The Whaler field hockey team won their first game of the season Wednesday afternoon 2-0 over the Sturgis West Navigators. The Whalers improved to 1-4 on the season and head coach Dan Weber said he was proud of the way his team battled for four quarters.
“We controlled the game today and (goalie) Maclaine Willett said it was the first time in four years she hasn’t had to face a shot in a game,” he said. “I’m happy for the girls to get that first win because they have been playing well against tough teams. It was nice to see it reflect on the scoreboard.”
The Whalers hemmed the Navigators into their own zone from the very beginning of the game, generating plenty of scoring chances. The Whalers struggled to get a large quantity of shots on net and had some bad luck by hitting three posts, but they didn’t let the lack of results from the offensive pressure slow them down.
“For the first three quarters they were frustrated because they were completely controlling the game but had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard,” Weber said. “The two things I said to them were take a deep breath we are playing fine. We just needed to pick our heads up a little bit before we shot because we were shooting it too much into the pads. Then it is about one to two touches around the goal. We had way to many touches in those first three quarters.”
Freshman Suz Peraner broke the ice for the Whalers early in the fourth quarter. She gained possession of a loose ball in front of the net and got just enough of her stick on it to jam it past the Navigator’s goalie to give the Whalers their first lead of the season.
“For a freshman she has such a great motor,” Weber said. “She just doesn’t stop. She is hard on the ball. She is tough on the ball. She has this sneaky ability of knowing where to be and has a great sense of where the ball is going to go. She is always around the play down there when we are in the offensive zone. She had a nice assist the other day to Ali (Bamber). She has been playing very well.”
Three minutes later senior captain Melanie Bamber had a corner shot opportunity and passed it to senior forward Quincy Sullivan, who ripped a shot towards net that deflected off a Navigator defender’s stick into the air. Bamber quickly approached the ball and batted it out of mid-air into the back of the net, showing off some impressive hand-eye coordination.
“Mel is the heart and soul of the team,” Weber said. “I thought she had an excellent game outside of the goal. The goal just made it even better. She had a great game against Monomoy the other day. It was one of the best games I have seen her play. So she has been building towards getting rewarded on the stat sheet. That goal was just fantastic. Up high, used her great hand-eye coordination to knock it in.”
The Whalers were able to milk the rest of the clock until it hit zero to earn their first win. They will look to make it two in a row when they travel to take on Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday at 1 pm.
