Both teams pose for a postgame picture.
By LESLEY GRAHAM
The Ocean City field hockey team took on conference opponent Hammonton High School, coming away with a 4-1 victory Saturday over the visiting Blue Devils.
The win improved Ocean City’s record to 4-1 on the young season, while Hammonton dropped to 4-1.
Scoring for Ocean City was equally spread with Carly Hanin, Racheli Levy-Smith, Julia Neff and Tricia Nicoletti each netting a goal for the Red Raiders. Levy-Smith also chipped in two assists.
Bouncing back from a 3-2 overtime loss on Friday night to conference foe Egg Harbor Township, the Red Raiders were looking to get back to their winning ways with a short turnaround.
Although the Red Raiders got off to slow start with Hammonton scoring first, Ocean City maintained its composure to answer back and tie the score at one apiece before heading into halftime.
Using the 10-minute interlude to make necessary adjustments, the Red Raiders came out firing on all cylinders, quickening the pace of play, which made it difficult for Hammonton to keep up. Ocean City scored the remaining three goals and blanked the Blue Devils for the remainder of the game.
Ocean City Head Coach Kelsey Burke said that although the team started off slow, the Red Raiders were able to make the necessary changes.
“We did a good job in the second half of making adjustments – tighter skills, getting attackers in and behind their defense and stretching the field to utilize our speed,” Burke said.
Red Raider Racheli Levy-Smith (on the ground in white jersey) slips in a goal.
Senior Levy-Smith, who led all scorers with one goal and two assists, added that the team is strong and aggressive.
“We knew today was our redemption day (from Friday night’s overtime loss) so we pulled ourselves together, composed ourselves and dominated our opponent,” she said.
The game featured a special note as September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and the field hockey team wanted to help highlight and honor those fighting their battles, including Frankie LaSasso, with gold shoelaces for both teams as part of the initiative Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer event.
LaSasso, whose father is a teacher and coach within the Ocean City school district, is currently battling leukemia.
The LaSasso family resides in Hammonton, so when the two teams face each other, both sides try to highlight and honor the fight of Frankie and others like him.
Burke summed it up best post game, “It seemed only fitting to host a Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer game today when we hosted Hammonton, since Frankie and his family are such a special piece to both of our town and school communities. At the end of the day, we’re all on the same team – and that is the #FightLikeFrankie team!”
Both teams pose for a postgame picture.
