Field hockey: Cox wins Eastern Region

VIRGINIA BEACH

In a couple of brief moments, Cox grabbed momentum and never relented in Friday’s Eastern Region field hockey final at the National Training Center.

With the Falcons leading 1-0, Kelsey Rosenmeier and Casey DiNardo scored in the final two minutes before halftime to power the Beach District’s top seed to a 4-1 victory over Southeastern No. 1 seed Lakeland.

“Those goals were very important,” Rosenmeier said. “It’s difficult to finish a half at 1-0 because the other team still feels they’re in it. It gave us more confidence going into the second half. We came out fired up and ready to win.”

Due to a change in the tournament format, a home game in the state tournament was on the line in the region finals. So Cox (23-0), which won its fourth straight championship, will host Central Region runner-up Cosby in Tuesday’s Group AAA state tournament quarterfinals.

The Cavaliers (19-2) will go on the road to face Central Region winner Thomas Dale.

“We didn’t want to have to travel,” Cox coach Julie Swain said.

The Falcons started quickly. Rosenmeier fed a pass to Cara Witte for the opening goal just seven minutes in.

“We love scoring at the beginning,” DiNardo said. “It allows us to calm down. We start off with great intensity and pace off that.”

Though Cox kept up the pressure, the Cavaliers appeared poised to go into the break just a goal down.

But the Falcons took advantage on a penalty corner and doubled their lead when Rosenmeier knocked a rebound past Lakeland keeper Marissa Betkowski.

Less than a minute later, Taylor Rhea weaved through the defense and hit a slow-roller toward the right post. DiNardo pounced on the ball and poked it in to put her team up 3-0.

“(Swain) called a timeout and we heard her tell her team she wanted them to score before the half,” Lakeland coach Tara Worley said. “They broke us down defensively in the circle and we were unable to organize quick enough.”

The Cavaliers broke through with 18 minutes remaining when Kendall Combs deflected in a blast from the right side of the circle from Jennifer Hedrick.

Three minutes later, Cox regained its three-goal lead. Susie Bousquet smacked a ball toward the cage.

Betkowski appeared to be screened by her own defender and the ball rolled between the legs of both players and into the goal.

“The difference was just finishing,” Worley said. “Cox doesn’t make a whole lot of mistakes and they took advantage of their opportunities.”

Darrell Cuenca, (757) 446-2366, darrell.cuenca@pilotonline.com

Eastern Region final

Cox 4, Lakeland 1

G—C, Witte, Rosenmeier, DiNardo, Bousquet; L, Combs.

TCIS final

Norfolk Academy 3, Bishop Sullivan 2, OT

G—NA, Hirschler 2; CH, Sicard, Llewellyn.

The Bulldogs win in the second round of strokes as Riley Tata and Shannon Hirschler score. NA goalkeeper Lydia Nichols makes 12 saves and is the defensive MVP.