Darien Field Hockey Beats #1 Ranked Team in Country

By Marguerite Morgan - Despite the loss of thirteen seniors, ten of which were starters, the Darien Varsity field hockey team has thus far continued their winning streak. One of their highlights came this past weekend in Lakeland, New York when the girls defeated the New York team in a tough game with a final score of 4 to 3 on Saturday night. Lakeland had been seeded number one in the country according to the Top of the Circle. A sea of Lakeland fans, all dressed in white, came out to watch their undefeated team battle against the Darien Blue Wave.
The game started off to a shaky start when Lakeland scored the first goal off of a corner shot within the first four minutes of the game. However, sophomore goalie Danika Hornick, kept Darien afloat by denying six continuous shots by Lakeland. Darien retaliated even further when senior Galen Rohn drove the ball from the top of the circle and junior Kat Huber tipped it in for a score of 1 to 1, twelve minutes into the game. Sophomore Hollis Perticone followed suit with another Darien goal. Rohn continued with two more drives–one tipped in by junior Sam Wright and another by Perticone again. Lakeland responded with a drive into the net, but refs declared it was not a goal because it was too high of a shot off of a corner play. Darien was winning 4 to 1 at half time, on their way to continue the nation’s longest unbeaten streak of 69 games.
The second half brought further challenges for Darien as Lakeland’s coach changed her game plan to emphasize on the opponent’s weak spots. Lakeland scored within the first ten minutes of the second half, bringing the score to 4 to 2 Darien. Hornick continued to lead her team to victory when she denied another Lakeland shot and the rebound went wide of the cage. With only two minutes left in the second half, Lakeland scored another goal, bringing the score to 4 to 3. Hornick made another amazing save. Darien rejoiced in victory when the final whistle blew; it was a hard-fought win for Darien. The girls hope to continue their winning streak throughout the remainder of the season. Come support them in their next game against Fairfield Warde at 4:00pm this Friday afternoon in Fairfield!