The Sacred Heart Greenwich field hockey team put forth a impressive performances in their first two games at the ultra-competitive Max Field Hockey High School National Invitational in Pennsylvania, losing two close games.

The Tigers were edged by St. John’s School from Texas in the first game they played in the tournament, which features some of the premier teams in the nation. St. John’s held on to defeat Sacred Heart, 3-2, in overtime. Ines Araujo and Delfina Gonzalez Lobo each had goals for the Tigers, who like St. John’s drew six penalty corners.

Helena Randolph made four saves in goal for Sacred Heart.

“We met a very strong team, which was very fast in transition,” Sacred Heart coach Alex Gheorghe said. “It took us some time to adjust with the speed of the game and that cost us two goals. We worked really hard to get back into the game, unfortunately we came up short in the overtime play.”

Against Academy of Notre Dame de Namur from Pennsylvania, Sacred Heart lost a tight 2-1 matchup. Erin Griffin tallied for the Tigers (4-2). Sacred Heart was on the attack throughout, earning 12 penalty corners, compared to just three for Academy of Notre Dame. Randolph made two saves.

“Overall, we played pretty well,” Gheorghe said. “We couldn’t convert on our penalty corners, in a tough game it’s a lesson learned when you don’t score at the right time. The opponents took advantage. We are looking forward to our last tournament game (today). It will be difficult, but we will try our best.”