John Jay Closes the Book on another Successful Season

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On Thursday October 31, John Jay hosted Horace Greeley in the semifinal round of the sectionals and were hoping for another rematch versus Lakeland in the finals. But a 2-0 loss spoiled the chance, and while another chapter won’t be written, Coach Debbi Walsh closed the book on this season with pride.

“One game will never define this season,” she said. “This is the best season that John Jay has ever had, and we’re going to celebrate it.”

Nonetheless, the first half was a back and forth that began with Greeley going on the attack. Sienna Tavolacci was able to get around the defense, and her backhanded swipe hit the side of the box at 13:55.

Not done, Kate Paskowitz teed off to the thud of Finja Degl’s stand up stick, and on the first penalty corner at 10:49, Molly Gallagher had the kick save on Nina Byrnes’ shot at the box.

Kaycie Keeley then won the scramble, and John Jay controlled the next several minutes of offense. But the girls only managed a little play on the goal line after Jojo Degl shot the ball toward the crease.

The Quaker escape had Luisa Vieira taking a long pass ahead, weaving the chasing defense and putting Gallagher in the position of stop gap again. The ensuing scrum still had another penalty corner for Greeley to try to cash in.

No receipt, the Wolf goalie went to one knee for the save at 4:32, but the visitors kept coming. Tavolacci again got around the defense again and wound up another projectile. Gallagher didn’t make a fuss, though.

Like she was asking for more, the goalie casually kicked the ball aside. Jane Brennan and Keeley didn’t give her the chance by closing down the last two incursions before the 1st quarter ended.

Onto the second, Brennan really brought the curtain up when she got a tip on a Greeley pass ahead. Kicking vertical, she maintained the juggle to the tune of at least ten knocks, but the Wolves were not able to sustain anything offensively on the sequence.

Still, the Wolves were the next to get close. Brennan shot, and the ball rolled all the way to Laney Daley in the crease. No goal, a penalty corner resulted at 10:50, and Degl gave a lift on the inbound. The arena elevating too, Darby Robertson went high with her blocker, and the rebound resulted in a Greeley free shot ahead.

Not so fast, John Jay was back soon enough, and so was a near miss. Keeley stole the ball on Greeley’s attempt up field at 8:45, got the ball to Catherine Natko, and she put the ball in front to Logan Bueti. Unable to gather, the forward still got the ball to FInja Degl, and her shot resulted in a penalty.

No net, John Jay continued to maintain the pressure, and two penalty corners later, the Wolves got as close as they were going to get. Keeley received the inbound, passed to Jojo Degl on the left, and her shot on goal turned into a rebound the Wolves just could not stuff in.

The scoreless game holding up had the second half shifting the other way. Horace Greeley maintained most of the pressure, and the balloon burst with 3:30 remaining in the third.

After Gallagher came out to make a great kick save on Byrnes, Greeley set up for another go. First missing the in-bound pass on the penalty corner, Greeley’s recovery separated the pursuing John Jay defense.

That left Byrnes open on the right, where she quickly passed to Tavolacci and now Gallagher was drawn out on the left. Tavolacci spotted the overplay, passed across, and Isabel Concha executed the tip in.

The 1-0 game still couldn’t get the John Jay offense going, and when Greeley scored on a penalty shot in the beginning of the fourth, the only thing remaining was the epitaph. “I wouldn’t trade anything for the past four years of field hockey,” said Degl.

All done, the co-captain hopes that she’s left behind a unified front. “In every sense of the word, you have to work together,”she said.

On the field and off, the single-mindedness emanates from the top. “Do it for Coach Walsh, that’s really been the motivation,” Degl assured.

The adulation left the coach in complement. “They give you everything, and they gave everything,” Walsh concluded. “That bond is pretty special.”