Field hockey: Marriotts Ridge and River Hill begin season on winning note; Long Reach, Centennial and Reservoir tested in tournaments

Kat Varga opened the season with a hat trick as River Hill defeated Patterson Mill on Friday.

River Hill 4, Patterson Mill 2

Goals: RH - Kat Varga 3, Pauline Shih. PM - Keesling, Lebovic.

Assists: RH - Leyla Baltimtas, Sarah Rusenko. PM - none.

Saves: RH - Emily Glass 8. PM - Hedrick 9.

Halftime: River Hill, 2-0.

Marriotts Ridge 6, South Carroll 1

Marriotts Ridge's Bri Hanlon had a goal and four assists as the Mustangs breezed by South Carroll, 6-1, on Friday.

Goals: MR - Tuma, Hanlon, Jones, Kerr, Fleming, Beigel. SC - Erica Decolli.

Assists: MR - Hanlon 4, Fleming, Hong. SC - none.

Saves: MR - Hamilton 0. SC - Kayla Holston 7.

Centennial tournament

Centennial hosted its 14th annual field hockey tournament Saturday, but the championship trophy went home with Seton Keough, which beat Rising Sun in strokes, 3-2. The game was scoreless during regulation play.

Centennial defeated Towson, 4-0, to finish third.

In the opening round, Centennial felt it was dominating play, but Seton Keough had a 2-0 advantage on the scoreboard when a thunder storm forced all of the teams into the gymnasium. When play resumed, the Eagles gave up another goal to lose, 3-0.

The team made positive changes before facing Towson, however.

"We changed the line-up, which I think mentally changed the way we worked together," said Carey Whittenberger.

"We were able to be more fluid together. We had more space individually," said Erica Heaphy, who scored 23 seconds into the game."

The Eagles switched from a four-player front line to a three-player one; they also made an adjustment on defense.

Both players said the lengthy pause in the second half of the Seton Keough game did not work in the Eagles' favor.

"I feel like we weren't as focused when we came back on the field," Heaphy said.

"We weren't playing bad in the first half," Whittenberger said.

"(Seton Keough) just took advantage of their chances, and we only had three shots on goal," Heaphy said.

Centennial has a week off. The Eagles' next game is at Bel Air on Sept. 12.

Seton Keough 0, Rising Sun 0

(Seton Keough wins in strokes, 3-2)

(championship game)

Strokes: SK - Ashley Lamanski, Hannah Tavik and Anna Stumme. RS - Leslie Thomas, Liz Swift.

Saves: SK - Becca Wallace 8. RS - Tori Phillips 9.

Halftime: tied, 0-0; regulation, 0-0.

Centennial 4, Towson 0

(consolation game)

Goals: C - Erica Heaphy, Carey Whittenbeger, Eryn Davis, Kay Kelly. T - none

Assists: C - Anna Kelly, Erin Davis, Kay Kelly. T - none

Saves: C - Caitlin Cleveland 11. T - Meg Horan 6

Halftime: Centennial, 2-0.

Seton Keough 3, Centennial 0

(first-round)

Goals: SK - Kathleen Swigart, Zoe Smith, Diana Young. C - none

Assists: SK - Anna Stumme.

Saves: SK - Becca Wallace 2. C - Amanda Hendri, 15.

Halftime: Seton Keough, 2-0.

Rising Sun 3, Towson 1

(first-round)

Goals: RS - Leslie Taylor 2, Taylor Davison. T - Maggie Coccagna.

Paint Branch tournament

Long Reach lost, 7-0, to the host school to finish as runner-up in the Paint Branch tournament.

Paint Branch advanced to the title game with a first-round victory over Sherwood. Long Reach advanced thanks to a 4-2 victory over Reservoir.

"We mentally collapsed in the second half. Long Reach capitalized on our many mistakes and scored four unanswered goals in the last 15 minutes of the game," said Reservoir coach Melissa Frye.

Reservoir defeated Sherwood, 1-0, on Nicole Sullivan's goal to take third place in the tournament.

Paint Branch 7, Long Reach 0

(championship game)

Scoring not available.

Reservoir 1, Sherwood 0

(consolation game)

Goals: Re - Nicole Sullivan. S - none.

Assists: Re - Laura Brothman.

Saves: Re - Olivia Lynch 6. Sherwood - not available.

Long Reach 4, Reservoir 2

(first-round game)

Goals: LR - not available. Re - Shayna Tiller, Alexa Spearman.

Assists: none

Saves: LR - not available. Re - Olivia Lynch 9.

Paint Branch def. Sherwood

(first-round game)

Wilde Lake vs. C.M. Wright

(Friday game, score not reported)