By David Fierro
The past two seasons saw Sacred Heart Greenwich win the FAA regular season field hockey title and longtime neighborhood rival Greenwich Academy capture the FAA Tournament championship at the Tigers’ Magnetti Field.
This fall, Sacred Heart was determined to change the scenario a bit.
After winning the regular season matchup between the Greenwich-based rivals, Sacred Heart was intent on claiming the title that eluded them the previous two years in a game played on its home field – the FAA Tournament title.
A clutch goal by freshman Kingsley Ely and superb defensive play enabled the Tigers to attain their season-long goal.
Ely’s second-half goal lifted top-seeded Sacred Heart Greenwich to an exciting 1-0 victory over second-seeded Greenwich Academy before a big crowd at Magnetti Field on Nov. 8. The game was the latest chapter of this storied rivalry, which features plenty of intense matchups over the years.
“It’s an amazing win, all the credit goes to the players,” said Sacred Heart Greenwich coach Alex Gheorghe, who guides the team, along with coach Sarah Hill. “The last time was several years ago when we won both – the league and the tournament.”
The Tigers and Gators are certainly accustomed to competing against each other in the postseason and regular season. In 2023, SHG won the regular season game, then GA was victorious against the Tigers in the FAA Tournament final. The 2022 season had the squads meeting four times, with each team winning twice and Greenwich Academy defeating Sacred Heart in the FAA Tournament finals and NEPSAC Class A quarterfinals.
Back in 2021, the Tigers won both the regular season and FAA Tournament title matchups versus the Gators and in 2019, GA and SHG went 1-1 against each other, with Sacred Heart winning in the regular season and Greenwich Academy taking the FAA Tournament championship.
This year, behind a strong all-around performance, Sacred Heart earned both the regular season and FAA Tournament titles.
“It feels amazing, it hasn’t been done since my freshman year and it’s a great way to end our season,” said Sacred Heart senior midfielder/captain Ainsley Clough. “I’m so proud of our team, we worked so hard for the entire game and we put all our effort onto the field. I’m so happy and so excited.”
Sacred Heart and Greenwich Academy are both in the midst of sensational seasons. The Tigers have a record of 16-2, finished undefeated in the FAA and are now preparing to play in the NEPSAC Class A Tournament. GA has a 16-2-2 mark and will also compete in the NEPSAC Class A Tourney, which begins Wednesday (Nov. 13). Seeding for the tournament is expected to be announced today.
Both of Greenwich Academy’s FAA losses this season have come to Sacred Heart, which was victorious in the regular season meeting, 3-1. Unlike the regular season game on Oct. 15, when SHG jumped out to a 3-0 lead, Friday’s FAA final hung in the balance throughout, with both teams having their moments throughout.
“I’m really proud of our team, I thought we played a great game,” said GA coach Jamie Brower, whose team topped Greens Farms Academy, 1-0 in the tournament’s semifinals. “We played a very different game than we played the first time we played them. Sometimes you get lucky bounces, sometimes you don’t. Sacred Heart played a really nice game, they put some really good pressure together.”
The game-winning goal occurred with 6:44 remaining in the third quarter. Greenwich Academy had possession of the ball in Sacred Heart’s zone. The Tigers, however, cleared the ball out of their zone and quickly moved it up the field down the ride side in transition.
Junior Elle Corcoran stick handled the ball down the right side, then crossed it to the middle of the field into the circle. A shot by Ely was directed toward Greenwich Academy senior goalie Persia Shipman, who got her stick on the ball, but it rolled behind her and found its way into the left corner of the goal, giving SHG a 1-0 lead at the 6:44 mark of the third quarter. The Tigers put plenty of traffic in front of the cage on the goal-scoring play.
“As a team there were a lot of moments that led up to it, it wasn’t just my goal, I would say it was the whole team’s goal, because we all put in 100 percent effort,” Ely said of her go-ahead tally. “Once it happened, it was a surreal moment and I was really happy for the whole team.”
“It was a scrap in front of the goal, but we managed to slap it in,” Ely added. “It felt really good, it felt revitalizing, because it was 0-0 the whole game.”
GA had chances to score the equalizer, forcing several penalty corners in the second half. For the game, Greenwich Academy drew six penalty corners, while SHG had three corners. Pressure by senior forward/midfielder Lavinia Cartellieri, who scored two goals in the 2023 FAA Tournament final, helped the Gators initiate some of those penalty corners, two of which took place in this championship game’s last two minutes.
Sacred Heart, which beat King School, 2-0, in the FAA semifinals, behind goals from Corcoran and Elizabeth Devine, was able to hold GA off the scoreboard and hold on for the league championship win.
“It was stressful, they had the final corner,” SHG senior midfielder/captain Charley Nemec said. “Us getting that last ball from them before they got the shot off was when I realized it was going to happen. Getting it to their half and over the end line solidified the game.”
Senior goalie Teresa Harkins made three saves for Sacred Heart. Senior Daphne Fallon, sophomore Caeley Clough and junior Casey Smith were among some of the defensive standouts for the Tigers.
“Staying determined and being there on passes and connecting really well with each other and not giving up at any second of the game is what motivated us to keep going and just being there for each other,” said Fallon, a captain.
Fallon knew the defenders had to be alert the entire game against a GA squad that’s scored plenty of goals this fall.
“They have some great shooters, so it’s definitely a challenge being on defense,” Fallon noted. “But we were able to communicate well, so we locked it down. Our goalie Teresa did an amazing job, we were able to count on her throughout the whole game and everyone was getting back on defense to help.”
Shipman registered four saves in goal for GA, which was paced defensively by senior captain Isa Packard, junior Mallory Walker and senior Liba Cabot.
“I am leaving the field feeling good about our team’s play and about our performance and about sticking to all the things we talked about leading up to the game,” Brower said. “I’m very proud of them.”
“They did everything they could, it just unfortunately, didn’t go our way today,” Brower continued. “I’m so proud of our captains and our seniors. I couldn’t have asked for more from them. They are fantastic, the whole senior leadership has been fantastic.”
The first two quarters of action saw both the Tigers and Gators have solid possessions and take a pair of penalty corners.
“We played well, we came out strong and we played hard,” Ainsley Clough noted. “We started to find our groove more towards the second half, we started to build more momentum in the second half.”
“I think we played a very defensive game by stopping a lot of penalty corners and working hard on defense and trying to change up the strategies to work and find new success,” Ainsley Clough added.
Said Nemec: “Obviously, I think we were more focused on defending our goal than getting a goal and it was a great overall job, putting the final goal in and then playing it out on the defensive side.”
As history has shown, the championship game of the FAA Tournament is an annual showdown between SHG and GA.
“It’s been our goal since the beginning of the season to have another FAA championship, it hasn’t happened since I was a freshman, so I think going into it focusing on our defense and taking chances were key,” Nemec noted. “It’s nice to celebrate on our field and not walk off defeated. This is definitely a dream senior season.”
“We want to congratulate Greenwich Academy, they put up a great performance,” Gheorghe said. “It’s never easy and it always comes down to the last second. We defended really well on the penalty corners and overall, we played very hard.”
