RHS Field Hockey Garnets Exact Revenge; Take Sectional Title from Putnam Valley

RHS Field Hockey
Garnets Exact Revenge; Take Sectional Title from Putnam Valley

– By Jim Byrne –

Head coach Kevin Kelly and his Rye Garnets waited 365 days for this moment.

On the fifth of November, 2005, Putnam Valley defeated Rye, 1-0, in the Sectional final at Lakeland High School. It was the Garnets only loss of the season, and the Tigers would go on to win the State Championship.

This past Saturday, Nov. 4, Rye returned to the scene of the crime in Lakeland, exorcised last year’s demons and defeated Putnam Valley, 1-0, to take the section crown and keep the dream of a State Title alive.

The game was a scoreless duel for the first 50 minutes, with both teams playing to the best of their abilities. Something had to give, and it finally did when freshman Torie Stearns let loose a wide, slow-rolling shot that eventually found its way to the back corner of the goal, giving Rye the critical 1-0 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the contest. Kim Kastuk, the Tigers’ goalkeeper, was down on the ground when Stearns prepared to shoot on a pass from senior Claire Byrne. The events seemed to unravel in slow motion, until the referee’s signal of a goal unleashed an explosion of joy from the Garnets’ sideline.

While every player left all they had to give on the field, Rye’s team defense and goaltending chipped in a stellar performance. The defense from Hilary Nabhan and Lucy Rollins was excellent throughout the game, and they were able to protect goalkeeper Ashley Santoro for the most part. Santoro only had to make three saves in the game, with a flurry coming within a short time span.

Nabhan appeared to hurt her hand late in the game, but toughed it out, stayed in the game, and buckled down on defense. Rollins broke up a plethora of Putnam Valley advances.

Byrne and Colleen Carey were also paramount to the Garnets’ victory. Carey’s tank never seemed to go lower than “full,” and at times she seemed to be everywhere, sacrificing her body to help her team. Byrne buoyed Rye offensively and defensively, floating to wherever needed. As a jack-of-all-trades on the team, she broke up passes and scoring attempts, beautifully handled the stick while weaving through defenders, and delivered the crucial pass to Stearns that gave the Garnets the section.

It was the fourth consecutive year Rye met Putnam Valley in the Sectional final, with the Garnets only having lost last year’s encounter. With the win, they improved their record to 18-1.

Up next for Rye is the Class B State Regional final, Saturday, Nov. 11, at 3 p.m. in Lakeland. They will play the winner of Section 9’s Red Hook and Section 4’s Maine-Endwell, which took place after press time.