Ocean City Victorious in Quarterfinal Round

By Lesley Graham The Ocean City Field Hockey team proved victorious 2-1 over visiting Allentown on a damp and dreary Tuesday afternoon.  The win, improving the Raiders record to 19-2, advances them to the semifinal round of the NJSIAA Group Three South playoffs. Scoring on the afternoon was senior Carly Hanin with both goals for Ocean City.  Brooke Hanley and Nicole Carey each assisted Hanin’s goals.  Kelly Noon scored for Allentown. Senior Hanin, who scored both for the Raiders was excited for her team to get the win today.  “Our energy was high and our adrenaline was rushing. The whole team was hungry for another win to secure us another game,” said Hanin post game. Julia Neff readies herself defensively for an Allentown hit. Both teams played a strong, fast and aggressive game matching up within the first quarter of play to a 0-0 score.  Ocean City had a number of offensive opportunities in the opening 15 minutes of play from penalty corners, but were unable to finish. As the second quarter got underway, Ocean City got it’s footing and scored two big goals in the second to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead heading into halftime. After the halftime intercession, Allentown came out firing, scoring their lone goal of the game to bring the contest within one.  Both teams battled hard for the remainder of the quarter to bring a heightened fervor to the fourth and final quarter. Ocean City lines up for a penalty corner opportunity. The final 15 minutes of play saw both teams jockey for possession—for Ocean City to secure the win and for Allentown to find a way to force overtime. Luckily for Ocean City they were able to maintain their composure and keep Allentown from finding the back of the cage, resulting in their advancement to the semifinal round.  Ocean City will play Clearview at home on Friday at 11 AM. Head Coach Kelsey Burke thought that although they had missed opportunities, the team was able to pull off the victory.  “In playoffs it’s really anybody’s game.  If we had capitalized in the first quarter we could have put them away early and it would have been a different game,” said Burke post game.  At this time in the season though, it is survive and advance and that’s exactly what Ocean City did.