The discussion surrounding field hockey among Maryland public schools usually begins with Severna Park (Anne Arundel County) and Bethesda-Chevy Chase (Montgomery), which have won 15 and 13 state titles, respectively.
However, not far from that discussion is Fallston from Harford County. Fallston can be easily overlooked, but it is a school with nearly as many crowns in its trophy case. The Cougars were 7-1 following Monday?s 2-1 come-from-behind victory over county and Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference Chesapeake division rival North Harford.
Returning a core of 13 seniors, along with a hungry group of underclassmen from last year?s Class 3A finalist team, Fallston has a legitimate chance of capturing the school?s 10th overall state title and first since 2001. The Cougars built their case as title contenders this season by coming up with quality wins over Chesapeake-AA and IAAM A Conference contender Garrison Forrest.
“We won the county, conference and region last year, and I think for this group of girls anything less than at least repeating those feats would be a disappointment,” said Fallston coach Alice Puckett, who is in her 24th year at the school and has 296 career wins.
Puckett said one key to her team?s long-term success is its dedication to constantly improving individual stick work. Fallston displayed this skill against North Harford, as it aggressively pursued the ball after falling behind, 1-0, early in the second half. The Cougars then tied the game with a bullet from sophomore Lindsey Puckett, Alice?s daughter who has a team-high four goals, from the top of the scoring circle. The game-winner came a few minutes later when Gabby Antinozzi scored her first goal of the season. She also has four assists.
For seniors like forward Kathleen Tress (two goals, assist) and defender Natalie Rau, their entire field hockey careers were just a build-up to this season. They, along with many of the other seniors, have played on varsity for three years.
“We?ve been working all of high school to get to this point,” Tress said. “We saw what it was like to get to the state finals last year. This year, we want to win it.”
