In a thrilling match this past Saturday, the girls JV field hockey emerged victorious over Mercy in a 1-0 victory. This showdown was played at EGR’s Pioneer Stadium, and the contest was an exhibition of defense the whole way through. The girls scored early on and held Mercy scoreless for the remainder of the game.

The lone goal for the team was scored by freshman Raven Kincaid from FHN.

“That was my first time ever doing that, but it was really fun, and I feel like it got our spirits up to the point we felt more confident in ourselves because we won against a really good team,” said Raven about her goal. One of the main focal points for the girls, however, was their defense.

Mercy was allowed very few chances in the attacking half of the field in the first half, and not much changed in the second half. With around 3 minutes left in the match, a clutch kick-save kept the possible game-tying goal out of the back of the net. The final faceoff of the game was won by FHE sophomore Eileen Grunwald, diminishing any final chance for Mercy to win the game.

Mercy was able to get one last shot on goal, though luckily, it was knocked away by freshman Abigail Ahmassian from FHN to end the game. With only one collective goal being scored in the entirety of the match, the defense was an important feature.

“I feel like if we didn’t have such a strong defense, we could’ve lost by a lot, and defense is always one of the most important parts of this game because it’s a really fast game,” said FHN freshman Julia Kozal.

In regards to what head coach Brian Bruno thought drove the team to its decisive victory, he said “Teamwork, communication, and following through with our plans.”

With everything clicking together on both sides of the ball, the girls are now 4-0-1 as a joint JV team. Their next test will be on Friday, October 4th at Ann Arbor Pioneer.