West Deptford Field Hockey Blanked By Bulldawgs

The West Deptford field hockey team had this date on the calendar circled.

After nearly running Overbrook High School off the field on Monday after a 9-0 shellacking, the Eagles took the field just moments after the final whistle to stay sharp for their showdown with the Haddonfield Bulldawgs, who denied them a Group II title last season.

The extra practices were put in, and the Eagles were ready.

Unfortunately, so was Haddonfield.

The Eagles allowed their first two goals of the season in the first half, and that’s all the Haddonfield Bulldawgs would need, as they defeated West Deptford, 2-0, at Friday afternoon.

After outscoring their opponents 24-0 through the first three games of the season, the Eagles finally let one slip into the cage, as Haddonfield's Carolynn Clark scored the first goal, rocketing the ball past West Deptford goaltender Dahlia VanDorick.

The Bulldawgs scored their insurance goal during a scramble in front of the net, as Ali Kirk put the second goal home with just two minutes remaining in the first half.

Haddonfield goaltender Maura Trotman had five saves in her shutout of West Deptford.

The Eagles came out strong in the second half, but could never find the back of the net, clanking two shots off the iron during the course of the game.

“I think that we played a much better second half than we did first half,” Eagles head coach Linda Decker said after the game. “I think (Haddonfield) came out a lot stronger than we did in the first 10 minutes.”

For one, the Eagles put a lot more offensive pressure on the Bulldawgs than they did in the first half. It may not have shown up in shot totals–the Eagles had just two shots in the first half and three in the second half–but the West Deptford kept the Haddonfield defense on their toes for those final thirty minutes.

“I think they felt more comfortable,” Decker said. “This is the first team that we’ve come up against in a game of this competitive nature. I think we adjusted well, but we certainly have to work a lot harder.”

Rachel Krott, one of the three captains on the West Deptford squad, was proud of how her team competed, even if it resulted in the team’s first loss of the season.

“We definitely kept playing hard, I think we played very well,” Krott said. “It just wasn’t our day today.”

Coach Decker echoed those sentiments, as it just seemed like luck wasn’t on the Eagles side on Friday.

“I think they played hard, I think they played with courage,” she said. “We just weren’t lucky today. We had the shots, they just didn’t go in.”

The Eagles next host Paulsboro High School Monday afternoon at 3:45.