrage. Paula Cavanagh and Madison Stanley had two goals each, while Loren Saucier and Emma Vincent had one each.

Pilgrim will be back in action today when it visits Chariho at 3:45 p.m. The Pats have another rivalry game on Thursday against Toll Gate.

“We’re still early in the season,” Shields said. “This was only our third game. We’ll play [Vets] again later on and hopefully it’s a different outcome. We’ll learn from this and move on.”

Vets will visit Rocky Hill today at 4 p.m. before a showdown with fellow unbeaten South Kingstown on Thursday at home at 3:45 p.m.

“Big week coming up,” Areson said. “Hopefully, we take care of business against Rocky Hill. Big match-up on Thursday against South Kingstown. We can’t wait.”

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