The Alternative Press

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ – The Columbia Cougars and the Newark Academy Minutemen ended their field hockey match in a 1-1 tie.

Columbia coach Maggie Singler was upbeat about the match. “I’m proud of our play today; we came out aggressive,” she said after the game. “We dominated the first half. We showed our hearts today.”

Coming off a hard loss to Livingston High, the Cougars attacked on offense and held strong on defense for the entire first half, preventing Newark Academy from getting anywhere near the goal.

Their strong offensive attack paid off early in the first half. With 22:50 left in the half, Nadia Pelham-Lacey stole the ball on the Cougar side of the field and passed it to Laura Marino at midfield. She then pushed the ball right to Jane Mousseau. Mousseau was able to get enough room to pass the ball to Jennifer Hoffer, who got past the Newark defenders.

Hoffer was straight on with the goal with no one left to beat, but instead of shooting, she passed it back to Mousseau who, from the left side of the goal, was able to put the ball past the goalie for the first goal of the game.

This gave the Cougars the upper hand for the rest of the first half. These two teams were very evenly matched, and most of the game was spend between the 40 yard lines on the field. There was a constant change of possession as both teams battled for the ball. That meant the defenders were well rested when an attack did come, and they were prepared to clear the ball before the other team could score.

After a few defensive stops for each team, the clock ran and the Cougars held onto their 1-0 lead at halftime.

Newark came out on the attack and dominated the second half. While both defenses stayed strong, the Cougars had one mishap that allowed the Minutemen to tie the game. With 16:08 left in the half, Maia Yoshida snuck by Cougar defenders and was able to slip the ball past Cougar goalkeeper Mary Grace Cobbs, who until this point had four saves.

With the score tied, the Cougars went on the attack but were never able to formulate a solid strike. Their best chance came when they were awarded a free shot, which gave them one last possession with no time on the clock. Samantha Cohen passed the ball in to Ila Vaughn, who sent a hard pass into the circle. Pelham-Lacey just missed the ball as it slipped past the goal and went out of bounds to end regulation play.

Overtime started with the Minuteman in possession of the ball. In the 7-7 matchup, the Cougars continued to clear the ball away and prevent a goal. Most the overtime was spent battling for possession and clearing the ball into the other team’s zone.

The major play came with 33.5 seconds left on the clock when Newark Academy was awarded a free shot. They passed it in and had it blocked away. But another penalty gave the Minutemen a second chance. They got the ball in to Yoshida, whose shot missed just to the right of the goal. 

The tie puts the Cougars’ record at 2-13-2 with two games left in the season.