Last Tuesday, long time field hockey rivals St. Catherine’s and Collegiate faced off for the first time this season on the Cougar’s pristine field turf of Robins Campus in Eastern Goochland County. Despite the layover from last season, where the two teams battled it out for a VISAA state championship, the intensity and pace of the game was breathtaking as the two went all-out in head to head competition with the visiting Saints walking away with a 2-1 win. 

  According to the Saints’ head coach Don Warner, such was expected. 

  “I thought it was typical of a St. Catherine’s/Collegiate hockey game,” Warner said.  “These are fun games.  Both teams are going to come; they’re going to work hard; they take it important…a little bit of bragging rites, but it’s not a one-and-done.  There are three…there’s this one, there’s the next one, then there’s the league championships if we both get through.  So, it’s typical.”

  In line with Warner’s comments, Cougars’ head coach, Karen Doxey said, “It always is [intense] with St. Catherine’s, and that’s what is so fun about playing them.

  “Actually, it was a really nice hockey game,” Doxey said.  “It was well played; a lot of action; a lot of good stick work back and forth.  I thought maybe St. Catherine’s executed a little bit better than we did, overall; but we hung in there.  We’re working on refining our skills a little bit more and we’re making progress. “

  Though St. Catherine’s came away with the win, the less-seasoned Cougars brought their A-game to the table, putting the Saints through their paces and not letting that victory come easy. 

  “It’s always so intense,” said the Saints’ Peyton Smith. “We always look forward to it; and everybody tightens up when we get in there.  It’s something we need to work on—just to calm down a little bit, stay poised under pressure.  And I think that will help us improve when we play them in the future.”

  With the pace of the game and the level of play demonstrated, the conditioning of the athletes was evident.

  “I think the coolest thing about this team is the depth of our athleticism,” Warner said.  “I believe, that every single kid on our team has had at least one start so far this year.  We carry 24 field players, so I think that, and if we’re not, within a week-and-a-half every single one of our kids will have started one game if not more.”

  Warner, coaching a team deep with talent, made seamless substitutions throughout the game to keep up with the speed of play; but, Doxey was content to keep her first stringers on the field for the duration of the game.

  To prepare for St. Catherine’s, the Cougars played two competitive northern schools.  “We’ve just had a weekend where we went up to D.C. and played two really intense games kind of like this, but not as much skill as this,” Doxey said.  “Obviously we are just trying to progress…baby steps every day…getting a little bit better.  That’s all you can do.  A lot of it for us is bettering our execution of the skills.  Hockey is a real skill sport.  It takes a long time to get it.  It’s harder than it looks.  So, that’s what we’re working on every day.  You take the games one at a time and hope your execution gets a little bit better every time.”

  Included in the items on Doxey’s list to improve are: “Bettering our vision of the field; passing… that type of thing.  The majority of it is really being able to perform and execute under pressure.  It’s not always easy to duplicate that in practice, but that’s what we’ve got to work on.”

  Saints junior midfielder Amanda Kim was the first to put St. Catherine’s on the board in the first few minutes of play. Kim took a shot from about six meters out dead center off an assist from teammate Helen Warner. 

  The Saints’ second goal came about halfway into the period in a scuffle right in front of the goal where senior forward Anna Sauer pushed the ball past the Collegiate defense. “We were scrapping for the ball, and I pushed it in,” she said. 

  The Cougar’s only goal came from a corner penalty that occurred at the last possible moment of play; 0:00 showing on the clock.  Freshman Brooks Doxey lofted in the shot from an Ellen Davenport assist. 

  “That corner we gave up at the end was unfortunate,” Warner said, “but I actually thought about pulling the team because it’s not worth saving a goal at the expense of somebody getting hurt.”

  The two teams meet up again at St. Catherine’s on Tues. Oct. 26 at 5 p.m.
St. Catherine’s ...................... 2 0 — 2
Collegiate…........................... 0 1 — 1
SC: Sauer, Kim C: Doxey
Saves: Wollenberg (SC) 3; Trani (C) 3; Brewer (C) 1
Records: St. Catherine’s 3-0 LIS, 7-0; Collegiate 2-1, 6-3