Athletics News, September 27, 2013
Varsity Field Hockey: The team had an outstanding week, beating both Canterbury and Gunnery. These were particularly good wins as we lost to both of these teams last year. The week started at home against Canterbury. The girls decided to wear crazy blue and gold for spirit. Maddy Cooper and Sophie Grayer really took their roles very seriously and showed an enormous amount of spirit.
The team came out strong against Canterbury and scored in the first ten minutes. Setting up for a penalty corner, Emily Duarte sent the ball out to Zoe Verni. After Zoe received the ball, she sent it right across the circle to Charlotte Cooper, who put the ball in the far left corner of the cage for a goal. It was a well-executed play and a great start to the game. RCDS scored again in the second half and was able to keep Canterbury out of their scoring circle. Emily Duarte scored the next goal with an assist from Zoe Verni. Eleven minutes into the half, Yana Lee scored the third and final goal to secure a 3-0 victory. Madeleine Pierpont and Zoe Verni played an intense game and were recognized for their outstanding play. Emma Santucci and Melanie Mandell shared the shutout. Nicole Schumaker and Hannah van der Vord got to experience their third varsity game and are growing more confident with each game. The coaches appreciate the time Allie Conn has devoted to helping our less experienced players during the first games of the season. The varsity and junior varsity teams want to send a huge thank you to Coach Katie Sandling. Coach Katie volunteered her time and was a valuable member of the coaching staff. We appreciate all the energy she devoted to the varsity and JV players and the program. On Friday, the varsity and junior varsity teams took a field trip to watch Columbia play Brown. It was a wonderful experience for the girls. We got to the field in time to watch them warm up. The Columbia team was particularly impressive; their dynamic warmup and intensity set an example for us to strive to achieve in pre-game preparation. The RCDS players and coaches learned a great deal, and it was a good bonding experience. Columbia won the game 4-1. On Saturday the team traveled to Gunnery. The coaches were impressed with the team's focus and work ethic after the long bus ride. The girls quickly adapted to the grass field, scored first, and had another solid start. The game went back and forth, and the Wildcats dominated the majority of the play. However, failing to capitalize on some key scoring opportunities did not help RCDS maintain a lead on the scoreboard. We went into the second half down by one goal. Nathalie Chan had an excellent first half. She played a consistent and grounding game. Chriss Sandling did a great job managing the scorebook and keeping the team organized on the sideline. The grass required us to make some formation and position changes. Everyone adapted well and was willing to try anything to put the ball in the net. Kathleen Curtin, Michelle Haut, Caroline Nicholson, Sophie Beshar, and Madeleine Pierpont stepped up their game in the second half. Charlotte Cooper did a great job on the forward line. Hailey Nicholson and Emma Santucci did well working together when we took a defender out and added an offensive player. Natalie Needle stepped on the field during a pressure filled time and did well as a young athlete, maintaining her composure. With just ten minutes left in the game, Emily Duarte's coast-to-coast play helped get the ball down the field. Yana Lee put her signature on the ball's final journey into the goal. The game was now tied 2-2 and remained a tie until the final whistle. The overtime consisted of a 7 vs 7 sudden victory, ten-minute overtime period. The girls practice this two or three times a week. We talk about strategy and put the fastest kids on the field. This preparation paid off. Zoe Verni scored just 58 seconds into the period. It was a beautiful goal set up by Yana Lee. The girls stormed the field and celebrated the 3-2 OT win. It was a great day for the RCDS Wildcats. Sophie Beshar has stepped up her game this season and played two excellent games this week. Sophie and Yana were recognized for her outstanding play. The team is now 3-0 and look forward to hosting King on Tuesday.
Varsity Football: The football team will be playing at Our Lady of Lourdes tonight at 7:00. The Wildcats are led by its strong senior class, and the team is 1-0 on the season.
Varsity Cross Country: The team's season finally got underway this past week with its first race. The 5K race, held at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, included all the teams from the FAA, and provided an excellent measuring stick for our progress so far. There were some outstanding performances, particularly from the new runners, proving that RCDS would be a very competitive team this year. On the boys' side, junior Malcolm Nash led the way for the team, placing 12th overall with a time of 18:23, beating his personal best time from last year by a full two minutes! Remarkably, the next two finishers for RCDS were both freshmen: Jack Parkin and Henry Cho. Junior Justin Chun finished close behind, followed by a pair of sophomores, Jackson Adler and Jack Alpert. Clearly, RCDS has a great deal of young talent, and the presence of these talented underclassmen is all the more vital, given that both of boys' team captains have been sidelined with injuries. On the girls' side, junior co-captain Acacia Dougan again set the pace for RCDS, finishing 9th overall with a time of 22:17. Similar to the boys, however, the big story was the new runners: freshmen Elena Kim and Madeleine Nicholson both finished in the top-4 for the team, along with new sophomore runner Amanda Cutler. The amount of toughness and dedication these young runners have displayed has been truly remarkable. The team has another busy week coming up. On Wednesday, we will travel to Rockwood Park along the Hudson River for a race against Masters, Holy Child, Sacred Heart, GA, and Brunswick. Then on Saturday, we take our annual trip to Cheshire, Conn., for the O'Connell Invitational. This meet is always a favorite, as it provides a great opportunity to race against teams outside of the FAA. In addition to the running, the RCDS Cross Country team has been volunteering. This past Saturday, we participated in the Annual International Coastal Clean-Up at Edith Read Sanctuary. The Sanctuary has been very generous in allowing us to use its trails for training and for our annual home meet, so it was great to give a little time back in the form of picking up trash off the beach.
Girls' Varsity Tennis: The team has played two excellent matches since the last report. On Tuesday, September 17, the team traveled to Byram Hills. Each match was 2 out of 3 sets, with AD scoring. Our #2 doubles team of Hannah Needle and Emily Moran made quick work of their match, winning 6-2, 6-2. Summer Kitahara and Gabby Johnson, #2 and 3 singles, respectively, both won hard-fought matches in two sets. With each team having won 3 matches, it came down to the final doubles match of the day. All the spectators, players, and coaches were treated to an exciting game of tennis. First, RCDS went up by 3 games, then Byram Hills led by a game. Back and forth it went. In the 10-point, super tie breaker to determine the match, the Byram Hills team won 10-7, thus winning the match. Congratulation to our entire team for a well played match. Congratulations to the varsity tennis team, which won its first match of the season, beating Riverdale at Riverdale, 5-3 on Monday, September 23. The team played well, and it was exciting to see some of the shots and strategies that we have been working on used in match play. Singles players Gabby Johnson and Gabi Salomon won their matches 8-5 and 8-4, respectively. In a tie breaker, the #1 doubles team of Maria McEnroe and Emily Moran came out on top, 9-8. Connie Blatt and Izzy Brown made quick work of their opponents, 8-3, as did the team of Hannah Needle and Jess Grasso, winning 8-2. All in all, it was a fantastic team win!
Boys' Varsity Soccer: The team had a fantastic week. It played its season opener versus Hackley on Monday and tied the game 1-1. Hackley scored first, and the Wildcats fought back to tie the game in the second half. The defense played extremely well. Seniors Tyler Kaye, Max Weisman and Henry Towley, along with junior Luke Cappellano, were solid in the back. Marco Bohorquez gave the team a needed spark off the bench. Paul Leake scored the equalizer off a corner kick. On Tuesday, the team travelled to Brooklyn to face Packer Collegiate. The Wildcats came up fired up. Paul Leake scored a hat trick in the first 15 minutes of play. David Townley scored his first two varsity goals along with Austin Weber, who also scored his first varsity goal. Billy Sobel and Kevin Collado added a goal each to absolutely dominate performance. Blake Beber started his first game of the season in goal. The Wildcats won the game 8-1. On Thursday, we travelled to face our FAA rivals, KING. The Wildcats scored first on a beautiful volley by senior captain Kevin Collado. KING tied the game on a penalty kick, but with 15 minutes left in the game, Kevin Collado played the ball through to Paul Leake, who beat the keeper to the ball to score the winning goal. Mikey Farber played an outstanding game in goal with 10 saves. On Saturday, the team played Rye High School under the lights at their home field and beat them 2-0. This was a outstanding team performance from start to finish. Ryan Wilk, Michael Karr, Jon Faxon, Andrew Antonacci and Jared Yanis all played extremely well. It was a tight, 0-0 contest until the 58th minute Kevin Collado scored off a Jared Yanis corner kick. Paul Leake scored in the 63rd minute on a beautiful volley assisted by Kevin Collado. Mikey Farber played a great game in goal to earn the team’s first shutout of the season. The team plays Hamden Hall on Tuesday and St. Luke's on Thursday; both are FAA contests. On Saturday, the team travels to face a tough Cheshire Academy. Thank you all for the support. Go, Wildcats!!!
Girls' Varsity Soccer: Since the last writing, the girls have kept up their winning ways. Last Thursday’s victory at Greens Farms Academy was well deserved, as the team played so well. This was our first victory against GFA in four years. Our midfield play was awesome in this game, which was led by Sophie Brown, Casey Berkowitz and Sam Kost. Freshman Taylor Regan scored her first career goal to put us up one and had many terrific plays. While we dominated play for the majority of the game, we could not convert our opportunities until just under three minutes remained, when Ruby Aresty scored off Taylor Regan’s corner kick. This victory was a great sign of how well this team is capable of playing. On Saturday, Hopkins paid us a visit. While we did not have the same intensity as the previous game, we played well enough to secure a 2-0 victory. Julia Massaro was terrific as our last defender; she stopped numerous scoring chances from developing. Stephanie Sabatini scored two and a half minutes into the game, but it was not until nine minutes remained, when Jessica Cordiano scored a beautiful left-footed goal off of Charlotte Boehning’s pass, that we got the two-goal lead that we wanted. It was great to have Charlotte back on the field. Finally, the girls played a very solid game against Horace Mann on Monday. Stephanie Sabatini led the way with a hat trick, and Zoe Kost had one. Elizabeth Mastoloni was terrific from her defensive position, as well as when she moved up front to a more attacking role. Next up is another busy week, as we travel to Dalton, KING, and Riverdale.
