West Hartford’s Conard and Hall high school field hockey teams faced off Thursday night, with Conard winning 3-0.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

As one of only two CCC field hockey teams ranked in the top 10 in Class L this season, the Conard Red Wolves have shown they belong.

This year’s club has just two losses – and has not lost in a month with one more game to play. Hall is the only other CCC team ranked in the Class L field hockey top 20, coming in at No. 17. The Titans finished the regular season at 9-7 and will be in the state tournament.

Thursday’s game on what turned into a chilly fall evening drew a large crowd, and the two teams did not disappoint. Conard rang a shot off the post early in the first, and Hall countered 90 seconds later with Caroline Saulsbury getting off a shot that went just wide of a corner. Berkeley Hess nearly got the first goal with just 2:20 to go when she hit the side of the goal after a long possession by the Red Wolves.

Much of the first half was played in the midfield area as the two teams battled for possession and control of the game. With just over four minutes to play, Conard applied strong offensive pressure and picked up three straight corners. On the third corner, Conard’s first shot hit a collection of players, and senior Kathryn Riberov was there to pounce on the ball and beat Hall goalie Corinn Fabas.

The hosts kept up the pressure forcing Fabas to turn in some good saves, but with 1:01 to go it was Freja Morris finding the back of the cage for the 2-0 lead.

“Our focus was to be strong from the beginning,” said Conard head coach Sara Whitmer. “We came out fast and played fast from the start.”

Hall came out strong in the second half, but the Conard defense led by Alexis Nguyen, Claire Flynn, and Fiona Campbell managed to keep them at bay with strong stick skills. Just over halfway in, Brigette Murphy had one of Hall’s best chances to score in the game. Her stick work let her get open for a shot that Annabelle Doyle had to kick clear.

As Hall kept up the pressure, Conard was able to capitalize on a great solo effort by Gianni Smith. With under a minute to play, Smith raced to a through ball, splitting a pair of defenders in the process. From about 40 yards out she raced in on goal, shielding off Hall defenders and got off a shot against Fabas as the goalie came out to cut the angle. It beat the goalie as Smith, Fabas, and two Hall defenders all ended up about 5 yards out from the goal as the ball went in, making it 3-0.

The Titans were not about to give up though, and went on a long possession just under halfway through the final quarter. Josie Carey started things for Hall, making a dangerous run on goal, but Campbell and company were there to shut her down.

“Our defense has been together now for two seasons and I thought Fiona Campbell was really good tonight,” Whitmer said.

Hall had another chance on a corner but could not convert, then again with 5:28 to go Dolan had to make her best save of the game with a kick save that clear the ball from danger.

The two teams kept up a good pace throughout the final minutes, but in the end it was Conard celebrating the victory. Whitmer praised her team’s efforts not only in this game but all season long.

“They have a great work ethic. The players did a lot of work in the off season,” she said. She also said the depth of her team allows her to make substitutions to get players a breath and to give her different options during the games.

Conard had already clinched the regular season CCC West title and there is no conference tournament. This year the CIAC decided to change how it ranks and seeds teams, invoking a strength of schedule component which has favored shoreline teams. Five of the teams ranked ahead of the Red Wolves in Class L have fewer wins but are ranked higher based on their schedule strength. Those same factors will weigh into seedings for the Class L tournament when they are released later this month.

Hall’s regular season ended Thursday. Conard will finish its regular season Monday night at 6:30 p.m. when it hosts Canton on Senior Night.

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