Reservoir field hockey rises to the occasion, earns overtime win over Atholton

Beil said that she has been waiting for her team to take on and beat a top-tier county opponent.

"Our stick skills are right there with everyone else's and our strategy, too," she said. "I haven't seen this program do such beautiful passing as they have in the last week."

Reservoir beat Wilde Lake, 12-1, on Thursday to set up a two-game win streak.

Christina Kelley scored Atholton's first goal against the Gators and the game could have easily followed the usual Reservoir shutout-Atholton win, script.

But the Gators were ready for a change.

Elena Martino scored on a pass from Greta Schuster to tie the game at one-all.

Schuster converted a penalty stroke just before halftime to put the Gators in front, 2-1.

The Raiders pounded away at Reservoir's defense in the second half, and managed to tie the score on Faryn Katz' reverse stick tap.

Atholton kept the pressure up but could not beat Reservoir's defense again.

"They are very confident in what they do. I knew I had to be prepared every moment in the circle," said Reservoir goalie Emily Fourney, who made 23 saves. "I think our defense was very good at getting those little jabs on the ball to throw them off balance. It makes the shot so much easier to block."

It also helped that Reservoir marked up tight and didn't allow the Atholton players the freedom to get to the ball and move it in to position for a better shot.

Stephanie Gottwals, Tori Raulin and Katz fueled Atholton's offense in the first overtime, but Fourney and her teammates were ready.

Both sides had to reach a little deeper in the second sudden-victory overtime to keep the pace up. Missing players with injuries and illness gave Reservoir only had one sub for the game.

"When you only have one sub, you have to learn to dig deep and push through," Beil said.

Fourney turned aside two shots before Reservoir got the ball into the Atholton end of the field and got a penalty corner with 7:15 left to play.

Elena Martino inserted the ball to Weinman who drove it home.

"We practice corners a lot," Weinman said. "I didn't overthink it. I just hit the ball and it bounced off [an Atholton] stick and went in."

And the celebration began.

"I told them at the start of the second overtime that the second overtime has nothing to do with skill or strategy," Beil said. "It's all heart and they showed it. They wanted it and they did it."

Reservoir lifted its overall record to 4-7; Atholton is now 4-6.

Reservoir 3, Atholton 2 (2OT)

Goals: Re — Elena Martino, Greta Schuster. A — Christianna Kelley, Faryn Katz.

Assists: Re — Greta Schuster, Elena Martino. A — Faryn Katz.

Saves: Re — Emily Fourney 23. A — Adira Colton 14.

Halftime: Reservoir, 2-1.

Around the league:

Edgewood 2, Hammond 1