The Stafford Indians took the next step towards their ultimate goal Wednesday, beating North Stafford 2-0 to remain undefeated for the season and win the Commonwealth District field hockey championship.
It was the second straight district title for the team, though this one went more according to plan.
“We’ve been working for it all season. We’ve been on a revenge tour since our last year didn’t go as planned,” explained Madison Patton, who scored the Indians’ second goal with an assist from Maddy Pulliam. “This year we wanted to go undefeated.”
North has been a tough opponent all year — the Wolverines would be undefeated themselves if not for their three losses to Stafford — and the Indians knew they’d have to be at the top of their game the whole night if they wanted their win streak to continue.
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The Indians celebrate their Commonwealth District championship following Thursday’s 2-0 victory over visiting North Stafford
“The last couple of times we played North, I feel like the beginning of the game, we’ve really shown what we can do,” said head coach Bryce Barnes.
That hasn’t always been the case in the second half, she said.
“But this game, I feel like we stayed consistent but turned it up a notch in the second-half, because we knew that we needed to continue to match the level that we knew they were going to turn on in the second half,” Barnes said.
The Indians were on the attack in North’s end much of the first half, and the Wolverines had several chances of their own. Neither team could finish the job, however, and they went to the break tied at 0-0.
They came out with even more intensity in the second half, and with 4 minutes to go in the third quarter, freshman Riley Dean finally got them on the board off an assist from Layne Dickinson.
The Wolverines weren’t finished, though. They started the fourth quarter with renewed passion, earning several more corners and shots on goal than they had the entire game to that point.
With a trio of Wolverine defenders trailing behind her, the Indians’ Emry Brewer (3) winds up to fire a shot at the goal early Thursday.
Still, Stafford managed to fight off the North Stafford onslaught and came back for one more of their own.
After several corners, Patton was finally able to put the ball in the box and seal the win for the Indians.
“It was a great game and we had a great first half,” Patton said, “and I think we just switched it on in the second-half. Really, we had that grit. We wanted it. We’ve been working for it all season.”
Stafford coaches felt the defensive effort was the team’s best of the season, with Barnes pointing to “an amazing defensive save” by Kadyn DeLeva and a strong effort by the whole unit — Jena Chase, Julia Etu, Rachel Adel and Hailey Lemke — to earn the shutout.
“This season we had to work together, and today we truly won because we worked together,” Lemke said. “We backed each other up, we had passes and overall we just played together as a team, and we won together as a team.”
With the win, the Indians (19-0) get the top seed in the Region 6B tournament, which starts Wednesday.
The Wolverines (17-3) have the second seed, so if both teams keep winning, they could meet again in the regional final.
The Indians, currently ranked fourth in Virginia, are not looking that far ahead. They know they have to take it one game at a time, but they have their sights set on a bigger goal.
“What’s next is our next game,” Lemke said. “But obviously what’s on the forefront of our minds is (being) state champs. That’s what we’ve been working for. It’s what us seniors have been working for four years, and that’s the big goal.”
