Field Hockey: Montville falls

Montville Falls to Millburn, 2-0

In Montville, the Mustangs fell behind early on a fluke goal and could not recover as they lost to the Millers, 2-0 under the lights. Montville controlled the tempo of the game but could not find the back of the cage.

Millburn took the lead with 27:12 in the half on a goal by Katie Huang. This came off a free hit as Huang managed to get the orange ball across the goal line despite the chaos in front of the net. Montville counterattacked up the right side of the field lead by defender Jaclyn Todisco and midfielder Cassandra Colangelo, but Montville’s inability to score from either a corner or a free hit prevented an equalizer.

In the second half, Montville continued to pressure up the left, lead by Kim Armbruster and Nicole Holzberg, but the Mustangs could not capitalize. Despite for offense Coach Mulvaney switched out center defender Vanessa Koodray for an extra attacker but that strategy failed as Millburn added another goal. This time Millburn scored again on the free hit this time by Lucy Johnson. That goal with 6:27 left in the game sealed the Mustangs fate. Montville’s last hurrah came with three minutes to go as Nicole Cemelli sent a free hit towards the goalmouth but the shot was brushed away by the Millburn keeper.

This lost puts Montville at 2-5-2 with only four games left before the cutoff for the state playoffs. The Mustang field hockey team lead by Coach Mulvaney have made the playoffs the past 9 years, and the Mustangs need to win all their games to qualify including Thursday’s game with #6 ranked Madison.

by Andrew Sidebottom for MCHSS.net