Finally for Bel Air field hockey

Bel Air High’s field hockey team has been without a win against North Harford in their last five meetings, but that was rewritten Tuesday evening when the host and No. 20 Bobcats upended the No. 11 Hawks, 1-0, in a battle of unbeatens..

“We played very well today,” Bobcats head coach Phyliss Hemmes said.  “There was a lot of talking, a lot of ball movement, and I think we played a very nice team-game today.”

That ball movement was highlighted with 7 minutes, 44 seconds left in the first half, when Bel Air junior Emily Gryglewski made a perfect pass through traffic to senior teammate Abby Dempsey for the lone goal of the game.

“It was a corner, and Emily was on the right,” Dempsey said. “She dished it to me on the left, and I just pushed it in.  It was
right where we wanted it to be.”

Bel Air (6-0 overall) and North Harford (3-1) each had just three corners in the first half.

Coming out in the second half with a one-goal deficit, the Hawks piled the pressure on the Bel Air defense. North Harford earned several corners in the first eight minutes and seeing a shot from Rebecca Rinaca run just right in front of the Bobcat goal. Despite being outnumbered in second half corners, 9-4,  Bel Air withstood every offensive attack and held off a last second North
Harford corner for the victory.

“We just tried to do as best we could,” Bobcat senior defender Ali Petrone said.  “We hustled back to the ball, kept our sticks low and

down to the ball, stayed aggressive and just tried to keep up with them and it worked out for us.”

Bel Air senior keeper Rachelle Ciulla totaled three saves in the game, matching North Harford goalie Beth Genevese.

“The defense stepped up when they needed to and the attack was there when we needed the goal,” Hemmes said.  “It was a full team game today.”

Hemmes was pleased to end the streak against North Harford, but the Bobcats will need to continue building on the win to remain successful.

“We have Harford Tech [next], and they only lost to [No. 7] Fallston 2-0, so even though it is Harford Tech, I’m sure they have some nice girls playing over there, Hemmes said. “We are going to have to keep on our toes for that, and we have [No.
18] C. Milton and Rising Sun next week, so that is again something to build on and keep pushing our skills to get the wins.”

Bel Air’s showdown with Harford Tech is Friday, while North Harford returns to play Monday with a non-league match with Maryvale Prep.