East Grand Rapids High School

EGR Varsity Field Hockey v Rockford HS- 09.25.24 After an exciting JV contest, the Varsity Field Hockey should have seen that as a pre-cursor of what was to come last evening on Mehney Memorial Field in East Grand Rapids. A spirited, aggressive and determined Rockford team was looking to avenge a 3-1 loss from earlier in the season- Rockford's only OK Conference loss in the 2024 campaign. Meanwhile, the EGR team has kept themselves free of any blemishes this season and came into the contest undefeated in OK Conference play, making this game a chance for the Lady Pioneers to be in control of their own destiny as they seek the first official OK Conference Field Hockey title. Led by the experienced play of the four Seniors on this year's squad- co-Captain Kellan Hudson ('25), co-Captain Addie Gessner ('25), outstanding midfielder Henny Maher ('25) and dominant wing back Addie Behler ('25)- the team remained steady from whistle to whistle. From the outset, Rockford showed their plans to play wide and long with big hits down the sidelines and then set to chasing it, hoping to out run the EGR defense. However, the poise and excellent positioning, that has only gotten better throughout the season, allowed Isla Westra ('26) to organize her troops in the back and make sure that Ellie Hilgendorf ('26) did not get pressured in goal. Throughout the first half, EGR was able to control the midfield with steady play from Henny Maher ('25) and give the Rockford defense a lot to think about as EGR was able to garner five penalty corners. Some scrambles in the circle led to chances, but nothing on net that posed too much of a threat. The first half ended in a 0-0 stalemate with the final 30 minutes looming. Going into the 3rd quarter, Rockford started with a full head of steam that resulted in a tally from Senior Rachel Hillary. That put Rockford up 1-0 and gave them quite a bit of momentum. The Lady Pioneers tied the laces tighter, but down on their mouth guards harder and set themselves to not allow that to be the end of the scoring. Within a few minutes it proved to be the correct mindset as Hudson whipped a shot past the goalie from the middle of the circle from a pass from Avery Albers ('27) off of a set piece on a penalty corner. The passing was clean, the shot was quick and before the Lady Rams knew what happened, the teams were lining up for a midfield restart in a 1-1 match. And so the teams went to the 4th quarter with 15 minutes to decide this closely contested tilt. In the final frame, Rockford again put themselves ahead on a goal by Maddie Rock ('26) that was caused by quite a bit of confusion on whether a ball had been illegally played. After a discussion between the referees, Rockford was awarded a goal and a 2-1 lead with 10 minutes remaining. Again, the Lady Pioneers knew, and were determined, that this was not the end of the night and showed their mettle with a tremendous play just five minutes later. Maher gathered a ball on her side of the 50-yard line and proceeded to use the open space and dribble well into the Rockford defensive zone. Just inside the circle, Maher let a shot rip across the grain that was gathered by a wide open Camilla Volovlek ('28), who powered a shot home and exemplified the mental toughness and resilience of the EGR side. However, the team was not looking to end in a tie and even after a penalty card put the team down a person in the final 2 minutes, the Lady Pioneers were able to dominate the play and keep Rockford on their heels. The Lady Rams staved off the pressure and the teams ended in a 2-2 tie. The result was a fair representation of the effort and grit showed by both teams. It would have been a bitter disappointment for either squad to leave the field last night with a loss. The tie does put the EGR side in the cat bird seat for the remainder of the OK Conference schedule and the girls look to put some more solid play on the field versus Spring Lake at home on Mehney Field next Tuesday, October 1 at 7 PM which will also be Senior NIght to honor the Seniors playing this season. A final OK away game will be held at Hudsonville on October 7th at 7 PM. In between, the team will take on east side perennial power Ann Arbor-Skyline (Last year's D-1 State Runner-Up) at home on Saturday, September 28 at 11 AM and again at home on Saturday, October 5 against Grand Blanc. Thank you to Teacher of the Match last night, Elisha Murphy. Her EGR spirit and support on the sideline for the hard work of these young women on the Varsity Field Hockey is much appreciated. We hope to see her and more of the staff at future matches.