By Harry Howard / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
It took 60 minutes of regulation, 15 minutes of overtime and five rounds of a shootout that ended 2-1 for the Charlottesville field hockey team to secure a victory over Orange.
Charlottesville’s senior goalie Casey Casarez was the catalyst as she suffocated the Hornets’ attack during the shootout. She came out of the net and used her quick feet to force the offense to go where she wanted them to go and in the process, shut down four of Orange’s five shooters.
“She played amazing,” said Charlottesville coach Stephanie Tharp. “She played one of her best games to date this year. She showed a lot of character, leadership and was moving her feet and just talking to her defense”.
Three weeks ago, Charlottesville shutout Orange 4-0 but this game was nothing like the first. The Hornets came out as the aggressor and constantly got shots on goal.
“I feel like there was a little bit more pushing than we are usually used to so we had to push past that figuratively speaking,” Tharp said.
Maya Block scored the first goal of the shootout for the Black Knights in the second round of the shootout. Both teams traded misses until Orange tied it with a goal by Hadasha Aquin. The Black Knights’ Olivia Weatherford scored the decisive goal to clinch the victory.
“The girls showed a lot of true grit and got in there showed that they could come back — we weren’t behind at any point but we felt like we were throughout most of the game,” Tharp said.
Charlottesville will host Monticello Monday and Orange will travel to play the Mustangs on Tuesday.
