LEBANON — It might not seem significant that the Lebanon High field hockey team picked up its fourth win of the season at home on Tuesday, blanking Kingswood 3-0. But the victory suggests a Raiders program on the rise, matching their win total from all of last season.
During a contest in which Lebanon head coach Amanda Valliere acknowledged her squad was sloppy at times early, the Raiders (4-4-0) buckled down in the second half to build on an early lead and lock down the victory.
“I was really proud of them for how they stayed composed and then mentally remained in the game in the third quarter and then especially into the fourth quarter,” she said.
Senior Claire Kelly led the way for Lebanon, scoring twice. Freshman Claire Swope also had a strong offensive day, scoring once and adding an assist; senior Summer
Crowell and sophomore Paisley Rancourt each added an assist as well. Senior Taylor
Youngman had five saves in goal on the afternoon.
“As a team, we did amazing,” Kelly said. “We just came through; we rose to the occasion. This is a 50-50 game for us, and we stepped to it — we did really well.”
Valliere pointed to aligning and building up middle school and youth field hockey in Lebanon as a factor in the program’s progress this season.
The Raiders’ head coach said this incoming freshman class was the largest in about six years and indicated that numbers at the younger levels are good.
“Youth field hockey in Lebanon is pretty strong. We’ve been working really hard on that for the last five years, and I think you’re then starting to see the fruits of some of that labor as we have more kids coming in to play the sport,” Valliere said.
“When you’ve got more kids, then it kind of raises the bar of competition, right? Kids are like, ‘Oh, is my spot going to get taken? Like, I have to step up,’ ” she added.
Valliere also credited her senior class as Lebanon looks to keep growing from last year.
“There are four seniors on this team, and they all have such uniquely strong personalities that complement each other really well, so I think their leadership gives the team a really nice shape,” she said.
Two members of that senior class got things started for the Raiders. Just over halfway through the first quarter, Crowell fired a pass from the right side of the field to Kelly, who was waiting on the back post to finish the delivery and put Lebanon up 1-0.
That goal was the only score of the first half, but the Knights battled for the rest of the first and especially in the second quarter.
In the second frame, Kingswood pressured early and had some chances but couldn’t convert, failing to capitalize on an open net and ringing a post during the period.
At the break, Valliere said the Raiders admitted they weren’t mentally engaged. But in the second half, Lebanon came out, as Kelly said, “crispy.”
“That’s what we say: we have our passes crispy; we keep our movement strong. No matter what the other team does, we focus on what we can do and our hustle, and that I think helped secure our win today,” the senior defender said.
The Raiders wasted little time in the second half, taking advantage of a penalty corner and extending their lead about two minutes into the third quarter on Kelly’s second goal, set up by Swope.
Lebanon kept the pressure on in the third frame and drew six corners, pressuring the Knights for most of the 15 minutes. Kingswood tried to cut into the deficit in the final 15 minutes, drawing multiple corners in a row early in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get one past Youngman.
With around five minutes remaining in the contest, Lebanon added its third goal on what looked like an ice hockey tip by Swope on a ball sent in by Rancourt to go up 3-0 and lock down the win.
“To have, in the middle of field hockey season, my senior year already be up to the wins that we had last year — I think that’s great,” Kelly said.
“Our team is really amazing, and we’re all so close-knit, and we just have a great environment, great everything, and we can just bring it on the field,” she added.
Lebanon visits ConVal on Thursday for a 4 p.m. contest.
