By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
The Fluco field hockey team controlled play in both halves on Oct. 6, but couldn’t find the net. The Louisa Lions managed a single goal midway through the first of four 15-minute periods and that was the end of the scoring. The Lions scored from a scramble in front of the net on a shot that deflected off one of the Fluco defenders, giving the Fluco’s senior goalie Arianna Bugg no chance for a save.
The Flucos challenged with good scoring chances in the first and second quarters, but failed to get a shot past the Lions goalie so the score was 1-0 for Louisa at the half. In the third quarter, there was a lot of up and down action with the Flucos achieving a strong scoring chance early at 13:30, and late at 3:35 when the Lion’s goalie was forced to make a kick save.
There were not a lot of good scoring opportunities in the final quarter. The defenses dominated, but both teams had short corner opportunities. Louisa’s was stopped on a kick save, while Fluvanna’s shot off the penalty was just wide. A short corner opportunity is awarded after a defensive penalty. A player on the attacking team plays the ball in from the end line about ten yards from the goal. The defensive team has the goalie and four defenders in position at the goal with all other defenders out past the center line. This allows a pass into an attacker for an uncontested shot at fairly full goal. A short corner is somewhat akin to a corner kick in soccer. So, as in soccer, where the team with the most corner kicks is thought to be the team dominating play, in field hockey the team with the most short corners is the team dominating play. The Flucos had three short corners to one for Louisa. Fluvanna’s final short corner opportunity came with 5:10 left in the game. No further scoring opportunities could be generated, and the final was Louisa 1, Flucos 0.
After the game, Fluco coach Jennifer Payne noted that the Flucos had strong play from senior attacker Peyton Marshall and senior defender Taylor Peck. She also cited senior defender Abby Ford and sophomore attacker Anna Amato for good play.
The Fluco take on Monticello high on Oct. 13 and then play at Highland Springs and still have a chance to make it to post season play.
