A last-second game-winning goal to clinch a league title on the last day of the regular season might seem like a storybook ending for most teams, but for Mamaroneck field hockey, it might just be the start of something even bigger. On Oct. 17, the Tigers edged rival Scarsdale in the regular season finale in order to claim yet another league championship and solidify their spot as the top seed in the Class A playoffs, which are set to kick off this weekend.
Molly Banks provided the game-winner for Mamaroneck, which came on a penalty corner, to give the Tigers a 3-2 victory and avenge Mamaroneck’s lone loss on the season, a 4-0 defeat at the hands of this same Scarsdale team on Sept. 7.
“We never say that this was the biggest game of the season, because it puts too much pressure on the kids,” Mamaroneck head coach John Savage said. “But we knew that with a win, our seeding would be higher in the sectionals, we knew it was for a league championship, so we just wanted to come out and give it our best.”
Scarsdale started off the scoring with 25:17 left in the second half, but the Tigers answered back just over a minute later on the first of two goals by Elizabeth Brissette. Brissette would score again to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead with 4:23 left, but Scarsdale tied the game with just under two minutes to go in regulation.
Mamaroneck’s game-winning corner opportunity came with just 18 seconds left, and although time expired as the Tigers looked for their shot in the circle, continuation rules ensured that as long as Mamaroneck kept the ball in the circle, play would continue.
“It was exciting in a lot of ways, it took all 60 minutes today,” Savage said. “We hope to have the best games at the end of the season, and get that experience under our belt before the playoffs start.”
Since losing to the Raiders in September, the Tigers have gone 13-0-2, and Savage said he has seen a marked difference in the way his squad has performed late in the season. In addition to Monday’s win over Scarsdale, the Tigers also battled Class B Lakeland—which had won every single Section I contest it had appeared in since 2010—to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 15.
The sectional seeding meeting, which is scheduled for Oct. 20, after press time, will see the Tigers come away with a No. 1 seed, while Scarsdale (13-2-1) should grab the second spot.
“It has really been night and day, especially because we were starting five sophomores this year, we needed our captains [Paige Danehy and Sophie Miller] to step up,” the head coach said. “We’re playing good field hockey right now, I still wouldn’t say we are playing great, and we need to be ready because it always ramps up in the sectionals.”
