Belmont Field Hockey Drains SpyPonders, 3-1

One down, two to go.

Belmont High School's field hockey took one step closer to the post season as beautiful goals was paired with a solid defense to defeat Arlington High School, 3-1, Friday afternoon, Oct. 12, at Harris Field.

The victory gives the Marauders a winning record (7-6) for the first time since they were 4-3 and leaves them two wins away – with five games remaining – from a certain playoff selection.

After giving up an early goal to the SpyPonders' senior Meghan Wiseman in the second minute, Belmont began taking control of the game though the strength of its experienced back line defenders of Maddy Devine, Kendal Brown and Sydney Perkins. And example of the group's prowess was Arlington's inability to get a shot on goal from the three penalty corners they had in the second half as Devine blocked two of the attempts.

While Belmont has not been a prolific scoring team, the three the Marauders scored were stylish. Belmont tied the score with six minutes remaining in the first half after Natalie Alper just beat an Arlington player to the ball, quickly passing the ball to Michele Hayner who took the ball to the corner before sending a picture-perfect pass to Haley Fay who knocked the ball int the back of the net.

Less than two minutes later, Catherine Noone rocketed a shot from just inside the 18-yard scoring circle that found the back of the net which the referees reviewed before allowing the score.

Belmont's final score happened at the end of a five-pass combination when Carolyn Casey slotted the ball into the net with seven minutes remaining in the game.