BY TIM TAYLORValley Sports Report
OWEGO - SVEC scored two first-quarter goals, then matched Tioga in the fourth quarter to post a 4-2 Section IV Division 3 field hockey victory here Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers arrived without a full line-up due to various reasons, while the Eagles had JV coach Stacy Quinn filling in for varsity coach Abby Gentile.
"She (Gentile) is out of town, but we work as a team a lot, so we're usually on the same page," Quinn said. "We've both been working with them since youth, and they've been working together since youth, so they do a very good job communicating, filing in where they need to be."
The Eagles' Taya Sousa scored 15 seconds apart in the first quarter to grab a 2-0 lead, the initial goal coming on a pass from Rhiana Lawrence with 2:46 on the clock. The second was unassisted.
"I thought we were coming in with 10, then this morning I found out nine, then we got eight," Tioga coach Jodi Riggs said. An injury to a player during the game caused the drop to eight players. "We did all right. I'm proud."
The Tigers have one player on COVID-19 quarantine and two others out due to medical issues.
Despite missing players, Tioga's defense stiffened until SVEC's Adriana Newman scored unassisted with 13:03 left in the game for a 3-0 advantage.
As the clock ticked down under 11 minutes, a flurry of goals would ensue, two by Tiger standout Olivia Ayres. She scored unassisted at 10:41 and again at 9:47.
"This is a nice turf," Riggs said. "She likes this turf."
In between, the Eagles tacked on an insurance goal Olivia Devlen tallied on a feed from Lawrence
"We did very well," Quinn said. "We had a lot of nice passes. Good communication, especially in the second half."
Tioga (0-4) hosts Moravia at Tioga Monday while SVEC (3-1) plays Marathon Tuesday at Vestal.
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IN PHOTO 1: Tioga's Olivia Ayres. ... PHOTOS BY DAVID ALLIGER - TRAVELING PORTRAITS.
