Blair Field Hockey earned a huge MAPL win on Saturday against Lawrenceville in a fantastic team performance. Despite the Bucs' passing game being slightly off on a cold and wet day in Princeton, the team still managed to out-hustle Lawrenceville and come up with the 2-1 victory in overtime.
Lawrenceville scored first within the first 2 minutes of the game, but the Bucs were able to answer just three minutes later with a Kate Antonelli '20 goal assisted by Sofia Kasparik '21. The rest of the first half would remain scoreless despite several opportunities at the cage for both teams.
In the second half, Lawrenceville poured on the pressure and was awarded 10 penalty corners. Blair's defensive corner team of Karenna Benanti '19, Jordan Ullman '20, Abby Kreider '19 and Jessica Pasquali '21 was tremendous in limiting the Big Red's shots on goalkeeper Olivia Kreider '21, who ended the day with 8 awesome saves including a penalty stroke.
Both teams actually found the back of the cage in second half of regulation, but the officials denied the goals: Antonelli's reverse was ruled as a shot from outside the circle, and a Lawrenceville reverse chip was deemed illegal as the initial shot on a corner. The score would remain 1-1 with the clock expiring to push it to overtime.
The Bucs were tremendous in OT, playing with poise and heart. With four minutes remaining, Pasquali drove a free hit past the Lawrenceville defense to lead Abby Kreider on a breakaway to goal. She was fouled from behind approaching a 1 on 1 with Lville's keeper and earned a penalty stroke. Kreider drilled it home with total composure to seal the victory.
Blair field hockey is energized by this all-out team effort, and the Bucs are looking forward to hosting Lawrenceville on Thursday for the NJISAA Prep A State Finals. It promises to be a fantastic game.