HIGH SCHOOL FIELD HOCKEY
AUGUST 28, 2007
NOTES: Crimsons turned corner after bad Apple
By
NATHAN CHAMBERS
BeyondTheDerby.com
Manual coach Terri Kendall admits that she and assistant April White were worried during the Apple Tournament two weeks ago.
For those who didn’t notice, the Crimsons got through the first round with a lackluster 3-0 win over Holy Cross on Aug. 11 and then took a 7-0 licking from defending state champion Sacred Heart in the quarterfinals two days later.
“I knew we had a lot of talent on the team, but I wasn’t sure if the will was there,” Kendall said. “If they don’t want it, how are we going to make them want it?”
Well, she must have figured it out - at least in the short term. Kendall gave the players a piece of her mind the day after the Sacred Heart debacle, and the Crimsons responded with an impressive 2-0 win over Collegiate in their next game on Aug. 21.
She saw the difference on the field immediately that day and saw it again on Monday, when Manual played well but lost to Christian Academy 2-1 in a flick-off.
“They were excited,” Kendall said. “They wanted to be there. They wanted to win.”
She partly blamed the team’s Apple Tournament troubles on the minimal varsity experience within the senior class and the scant practice time the Crimsons were able to squeeze between lengthy tryouts, an Indiana University camp, and their first game.
“We weren’t ready for the Apple,” she said.
But the Crimsons, who won their district tournament and reached the state semifinals last season, might be ready for anything now.
Siefke, Collins updates
Two players who required stitches for similar injuries sustained at a recent game both are doing well and are expected back today.
Kentucky Country Day senior Alexandra Siefke, who needed 13 stitches above her left eye after she was struck by a Ballard stick in a 4-3 loss in the Apple Tournament quarterfinals on April 14, returned to action when the Bearcats played at Sacred Heart last Tuesday. But, with 6:06 left in the game, an opposing player’s stick hit her in the head again - right on the edge of the original gash.
“I stood there, waiting for the blood to fall,” she said. “I was thinking, ‘I don’t want to get stitches. I don’t want to get stitches.’”
When the blood did fall, Siefke became even more upset than she had been a week earlier.
“I was scared,” she said. “I kept asking, ‘Is it as bad as last time?’”
Fortunately for Siefke, it was not. She received about 12 additional stitches, some to repair the damage to the old cut and some to fix the smaller new one.
KCD’s coaches were planning to hold her out of the team’s next game against Male last Thursday, but it was postponed due to the heat. She will play against Eastern today, wearing goggles.
Sacred Heart senior Taylor Collins got hurt before the KCD game even started last Tuesday.
During warm-ups, she was standing near senior goalie Meredith Golden when junior Jessica Lindner fired a shot toward them. The ball ricocheted off Golden and hit Collins above her right eye.
Collins received seven stitches but would have played against Manual on Thursday; that game also was postponed due to the heat. The Valkyries play Seneca today.
Fern Creek is back
Most readers probably didn’t think twice when looking at the seemingly unremarkable Aug. 18 scores, which included Seneca’s 3-1 win over Fern Creek.
But there is more to that one than meets the eye.
“We were proud to have scored the first goal in over 20 years for Fern Creek,” said Tigers coach Ashley Freeman, who restarted the school’s field hockey program with a club team last year.
Sarah Dotson scored the goal. Hannah Fife was credited with an assist.
(Coaches and authorized team representatives are strongly encouraged to submit scores, stats, news items and other story ideas to Nathan Chambers. E-mail to nchambers@beyondthederby.com.)
