Senior co-captain nets both goals in triple overtime victory over E.G.
CRANSTON — Hillary Anderson’s tally 22 seconds into the third overtime period lifted the Barrington High School field hockey squad to the Division One state championship as the Eagles outlasted a feisty East Greenwich side, 2-1, in the title contest played Sunday afternoon, Nov. 1, at Cranston Stadium.
Anderson, the tournament most valuable player and scorer of both BHS goals in the final, ripped a shot from about 14 yards away by Avengers’ back-up goalie Leah Settipane for the championship winning goal during the “sudden victory” period.
“I just remember getting a pass, looking up and seeing the back of the net and hearing it hit the backboard,” Anderson said of her game-winner. “I had tears come into my eyes.”
The game-ending sequence occurred right off the opening faceoff of the third 10-minute extra session. Ashley Wolk controlled the ball and carried deep into the right corner of the E.G. end. Her initial attempt at a crossing pass was deflected by an Avenger defender to Barrington’s Kelly Dolan. Dolan then delivered a feed to Anderson, who settled and rifled her shot on net.
The victory consolidated the Eagles’ first-place regular season finish. Top-seeded Barrington, winner over two-time defending champ North Kingstown in the semifinals, finished its season with an overall record of 17-1. The title was the sixth-ever for the Eagles and first since the locals went back-to-back in 2005-06. East Greenwich entered the playoffs as the third seed and had defeated second-seeded Bay View in the semifinals.
“We had a great season and obviously you want to win it in the end. It just kind of made it a perfect season by winning it in the end,” said BHS head coach Lee Markowski. “E.G. is a good team. They came out playing very, very well. I give our girls credit after coming back from being down 1-0.”
Sunday, the Avengers proved a more-than worthy opponent. East Greenwich, in fact, carried the play through the first half and scored the game’s initial goal in the 14th minute of action. Off a penalty corner, Kayla Santos delivered a pass to Lindesy Buckheit, who beat Barrington keeper Becky Bracken (5 saves) for the tally.
The Eagles came close to equalizing a few minutes later, but Anderson’s shot fluttered through the goal mouth and went out of bounds untouched.
In the 25th minute, the Avengers had a golden opportunity to take a commanding two-goal edge, only to come away empty. E.G. had a two-on-none breakaway after a long hit found its way past the Barrington defense. Rebecca Cooper’s shot, however, never made it on net, dribbling harmlessly past Bracken over the end line.
The score remained 1-0 Avs through intermission and five minutes into the second half until Anderson got the locals on the board. Taylor Rideout set the play in motion, sending a shot towards goal that Anderson, one of the Eagles’ senior captains along with Tricia McQuade, redirected by E.G. starting keeper Katie DePietro.
The Eagles, much better in the second half and clearly the aggressor, threatened on three more occasions shortly after tying the game. Their best chance, a shot by Laura Otterbach from point-blank range, was saved by DePietro.
Bracken was forced into action one more time before the end of regulation, making a kick save off an E.G. long hit in the 51st. In the 57th, Anderson’s long hit found its way by DePietro, but it was ruled not to be touched by a teammate and thus deemed an illegal goal.
The game eventually went into a first 10-minute, seven-v-seven overtime period. Both teams had harmless shots on goal and the Avs had two penalty corners.
In the second overtime, still seven-v-seven, but this time “sudden victory,” DePietro strayed way too far from her line to field a Barrington long hit then was injured as she attempted to scurry back into position. The right leg ailment sent the junior to the sidelines with Settipane in her stead. Both teams had penalty corners in the session, including the Avengers with no time left in the period, but neither side converted, setting up Anderson’s heroics in the next overtime.
“We were just laying it on the line. We were in it to win it. We have each and we weren’t going let each other down,” Anderson said of the victory.
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