The Middletown High School field hockey team has had what most would call an up and down season.
The Knights started the season 3-5, but have recently been on a tear, winning five straight.
“I think we’ve been working really well together as a team,” said Knights senior Samantha Yeager. “We’ve definitely done some team bonding.”
Starting with the Oakdale game on Oct. 1, the Knights have outscored their opponents 18-3 over their five-game winning streak.
“Our passing has been really good,” said Knights senior Taylor Green. “We work really well together as a team.”
Now it’s a whole new season, the playoffs are here. Tonight, the Knights will take on Oakdale in the 2A West Section I semifinal.
The Knights received a bye in the first round as the number two seed in the section, Oakdale as the number three seed will travel to MHS to take on the Knights.
Middletown took down Oakdale in a thriller to start the Knights on their five game win streak.
The Knights were down 1-0 late in the second half, but a goal from Ali Williams tied the game with 18 minutes left. Williams then gave the Knights a victory in the most dramatic fashion, scoring the game-winning goal with only 11 seconds left, giving the Knights a 2-1 victory.
A game like that will obviously motivate Oakdale to come to Middletown and get revenge for that gut-wrenching loss, but it could also boost the Knights confidence.
“I think that game does give us more confidence,” said Green. “Even though we came back in the last 15 seconds, we still have the will power to be able to beat them.”
The win certainly feeds into the confidence of Yeager, who sees that game as something to build on.
“It was really encouraging,” said Yeager. “We won that game with like 11 seconds left.”
The Knights are still looking to improve on certain things; things that will help them take down the Bears tonight.
“We definitely have to get a lot of shots on goal,” said Yeager. “Sometimes we have trouble getting shots on frame and hitting the goalie.”
One thing that you can always count on the Knights to do is stick together, even if it means scoring the game-winning goal with 11 seconds left.
