One goal enough for Derryfield field hockey in win over John Stark

WEARE - Lenny McCaigue had an easy message to deliver to the Derryfield School field hockey team after its regular-season finale Tuesday against John Stark.

Good teams find a way to win even when they aren't playing their best.

The Cougars did that against the Generals, as they struggled on the grass and against the John Stark defense, but managed to come up with a 1-0 win in a Division II game. The win clinches the No. 1 seed in the D2 playoffs for Derryfield (13-0-1) and it will have a bye into the quarterfinals.

"We just couldn’t put the ball into the net," McCaigue said. "What I said to the team afterward, it’s been a long season, we’re undefeated and in the No. 1 spot. One of the characteristics of a good team is that they still win the games when they’re not at their best."

Anna Templeton had the game's lone goal, scoring off a pass from Kira Geddes after one of Derryfield's 14 penalty corners. The Cougars had a tough time creating on set plays on the grass and against the aggressive play of John Stark goalie Sydnee Pelletier, who finished with 13 saves.

"Sydnee used to stay back and kind of be nervous," John Stark coach Dennis Pelletier said. "I told her, the girls are going to be nervous of you. They’ll be intimidated by you. If you come out aggressive, they’re going to get panicky.

"It’s been working. I’m explaining to her angles. They are key and she’s been hitting her angles very well lately. She’s really stepped up from last year and she keeps us in games."

That's what Sydnee Pelletier and the Generals (6-7) defense did in the first half, holding the Cougars off the board and keeping it a scoreless game going into halftime.

After Derryfield received a corner to open the second half, John Stark flipped the field and started putting pressure on the Cougars' defense. The Generals had three straight corners, sandwiched around a Derryfield timeout, but John Stark was unable to capitalize on any of its opportunities.

"The girls were pretty excited at halftime," Dennis Pelletier said. "We came out with our hair on fire a little bit. I’ve been telling these girls they’re as talented as most of these teams. I think they finally saw that was true."

Derryfield responded by creating some chances of its own, but Sydnee Pelletier came up with a save on back-to-back corners. After the second stop, the Cougars' Lindsey Stagg fired the ball back into the circle to Charlotte Gleichauf, who was able to chip it to Geddes.

Sydnee Pelletier came out to challenge Geddes, but instead of shooting, the Derryfield freshman passed the ball over to Templeton, who was able to knock it in before the Generals defense could get to her, giving the Cougars a 1-0 lead with 16:07 left.

"We dominated the first half, but in the second half, they started strong," McCaigue said. "Going in tied at the half gives you some confidence. We defended corners well. We did work a couple of variations (on the corners), but Lindsey wasn’t getting her shot away cleanly on the grass. I’m still happy with the win."

John Stark had a corner moments after the goal, but Derryfield cleared the ball out and kept it in the Generals end for long stretches.

The Generals had one more chance in the final seconds of the game, but no one was able to catch up to a long pass into the circle before time expired.