East Grand Rapids High School

EGR Varsity Field Hockey v Grand Blanc- 10.05.24 Saturday started with a chill in the air, but the Lady Pioneers quickly turned up the heat on the turf of Mehney Memorial Field. The east side squad traveled nearly three hours, from near Flint, and could not have been expecting the buzz saw they encountered. It was another example of the depth of this year's iteration of the EGR Varsity Field Hockey. The early Saturday warm-up prescribed by the coaching staff was just the medicine for the girls to start hot for the second Saturday contest in a row. From the opening whistle, the Lady Pioneers dominated the possession and imposed their will on the flow of the match. Just before the end of the 1st quarter it paid dividends as Avery Albers ('27) knocked home her first of the game and her 9th of this year’s campaign. It was a precursor of what the 2nd quarter would bring for the girls from EGR. The 2nd quarter started with the high energy carrying over from the late score at the end of the previous fifteen minutes. At the three minute mark, Camilla Volovlek (’28) continued her streak of right place-right time with a nice redirection into the top of the net on a stellar drive from Peyton Astrauskas, who was credited with the assist. Albers notched her second of the game, and tenth this year, in the tenth minute with a nifty little slip pass from Senior Henny Maher (’25) which Albers converted into a knock past the goalie. It was just three minutes later that Vivian Cherveny (’26) contributed to the team’s efforts. Coming off an injury-plagued week with a broken finger, Cherveny, only playing sparingly until the finger is totally healed, positioned herself to be on the receiving end of a tic-tac-toe play. Senior co-Captain, Kellan Hudson (’25) took a run along the baseline and angled a pass back to an open Lillie Adamy (’26), who found Cherveny even more open and gave her a perfect feed from which to redirect home another beautifully placed shot. This type of widespread contribution is causing fits for teams, who cannot key on any particular player as so many of the girls are positioning themselves in areas to be able to contribute. The second half saw no let down. The team continued to pass well, moving the ball from left to right and right to left; from the forward line to the midfield and from midfielders to defenders as the passing kept the girls from Grand Blanc constantly chasing. And the defensive positioning, particularly in defending free hits, continued tightening around the Lady Bobcats like a boa constrictor would its prey. The numerous turnovers created by the suffocating pressure ultimately led to an offensive penalty corner for the Lady Pioneers. An insert from Albers, led to Maher weaving her way past a few defenders in the circle, the beautiful threads of hockey skills resulting in a final tapestry of a clack of the ball against the backboard. Just ten minutes later, Hudson was able to notch her eighth goal of the season when Volovek scooted along the baseline and found Hudson awaiting the well-placed pass on the hook of her stick. Hudson fought through the traffic of defenders scrambling to get into position and was able to locate an opening past the goalie's outstretched pads in order to put EGR in a commanding 6-0 lead going into the 4th quarter. In the final frame, there were no less opportunities for the Lady Pioneers to add to the score sheet. Hockey is hockey whether in the defense or in the offense as the four fundamental skills of stopping, hitting, passing and dribbling remain the same. With such a lead and the game well in hand, players were given opportunities to play outside their normal positions. Shots by Senior co-Captain Addie Gessner (’25) and Senior Addie Behler (25) narrowly missed their marks, but more importantly, EGR controlled the game by maintaining possession. In the second half, the Lady Pioneers had the ball nearly 90% of the final thirty minutes, proving the old adage that you cannot score if you do not have the ball. Scoring contributions, whether goals or assists, came from seven of the fourteen field players. The defense had another stellar game in making sure the ball remained in EGR’s offensive end and when the pressure did mount from Grand Blanc, Isla Westra (’26) and Kelly McMahon (’26) remained poised and steady in transferring the ball back to the offensive side. It truly was an exhibition in complete team effort and cohesiveness. As the regular home season contests came to an end, Mr. Mark Wells, the assistant conductor of the marching band and a music teacher at the high school, was the Teacher of the Match. His enthusiastic support and encouragement of these young women, many of whom he taught in middle school and currently directs in the EGR Marching Band, made it a beautiful Saturday on the field. The last regular season game and 2024 OK Conference finale on Monday, October 7 at Hudsonville will help determine the seeding and positioning of EGR as it moves on to the Michigan D2 Field Hockey playoffs. If the Lady Pioneers continue their current trend of complete team effort, there is no telling how far they could advance toward the Finals at EGR’s Memorial Field on October 26, 2024.