Cooney leads Massapequa to field hockey win
Massapequa's Jamie Ahrens manages to control ball in front of Baldwin's net. (Sept. 29, 2010) Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Without hesitation and with absolute certainty, Katie Cooney declared that the Massapequa field hockey team "is back." She could, after the Chiefs played like it's 2009 . . . and the coaches celebrated like it's 1989.
The graduation of several key players and the infusion of inexperienced ones has led, in part, to the defending Class A champs' slow start to the season. But Wednesday, the Chiefs had a throwback performance against Baldwin, the team they defeated in the final, to earn a 4-0 victory in Nassau League III.
"We have a young team now with two freshman and six sophomores," said Cooney, a senior, whose two assists sparked the offense. "We had to work our way up and get everyone used to playing on varsity. But it feels so good to be back."
That's yet to be determined, but for at least a day, they were.
The teams played a scoreless first half - though both offenses spent considerable time on the attack - but Massapequa (2-3) erupted in the second half and dominated the ball.
Laura Waldron, off a penalty corner feed from Cooney, rattled a shot into the right corner that put the Chiefs on the board with 26:49 left.
"I think it lifted everyone up after we went so long without a goal," said Waldron, whose team was shut out in its previous game. "We wanted to keep pounding away and make sure we won."
That they did. Freshman Jamie Ahrens scored her first career goal with 13:43 left, then Kelsey O'Brien got one at 11:09. Baldwin goalie Carlie Mertens (10 saves) was subbed out before Kristin Yevoli added another goal with 3:35 remaining. Jackie Harrison made two saves in the shutout.
Before the game O'Brien, a standout last year, told her teammates to "ignore the first few games" and pretend the season just started. She said it was extra motivation facing Baldwin (2-1-1). "It was a tough game in the finals [a 2-1 win], so we knew they'd come out playing hard and we'd have to as well."
As Harrison spoke about the game being a potential springboard to propel the Chiefs for the rest of the season, her teammates formed a circle around coach Barbara Lowell and implored her to "Do it!" And so she did, kicking it old school with a celebratory "Running Man" dance.
"It started last year," Lowell said. "They have me and my assistant coach do '80s and '90s dances as a reward . . . This was a huge win for us against a really good Class A team and it's something we want to build on. From here, I want us to keep it going and not let up."
In other words, Lowell hopes her team is too legit to quit.
