Sacred Heart Greenwich field hockey team begins season with two decisive victories

By David Fierro on September 17, 2023 • ( Leave a comment )

Photo by David Fierro: From left to right, Sacred Heart Greenwich senior captains Charly Nemec, Payton Sfreddo and Emma Marvin helped lead their varsity field hockey team to wins against School of the Holy Child and Kent School.

The 2023 season began in successful fashion for the Sacred Heart Greenwich varsity field hockey team.

The Tigers rolled to a 7-0 home win over School of the Holy Child on Tuesday, then earned a 5-2 victory on the road against Kent School on Saturday.

In Sacred Heart’s season-opening triumph against Holy Child, senior tri-captain Charly Nemec scored two goals to pace the team’s offense. Nemec also assisted on two goals. She scored the game’s first goal off a penalty corner with 14:10 remaining in the first half.

Elle Corcoran gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead, scoring off an assist from Nemec at the 8:05 mark of the first half. With 1:45 to go in the opening half, Nemec converted her second goal off a penalty corner, making it 3-0. Payton Sfreddo, a senior captain, capped Sacred Heart’s opening-half scoring, tallying off an assist from Whitney Rousseau with 43 seconds to go.

Rousseau, Kingsley Ely and Lauren Clark each had goals in the second half for SHG.

“We were very excited to start the season at home,” Sacred Heart coach Alex Gheorghe said. “It is always good to start off with a win. We will continue to build from here.”

Saturday saw the Tigers top Kent School in impressive fashion. Sfreddo scored with 10:25 left in the first quarter, giving SHG a 1-0 lead. With 8:58 to go in the second quarter, Whitney Rousseau scored, with the assist going to senior tri-captain Emma Marvin, putting the Tigers on top, 2-0.

Nemec added a first-half goal, extending the Tigers’ edge to 3-0. A goal by Kent’s Morgan Clarke brought Kent to within 3-1 at halftime. Sfreddo tallied and Nemec registered two goals in the third quarter, upping Sacred Heart’s advantage to 6-1. Clarke notched a goal in the final quarter for the Lions.

Teresa Harkins made two saves for Sacred Heart, which had a 17-3 advantage on penalty corners against Kent.

“Today, we faced a tough game on the road against a tough boarding school opponent,” Gheorghe said. “We capitalized early on penalty corners, which gave us an advantage. We are now preparing for our next opponent, Hopkins.”