Game 1: Marines vs. Falcon Warriors
The first goal was scored on an 8-meter for Delaney Radin who continues to lead the league in goals and points. Radin scored the first two goals for the Marines. Riley Forthofer and Payton Tini for the Falcons-Warriors quickly answered the two goals by Radin to tie the game.
After the game was tied, the Marines took over the first half scoring the next five goals. Ava Main passed to Radin for a goal, then Radin ran from the X in front of the goal and shot behind her back for another goal. Radin would finish the game with six goals bringing her league goals total to 39. Madison Taylor finally scored for the Falcon-Warriors with only four minutes left in the half making the score 7-3. Immediately after Taylor’s goal, Reagan Martinsen scored two goals in one minute for the Marines adding to their lead. The score at the end of the half was 10-3 Marines.
Kaila Van Cott, rising star for the Falcons, opened the second half with a goal. But, Radin answered right back by running right through the middle of the defense for another goal. Van Cott scored two more times in the second half trying to forge a comeback. Cate Miller also drove right down the middle of the Falcons-Warriors’ defense for a goal adding the their lead. Every time the Falcons-Warriors scored, the Marines would answer right back. The final score of the game was 20-12.
After winning the game, the Marines jumped to second place in the league passing the Braves. With playoffs coming in a couple of weeks, every game matters now and being in second place will help the Marines get a higher seed. However, for the Marines to make it to first place, the Indians would have to lose their last two games, and the Marines would have to win their last two games. Stay tuned for what happens next!
Game 2: Tornadoes vs. Falcon-Warriors
In back-to-back games, the Falcon-Warriors looked to beat the Tornadoes to take fifth place in the league. The Tornadoes jumped to an early lead after Leah Hansen scored against the new Falcon-Warriors goalie, Jacob Bruno. For the Falcon-Warriors, their goalie could not make it to this week, so Bruno had to jump in and play goalie for them. Madison Taylor quickly scored to tie the game. Then, Sia Markowski shot and hit the top left corner of the goal passing right by Bruno’s head for the goal.
The rest of the first half didn’t see much scoring. Hansen scored for the Tornadoes with one minute left. The Falcon-Warriors took their time on the last offensive possession of the half, and it paid off. With five seconds left in the half, Erin Whitaker shot and scored giving the Falcon-Warriors an 8-6 lead going into the half.
The second half started with Kayla Van Cott scoring again for the Falcon-Warriors. She finished the game with five goals and one assist. After the goal, Bridget Carlson took the clear coast-to-coast for a Tornadoes’ goal. Then, Scarola Sawyer passed to Meaghan Fealy for a pretty Tornadoes’ goal. Finally, Marina Bergin scored another goal to tie the game at 10.
Taylor stole the clear from the Tornadoes’ goalie and quickly scored to give the Falcon-Warriors the lead. Then Van Cott took a long shot from the right side and it sped past the goalie to give the Falcon-Warriors a two point lead. With less than five minutes left in the game, the Tornadoes needed to score, but the Falcos-Warriors defense stood strong. The score was 15-12 and the Falcons-Warriors did not let the Tornadoes score until there was less than a minute left. The Falcon-Warriors won the game 17-13.
Game 3: Liberty vs. Blue Devils
The Blue Devils looked to secure their spot in fourth place by beating a pesky Liberty team. To start the game, both defenses played well. Neither team scored in the first five minutes. Sienna Longobardi scored the first goal for Liberty which was quickly answered by Gianna Forte after an 8-meter. Annie Madden drove through the Blue Devils defense for the goal, and Caitlin Kenney scored to give Liberty a 3-1 lead.
Jordan Forte scooped a ground ball and scored for the Blue Devils, then she scored on an 8-meter just minutes after to tie the game at three. With less than a minute left in the half, Eleanor Dillmeier scored off of an 8-meter for Liberty. The Blue Devils answered before half with another successful 8-meter by Tess Calabria to tie the game at 5-5 at half.
The Blue Devils opened the second half by scoring three straight goals finished off with a wrap around goal by Emma Toner. Charlotte Browne stole the ball from the Blue Devils and went on to score for Liberty. Emersen Evans immediately answered after shooting through the five-hole of the Liberty goalie. The Blue Devils held their three point lead for the majority of the second half. The game looked over after Calabria picked up a ground ball and scored. Then, she won her face-off and faked a pass that tricked the whole defense and gave her an open shot for the goal to make the score 13-9
Liberty would not quit though, Madden scored on an 8-meter. After, Grace Agrillo shoved a Liberty player and was given a yellow card. With one minute left, Longobardi scored on an 8-meter making the score 13-11. The Liberty bench screamed and banged on the barrier in excitement. Then, Elizabeth Kenney scored with only 40 seconds left making the score 13-12. The Blue Devils were able to keep possession of the ball for the last 30 seconds and ended the game, but once again Liberty showed the league that they are a team to watch out for.
Game 4: Braves vs. Liberty
After losing their second place position, the Braves were looking to top Liberty. The Braves scored the first two goals which were then answered with two quick goals by Liberty. The Braves goalie, Ava Ceglia, ran out of the crease to pick up a ground ball, but Charlotte Browne took the ground ball and had an open net and scored giving Liberty a one-point lead. Then, Kendal Morris scored for Liberty on an 8-meter.
After a long offensive possession for Liberty, Annie Madden had the ball in the X when she passed it over the goal straight to Amelia LoPinto for the goal giving Liberty a 6-2 lead. Once again, Ceglia went to get a ground ball out of the crease and Morris stole it from her and passed it to LoPinto who had an easy goal. Tara Hollis scooped a ground ball and went coast-to-coast and scored again for Liberty giving them an 8-3 lead.
The Braves wouldn’t go down that easily though, Carly Greenbaum drove through the Liberty defense for the goal, then Anna Macchia passed to Mallory Ngitngit for the goal. The team’s traded goals to end the half and Liberty led 10-8 at half.
The second half was vastly different from how the first half went. During the first half, the Braves struggled to score and find any offensive momentum. To start the second half, the Braves scored seven straight goals including two goals from Nicole Fanelli and two goals for Megan Kitagawa. To end the drought, Mabel Overbeck dashed coast-to-coast to score for Liberty making the score 15-11. With 12 minutes left, LoPinto passed to Caitlin Kenney for another goal.
However, the Braves’ stout defense did not let Liberty score again. Greenbaum scored two more goals in the last two minutes to put the game away. The Braves won the game 18-12, but it wasn’t enough to push them past the Marines for second. The Marines have 106 total goals while the Braves have 103 total goals. It will be a neck and neck race to Championship Saturday for those two teams.
Next week, the Braves and Marines play each other for second place. Last time the Braves and Marines played each other was the first week of the season, where they tied 20-20 after Greenbaum scored a buzzer beating goal to tie the game so this upcoming game will be extremely competitive.
