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Forest Hills Field Hockey / Grand Rapids, MI

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22

Oct, 2018

Middle School enjoys great weekend at Pumpkin Classic

Despite cold and windy weather, the Forest Hills middle school team made the most of the sunshine during the Pumpkin Classic tournament hosted by Windy City Field Hockey on Sunday.

Playing in the "Witch" Division, Forest Hills was grouped with teams from Chicago, St. Louis, and Dublin, Ohio. The girls struggled to find a rhythm in the first game of the day, ending in a scoreless tie with Glen Ellyn RAGE. Both goalkeepers made clutch saves to keep their opponents off the board.

Head Coach Gabi Coty made some lineup adjustments during the break, and the team kicked into high gear for their second game. Forest Hills dominated play in defeating the Golden Shamrocks 2-0. The Shamrocks were not able to record a shot, or even penetrate the scoring circle at any point in the 28-minute match. Mia Dye and Lexi Slywka recorded the Forest Hills goals. That second goal, scored with only a few seconds left on the clock, would become very important at the end of pool play.

Against Gateway Blue, goalkeeper Alayna Gschwind made some impressive saves to keep the game scoreless, including one on a breakaway. Forest Hills took control offensively as the game progressed, but couldn't capitalize on their chances, finishing with another 0-0 tie. The 1-0-2 record created a tie for first place in the group that was broken on goal differential, with the last-second goal by Lexi Slywka making the difference.

The first-place pool play finish put the middle schoolers into the top half of the playoff bracket, matching up against Lake Forest Country Day School in the semifinals. Again, Forest Hills controlled most of the game and suffered numerous near-misses on scoring opportunities. The 0-0 tie sent the game to a shootout, with three players from each team going 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper from 25 yards away. Gschwind's aggressive goalkeeping forced two of the three Lake Forest players to shoot wide, but their one goal was enough as none of Forest Hills' three shooters could connect.

The semifinal loss put Forest Hills into a rematch with RAGE for third place. Despite having a couple of strong offensive players, RAGE couldn't crack a tight defense. After several scoring chances, Maddie Shaner put home a penalty corner rebound to give Forest Hills the lead, and Mia Dye did the same a few minutes later to seal the 2-0 win.

Out of 22 teams across three tournament divisions, Forest Hills was one of only four that did not give up a single goal in field play. Even more impressively, the defensive line of Maria Jacobs, Logan Kirkwood, and Alexa Fauson played every minute of all five games without a substitution.

The night before the tournament, the team had a party with pizza and bowling (pictured). Players and parents were all smiles throughout what turned out to be a fantastic weekend of field hockey.
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