'We know our shooters and we’re always trying to get it to them,' Red Lion's Hailey Johnson on beating New Oxford 4-1
Red Lion’s huddle of hungry Lions is driven to take their high school field hockey team to greater heights.
They’re motivated by last year’s lessons: not qualifying for the YAIAA field hockey tournament, known as “counties,” and losing 4-1 to Cumberland Valley in the first round of District 3 playoffs.
And for a few athletes, they’re driven by having made it through the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re definitely a little bitter from that,” Red Lion senior captain Hailey Johnson said about counties. “So, that’s definitely one of our biggest goals this year is to get to [counties].”
Red Lion, which is a Class 3A school in southcentral Pennsylvania, recently got another victory in its win column against New Oxford. The Lions are currently 9-1 and desire to make a strong return to the YAIAA championship tournament.
Susquehannock won it last year. What’s different from last year is this year’s team has more confidence in their front line.
“We know our shooters and we’re always trying to get it to them,” Johnson, a midfielder, said. “But, most of the time, if you have a shot at the top of the circle, go for it.”
Johnson choked up on her stick during the game landing the only Lion’s goal scored on a corner. It was in the first quarter of their New Oxford game.
She said she “perfected” her hit during quarantine in 2020.
“Literally, every day I had nothing to do,” she recalled. “I would go outside and for hours and just be practicing my strokes and shooting on goal.”
But, Johnson wasn’t the only one who scored. Red Lion’s roster has finishers on it. Each of the four goals scored were scored by different athletes.
“We’re trying to build on a solid passing game through the midfield and being relentless on offense,” Red Lion head coach Carol Gillmen said. “Trying to generate our attack as fast as we can.”
Awareness of where the players are on the pitch is part of junior forward Kaelyn Eaches said. She scored Red Lion’s third goal against the Colonials.
“I usually look for my teammates to get it in the circle as quick as possible,” Eaches said.
But, when she saw a line and it was the circle marking, she said she “just shot it” and wanted it to be “right there for the rebound.”
While the Lion’s offense is able to score on field goals, they do have an area of “needs work.”
They got 16 corners, and only scored on the one. Gillmen said it’s something her team will “absolutely” work on.
“I don’t think we were adjusting to the speed of their flyer, so credit to their player doing that, and their goalie stepped up very well,” Gillmen said.
New Oxford upset Susquehannock in the first round of 2022 District 3 playoffs, effectively ending their run for District and PIAA Class 2A champions.
The Colonials are still working out their game plan. They were able to collect 12 corners on the night but couldn’t put any of them away.
They had many breakaways and scored one, but that’s all that Red Lion would give them.
The Colonials were closer to cutting the deficit, but the goal was called back for using the back of the stick on the shot.
“I think we played tough against a strong team,” New Oxford head coach Tonya Lardarello said. “We had a goal called back and missed some opportunities.”
Red Lion’s looking good so far, but they aren’t satisfied yet. They are still working on “finding the pieces of the puzzle,” Gillmen said.
“Who’s clicking where and being able to solidify defensively,” she said. “Build a midfield that can transition and have offense that can just really gel together with the passing game.”
Her players agree.
“As long as we played like we did tonight and play as a team, I think we’ll be good,” Eaches said.