Tigers Take Bronxville to OT, Fall 3-2

PUTNAM VALLEY—The Putnam Valley Tigers knew they were the underdogs in Sunday’s Class C field hockey championship game, but they sure didn’t play like it during regulation – twice taking the lead on a highly favored Bronxville squad, and taking the Broncos to overtime, before falling, 3-2, at Manhattanville College.

PV keeper Tianna Daley (99) makes a save on a ball heading toward net. SKIP PEARLMAN The top-seeded Broncos (18-0-1) played from behind twice during regulation, as PV ‘s Hannah Tavella scored 5:15 into the game, off a pass from Amanda DeChent, for a 1-0 Tigers lead.

And after Bronxville tied it up on Brook Gogel’s goal, assisted by Annie Longobardo, 10 minutes later, the Tigers answered again with a goal from Erin McCrudden, off a corner, with 4:37 left in the first half.

Rachel Kim tied it up for the Broncos 7:56 into the second half, scoring off a shot from about six yards out, from the keeper’s left side.

Tigers look on from bench during final minutes of regulation Sunday. SKIP PEARLMAN The Valley had a great chance to take a 3-2 lead with 18:30 left, when DeChent drew Broncos goalie Katie Knox out of the cage, but DeChent’s shot dribbled just inches wide right of the net.

Once in overtime, Bronxville struck quickly. Thirty-three seconds in it was Gogel again, shooting and scoring from Daley’s right side, from about eight yards out. Kim got the assist.

The way Bronxville controlled play during regulation, it was an impressive accomplishment that Putnam Valley led twice and took the game into OT. The Broncos completely dominated time of possession – especially in the first half, and had a commanding 16-4 edge on corners in the game.

But the No. 2 Tigers (14-4-1) made the most of their opportunities, converting on the few chances they had.

Hannah Tavella (20) tries to get to the ball first Sunday at Manhattanville. Skip Pearlman “We knew we came in as underdogs, and we used that for motivation,” PV’s Amanda DeChent said. “Once we scored, we got our confidence up… that was the theme for us this year.”

DeChent added that she felt the Tigers let up a little in OT because of the numbers. “In OT it’s 7 vs. 7, so it’s more difficult with less people… we didn’t know what to expect… I think we let down a little. I wasn’t like the first half.

“It is disappointing,” she added, “but I never expected to get this far. I didn’t feel like we’d be here. We thought we were in a re-building season, so we feel really good about getting to the final. Our whole team is new except for three or four seniors. We learned to play together this season.”

Erin McCrudden (10) of Putnam Valley pushes a goal past Bronxville keeper Katie Knox Sunday at Manhattanville College. Tigers coach Toniann Cortina recalled a poor showing in a pre-season scrimmage with the Broncos. “It was a nightmare,” she said. “I lost track after it was 6-0… I keep going back to that, and how much this team has progressed. They were fired up. We knew we were the underdog, and we knew Bronxville probably felt like they had it in the bag. So we wanted to come out strong and step it up. Bronxville had the ball most of the time, but we made the most of the opportunities we had.”

The great showing only made the loss harder to swallow.

“The hard part,” Cortina said, “was to see them work so hard for 60 minutes, then lose it in less than 60 seconds.”

Cortina pointed to the strong play of Erica Wharton, a center back who was the flier on corners. “With 16 corners, she did an awesome job on defense,” the coach said. “Our whole team came up with a great effort.”

Knox finished with nine saves for Bronxville, while Daley had seven for the Tigers.

DeChent had a hat-trick for the Tigers in their semifinal win over Valhalla (12-5) last Thursday night at Putnam Valley. Maria Rao also scored for PV, which led 3-0 at halftime.

Daley and Tori Ferraro combined on six saves in net for PV, while Valhalla’s Simone Santoro had six saves.

“Valhalla is definitely a strong team,” Cortina said. “But every opportunity we got, we capitalized on. We controlled the ball a lot more.”