By Bob Badders - Senior Writer
E-mail: badders@digitalsports.com



    MIDDLETOWN -- It's an old sports cliche' that always seems to be perfectly accurate: Put a team away when you have the chance or be prepared for something bad to happen.
    Middletown North had plenty of opportunities to bury rival Middletown South on Thursday, but could not convert. The Eagles, on the other hand, did not have a ton of scoring chances, but made sure their biggest one didn't go to waste.
    After being on the ropes for seemingly the entire game, Middletown South struck on a goal in the 47th minute by junior forward Allyson Segovia. Over the final 13 minutes, the Eagles' defense and goalie Katelyn Johnson held off wave after wave of Lions attackers and pulled the upset, 1-0, in a Shore Conference Class A North field hockey game. The Lions were ranked No. 7 in the DigitalSports Field Hockey Top 10.
    "It feels amazing, especially after losing a close one to Freehold Township (on Tuesday)," Johnson said. "The defense played absolutely amazing."
    "At first we were all a bit nervous but we had a really positive energy all day in school and we thought we would play well," Segovia said.
    Segovia's game-winning goal came after a free hit to the right of the Lions' net. Senior midfielder Megan Pierce then played the ball toward the goal and it found its way to the stick of junior forward Lauren Rabuffo. She then sent a pass across the goal mouth to a wide-open Segovia, who easily tapped it in for the game's only goal.
    "They (Middletown North) were trying to clear but she (Rabuffo) had an amazing hit and I was standing on the post and knocked it in," Segovia said.
    "I told them I wanted a goal in the first seven minutes (of the second half)," said Eagles head coach Sarah Boyce. "It took a little longer, but that's okay."
    The Lions had an 18-11 advantage in shots and had a territorial edge for the majority of the game. But the most lopsided stat was in penalty corners where the Lions had 20 and the Eagles had zero. Despite all those chances, Middletown North could not put one past Johnson. That was partly due to a lack of execution, but credit has to be given to the Eagles' defense and especially Johnson, who made a several key saves to keep the Lions off the scoreboard.
    "Defense won this game for us," Boyce said. "Katie Johnson made some great saves and my sweeper Kelly Scheurer did a great job. She plays with a lot of patience. We also worked on penalty corners a lot so we were ready."
    "Going into the first half I was really nervous, but once I made that split save I felt really good," Johnson said. "Every time we would get a clear off a penalty corner it gave us more confidence, and we knew we could get the ball out consistently."
    The key now for the Eagles is to keep the intensity up when they face Red Bank Catholic on Saturday, as the Caseys were upset on Thursday by Raritan. They want to make sure there is not a let down after such an emotional win.
    "Just like we had to put the loss to Freehold Township behind us we have to put this win behind us," Boyce said. "I don't want this to just be a quick emotional lift, I want this to be a springboard for us for the rest of the season. We have our confidence back and against RBC we have a chance to send a message that we're back on track."
    "Our game against Freehold Township was not our best game but I was really proud we were able to rebound and play well as a team in this game," Segovia said. "It's really important for us to play well against RBC and stay focused."
    While disappointed, the Lions (2-1), Class A North's two-time defending champions, can still come away knowing they had the better of the play. Still, that doesn't mean much if you cannot capitalize on opportunities.
    "We had 20 corners and they didn't have one, but we didn't get nearly as many shots on net as we needed to," said Lions head coach Bill LaFalce. "We had our chances and if we don't convert, we deserve the fate we were dealt. It's still early in the season, but it was an important game because we could have distanced ourselves from them. Now we just have to do it the hard way."


Box Score

Middletown South 1, No. 7 Middletown North 0

Midd. South 0 1 - 1
Midd. North 0 0 - 0

Scoring: Allyson Segovia (Lauren Rabuffo, Megan Pierce) 47'.
Saves: (MS) Katelyn Johnson 15; (MN) Destinie Garrity 3.
Shots: Middletown North 18-11.
Penalty corners: Middletown North 20-0.