Staff writer
Chopticon’s road through the Class 3A South Region field hockey playoffs came to an end on Thursday after a 2-0 loss at the hands of top-seeded host Huntingtown on Thursday.
The fourth-seeded Braves (8-6 overall), who had blanked fifth-seeded Thomas Stone 7-0 in the quarterfinals, yielded two first-half goals to the Hurricanes (12-3-1).
“I’m pleased with our overall season,” Chopticon head coach Anne Vallandingham said. “There were a lot of stats we owned, but it would have been nice to have owned a lot of games. I have a wonderful team.”
The Hurricanes, the defending regional champions, also defeated the Braves during the regular season thanks to a 2-0 win on Sept. 20.
“The girls were very tense,” Huntingtown head coach Shannon Persetic said, “but for them to come out and play the way they did today I’m very pleased. We’re very excited, especially being off for two weeks. We came off the game against Patuxent [a 0-0 tie on Oct. 17] and then we literally sat around and did nothing as far as a game situation.”
Alas, Huntingtown’s postseason road came to an end 24 hours later when it fell 1-0 to county rival Northern in the regional championship game. The Patriots, who were the third seed in the bracket, will battle Atholton of Howard County, the 3A East Region champion in the state semifinals at 5 p.m. today at Broadneck High School in Annapolis.
Huntingtown swarmed over the Braves in the first half as it was awarded 10 penalty corners. And it was on the seventh penalty corner that Jody Hyland lifted the hosts into a 1-0 lead with a rebound off a shot by Stephanie Athens at the top of the circle.
Huntingtown added to its lead late in the half when Athens’ long shot got past Chopticon goalie Brittany French (8 saves).
Chopticon pressured early in the second half, but it was unable to get a shot past Huntingtown goalie Taylor Rhoads (3 saves). Rhoads was also helped by the Braves’ three shots that caromed off the post.
“My defense was stellar, I can’t under credit anything,” Vallandingham said. “Huntingtown has a great team, Chopticon has a great team, too. The ball has to roll your way, everything has to go your way.”
mreid@somdnews.com