By RUSSELL JONES
Otter Valley’s field hockey team has only dropped two games this year, one to Burr & Burton and one to Windsor, but they were pushed to the limit against Woodstock on Friday, Oct. 4, eking out a 4-3 overtime win.
Brittney Jackson got the Otters on the board first when Mackenzie McKay passed her the ball for an open shot just seven minutes into the game. But Woodstock’s Lily Gubbins and Norah Harper each scored a goal before the end of the half leaving Woodstock ahead, 2-1.
Gubbins scored again with seven minutes off the clock in the second half to give Woodstock a 3-1 lead, but OV senior Morgan LaPorte brought the Otters within one when she added a goal with 20 minutes remaining. But both offenses stalled as defense dominated the next 18 minutes.
Then, with only a minute and some change on the clock, OV’s Alia Edmunds sent a blast into the corner of the net to tie the game at 3-3, and send it into overtime.
After a tough back and forth overtime period, OV was awarded a penalty corner as time ran out, leaving them with one untimed chance to score. Edmunds sent a cross to Jackson on a weak side post position. Jackson then made a nice move to sneak it past Woodstock keeper Maggie Parker, to give the Otters a thrilling last-second victory.
Parker had 14 saves for the Wasps and keeper Ellie Ross had eight saves for OV.
The 7-2 Otters will take on Fair Haven on Tuesday, after The Reporter’s deadline.
