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Covenant field hockey powers past Charlottesville in opener

Photo by Bart Isley

There’s no question that Charlottesville field hockey coach Lindsay Clark was impressed by Covenant Thursday night.

 

“I actually was telling my girls I think this is the best team in the area I’ve seen, probably ever,” said Clark, who has had some strong teams herself at CHS including state semifinalists in 2012 and 2014.

 

The Eagles used an early barrage of four goals from their high octane offense to roll to a 4-0 victory over the Black Knights in a game that had a delayed start due to a rule about the heat index that prevents keepers from wearing equipment when the index sails north of 94 degrees.

 

Lizzy Shim scored twice while Bunny Gaffney and Abby McCartney scored a goal each during the run. Earlier in the week in a scrimmage against Monticello, Covenant started in similar fashion with an explosive string of goals. That kind of fast start is exactly what coach Annie Gumbs is looking for.

 

“They can be so nice that they don’t have the sense of urgency,” Gumbs said. “That’s something they’ve definitely done a good job of.”

 

Shim’s two goals were both impressive, with the first coming from outside the circle off a deflection while the other came after a slick move near the top of the circle to create a lane. She capped it with a hard drive that flew cleanly in from 10 yards out.

 

After that early run, Covenant switched to a more methodical offense, looking to work early in the season on an aspect of the game that the talented Eagles can still use some work on.

 

“We kind of shifted our focus to possession and transferring the ball,” Gumbs said. “That’s something that our team is weak at is truly getting the ball from one side of the field to the other not vertically but laterally..”

 

The Eagles are off and running in large part because they graduated just two seniors in Liz Llera and Danielle de Jong and while they won’t be easy to replace, there’s a strong core already in place. Shim, a UVa commit is without a doubt a huge part of what the Eagles are doing, but they’ve also got Division I-bound Maddy Fagan, who assisted on McCartney’s goal, Gaffney and goalie Santia McLaughlin. The Eagles also add another high-profile talent with Ivy Allen in the mix.

 

“I’m just thankful for all the training at St. Anne’s and through club,” Gumbs said. “She’s competitive but so sweet and just adds really nice intensity.”

 

Charlottesville’s defense managed to keep Covenant out of the net for the final 40 minutes of the game including a scoreless second half with the Eagles trying to possess but still create chances. It was an impressive effort by keeper Rebecca Stuphin and a seasoned defensive unit that returns the entire lineup. The Black Knights struggled to create very many chances, but Covenant was doing a tremendous job at shutting down the transition game most anytime the ball got in the midfield.

 

“That tells us that we’re still a little hesitant coming out of the gate, but we’re now mentally prepared to compete at this level,” Clark said.

 

Covenant travels to North Cross Wednesday while the Black Knights will try and build off that second half on the road against E.C. Glass Tuesday.

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