As a senior who has experienced the Tabb-Grafton field hockey rivalry first-hand over the past four years, Tabb forward Alison Harmatz doesn’t need much motivation when taking the field against the Clippers. Especially when there’s a state tournament berth at stake.
That was evident Thursday night in the Tigers’ Region I semifinal matchup against Grafton – the third meeting of the season for the two powerhouses – after Harmatz scored the first three goals of the game, which proved to be more than enough as the Tigers secured their annual spot in the state tournament with a 5-0 victory on Poquoson Middle’s artificial turf.
“They’ve been our fiercest competitors over the years,” Harmatz said after the game. “We always try and come out fired up because we know they’re going to come out fired up. We knew that in the beginning we would have to match their intensity, and today was just another good game for us.”
For the four-time defending state champion Tigers (21-0), Thursday’s victory earned them a spot in Friday’s Region I title game against Chancellor, which defeated Bruton 3-0 in Thursday’s other semifinal. More importantly, though, the win also secured Tabb its annual spot in next week’s Group AA state tournament held at the National Training Center in Virginia Beach.
Bruton and Grafton, the semifinal losers, will decide the final state-tournament berth in Friday’s consolation game scheduled for 6 p.m. at Bruton High School.
“It feels awesome,” Harmatz added of returning to states for her fourth consecutive season with the program. “Everyone is definitely excited.”
Harmatz got the scoring started in the 21st minute with a chip shot off a corner setup by Lorissa Morton. Barely two minutes later, with the Tigers applying heavy pressure inside the circle, Harmatz collected a rebound following a nice save by Grafton keeper Andrea Rinehart and pushed it through to give Tabb a 2-0 lead.
Rinehart kept the Clippers in it for two-thirds of the first half making 10 of her 14 saves in the game’s first 30 minutes. Her finest stop came in the final moments of the first half when the Tigers’ Hayley Mills blasted a shot from the right side through a pack of players crammed in the circle which Rinehart kicked out of bounds to preserve a 2-0 halftime score.
The break did little to cool off Harmatz as the senior forward capped off the hat trick with her prettiest goal of the evening less than five minutes into the second half.
From the left corner of the circle, Harmatz sent a gorgeous reverse sweep across goal and into the upper-right portion of the cage.
Caroline Beaudoin and Kaylee Maunz saw a few breakaway opportunities in the second half for Grafton, but Tabb’s back line did a nice job of recovering and thwarting each attempt.
Morgan Ames scored Tabb’s final two goals – the first with 14 minutes left after a scramble in front of the cage and the second with eight minutes to go in regulation – as the Tigers cushioned their lead 5-0.
Tabb coach Wendy Wilson says she expects a competitive championship game Friday against a Chancellor team that in last year’s regional semis put more shots on goal against the Tigers than any team all season. Wilson added that Chancellor returns all but one or two players from last year’s group.
Grafton coach Brooke Feiner says her team is looking forward to the challenge of having to grind their way back to the state tournament, which they can do Friday by defeating Bruton. The two teams split their season series so far 1-1, however the Clippers are coming off last week’s overtime victory in the district-tournament semifinals.
“At this point in the season, it’s all about how bad you want it,” Feiner said. “I think we’ve played well recently – sure we gave up some goals tonight, but the score doesn’t indicate our performance necessarily. If we continue to play the way we have tomorrow (against Bruton) I think we’ll be in good shape.”
