Field Hockey: Menke, Reisz lift Upper Arlington over Columbus Academy
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
By Michael Rich
mrich@cbussports.com
Columbus Academy goalie Sydney Lesh blocks the shot of Upper Arlington’s Lily Reeve during the visiting Golden Bears’ 2-0 win Sept. 26. Photo: John Hulkenberg
In the midst of a particularly difficult part of its schedule, the Upper Arlington field hockey team needed a boost.
The Golden Bears got that jolt with a Haley Menke goal right before halftime that they parlayed into a 2-0 win at Columbus Academy on Sept. 26.
Third-ranked UA (9-0) lost to top-ranked New Albany 2-0 on Sept. 13 and fourth-ranked Watterson 2-0 on Sept. 20 sandwiched around a 2-1 win over seventh-ranked Dublin Coffman on Sept. 18.
“We were a bit nervous coming into this game,” junior Maddie Reisz said. “But this game does a lot for our confidence. (Menke’s goal) was awesome. It was a nice confidence boost and it relaxed us a lot going into the second half.”
Menke’s goal, which came with 6.9 seconds remaining in the first half, came in the midst of chaos. Chrystal Cao started the play, finding Sammie Callaghan on the left wing. Callaghan centered where Manke found it through traffic for the goal.
Academy controlled possession for large parts of the game, especially in the first and fourth quarters.
Columbus Academy’s Katie Neviaser (right) and Upper Arlington’s Kate Brennan compete during their match Sept. 26. Photo: John Hulkenberg
“Sometimes it just doesn’t fall your way,” Academy coach Jacque Demarco said. “A little bit of our youth showed today. They capitalized, for sure, on their opportunities and we just have to learn from it. We basically maintained possession the whole fourth quarter. We just couldn’t get the ball in the back of the net. I’ll give kudos to their defense. They played a good game against us.”
Lauren Golden and Bradyn Cassandra peppered a pair of shots on goal in the opening minute, which were stopped by UA goalie Elise Shieber, who had four saves in the opening period and finished with seven overall.
“This was a really good win for us,” said assistant coach Annie VonderBrink, who was coaching the game because of a work commitment by head coach Sara Greaves. “Having a solid win like this is going to help build our confidence as we finish out our season. Not only did we get this win, but we were able to roll in a lot of subs. We were able to trust everybody to get the job done.”
Columbus Academy’s Bebe Smith (right) and Upper Arlington’s Tori Larry go for the ball during the visiting Golden Bears’ 2-0 win Sept. 26. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Golden finished with three of the Vikings’ seven shots and Sydney Lesh stopped five shots in goal.
Reisz put the game out of reach with a one-touch shot from the circle off a Lily Reeve penalty corner with 5:17 remaining in the third period.
“Sometimes it takes a (while) to figure out which corners are going to work against a certain team,” Reisz said. “I think we figured out (that we needed) to get quick shots off (against Academy). We ended up taking three of our corners as a straight shot and that one just went in.”
The Vikings are young with only four seniors on the roster. Demarco said there is a lot to learn from this game.
“I don’t think we played as a full team to the best of our potential,” she said. “I think that’s just a very big learning moment for our kiddos. We’re just young on the field. They tried to adjust, but they didn’t adjust in the way that they usually do and they didn’t adjust as quickly as they usually do. We just have to get back after it tomorrow.”