Back 2 Back: Titans repeat as Section IX champions

CRARYVILLE — The Taconic Hills Titans won their second consecutive Section IX Class C field hockey title on Wednesday when they beat Onteora, 6-0.

The Titans are now 2-for-2 on Section Championships in just their second year in Section IX.

This match started off at a fast pace, and the passing and defense played crisp in the first few minutes. The Titans scored their first goal of the game with 27:49 on the clock, off of a penalty corner, when Abigail Tkacy knocked it in thanks to an assist by Delana Bonci.

Each team’s defense did a great job of disrupting passing lanes and taking advantage of misplays. A few minutes later, a scramble for the ball in front of the cage was cleaned up by Tkacy, who seized the opportunity and scored her second goal after receiving an open pass by Sage Pulver.

Taconic Hills carried this 2-0 lead from the 23:22 mark all the way down to halftime as the rest of the first half was dominated by defense. Onteora was able to gain more possession time on the attack, but they were relentlessly stopped by the Titans’ defense,

The second half started in quite a different way than the first. Neither team could really hold possession for long or dribble down the field without the ball being taken away or a pass being blocked.

As they played on, Taconic Hills seemed to find their groove and pick up the pace. Tanner Van Alstyne and Sage Pulver each scored about three minutes apart from one another, thanks to back-to-back assists by Kirsten Shumsky. This doubled the Titans’ lead to 4-0 with 13:04 left, and they were not done yet.

Shumsky added a pair of goals to her pair of assists to round out an unbelievable performance by the defensive captain from Taconic Hills. Her first goal was assisted by Amelia Canetto and the second by Delana Bonci.

After the Titans’ sixth goal of the game, there was only 1:20 on the clock to run down in this Section IX Championship as they celebrated their 2nd title in a row.

Delana Bonci commented on the season’s achievements thus far.

“I’d have to say that our intensity grew throughout the season, and that our passing game developed insanely to come to sectionals, to keep carrying it, and the right mindset brought us here.”

Amelia Canetto felt that team chemistry was a major contributing factor as well.

“I think as the season went on and progressed we got closer as teammates and started playing a lot better.”

Kirsten Shumsky echoed that sentiment as well.

“I think our team has really worked well, we’ve come together as a family, and we are hard workers, and we never give up.”

More specifically, Coach Angela Webster was very proud of how her team continued to take advantage of scoring opportunities.

“I think this year our corners have just been well-timed, and have been absolutely beautiful, when you have great goals like our last three. And I think it shows how hard they’ve been working, and how much focus they’ve had all season, and it came together very nicely.

“It was amazing to see many TH teachers and students filling the stands to cheer us on. Even more amazing for our program to have two Class C Sectional titles in the 2 years that we have been part of Section IX.

After playing Onteora 2-1 in the regular season, we knew we had to come out strong. Scoring two goals in the first 7 minutes definitely helped calm our nerves. In the second half, we moved the ball a lot faster, setting up a sequence of passes that led to a few beautiful goals.”

Taconic Hills (14-3) advances to regional play and will take on the Section I champion on November 9 at Lakeland High School.