Greene’s Olivia Kennedy plays give-and-go with teammate Alex Brown in the Trojans’ 1-0 victory at Whitney Point Thursday, taking down the top seed in the Section IV Class C bracket. Kennedy was the lone goal scorer in the contest, recorded the game-winner in the first half. (Pete Mansheffer Photo)
WHITNEY POINT – A season ago, the Greene Lady Trojans and the Whitney Point Eagles met in the Section IV Class C semifinals. Greene – the higher seed but the underdog in the matchup – took an early lead and held onto it until late in the game when the Eagles found a rhythm and stole the win.
With the roles slightly reversed this season, Whitney Point was seeded in the top spot of the tournament while the Lady Trojans – who took on a tough schedule this year and finished the regular season 6-8 – were the eighth-seeded underdog once again.
With 6:55 left in the first half, Greene’s Olivia Kennedy gathered the rebound after the initial shot attempt the Lady Trojans took was turned away by Whitney Point’s keeper and rifled a shot into the back of the cage for the 1-0 lead.
After a quick celebration, as the girls knew that is exactly what they needed in order to knock-off the top seed and five-time New York State Champion, the team from Greene got back to business and held off the Lady Eagles for the first-round upset Thursday afternoon.
“I’m not too sure how I feel at the moment,” said the Trojans’ head coach Christine Battaglini after the end of the game. “I’m still pretty numb honestly. It’s such a surreal feeling.”
Whitney Point outshot Greene 12-8 and held the huge advantage in penalty corners awarded as it was a difference of 12 between the two teams. The Trojans’ lone corner of the game was the play that led to Kennedy’s goal.
The corner was served in by Greene’s Madison Rice to teammate Jess Unkel, who then ripped a shot attempt. Emma Morgan, the Eagles goalie for the contest, denied the shot. The Trojans, however, did not stop as Kennedy followed up for the rebounded and put the ball past Morgan.
Immediately, Greene turned to the defensive game to hold off the Eagles as they were in the same situation at year ago.
As the first half concluded, Battaglini and her coaching staff brought the girls together and prepared them for the second 30 minutes of play.
“We just told the girls that we need another full 30 minutes of intense, smart field hockey,” Battaglini said. “I told them to just leave it all on the field as we knew Whitney Point was going to come out hungry. We had to match that with composed intensity.”
Greene was just as hungry to get a win against the Eagles after the early end to 2018 and the two losses the Whitney Point this season.
Fending off the many opportunities Eagles had in the second half, the Trojans’ back line and the efforts by Brooke Austin held the same 1-0 lead. Austin saw a total of 12 shots coming at her throughout the contest and the senior keeper turned away 11 of them.
