Greenwich Academy field hockey coach Jamie Brower knows her team has the potential to be highly productive on penalty corners and Tuesday against Rye Country Day School that strengths certainly surfaced.

Four goals off penalty corners resulted in one more decisive win for Greenwich Academy, which continued its undefeated season with a 4-0 win over FAA opponent Rye Country Day School at Tammaro Field. The victory was the seventh straight for the Gators, who then won their eighth consecutive match when it doubled-up FAA foe Greens Farms Academy at home, 4-2.

Overall, GA has a record of 11-0-1, going into Tuesday’s road game against longtime neighborhood rival Sacred Heart Greenwich. In the FAA, Greenwich Academy sports a 5-0 mark. Against Rye Country Day on Tuesday (Oct. 8), the Gators scored four goals courtesy of penalty corners.

“Our penalty corners have been pretty good, we need to keep working on them,” Brower said. “We have some good options around the circle for our attack corners. If we keep working on those and getting those firmed up, they can be a positive piece of our game.”

Senior defender/captain Isa Packard recorded one goal and two assists, while senior forward/midfielder Lavinia Cartellieri, also a captain, registered a goal to help pace Greenwich Academy past RCDS. Junior forward Quinn Leahy and junior midfielder Georgia Schmitz also had a goal for the Gators, who generated 16 shot on goal, while drawing 11 penalty corners. Schmitz assisted on a pair of goals as well in the winning effort.

GA has displayed consistency and effectiveness on both ends of the field throughout the season.

“We’re doing really well, there’s good competition though and we’re just taking it day-by-day,” Packard said. “Every gives us a good, competitive game each day.”

Cartellieri notices the communication, camaraderie and chemistry the team has built.

“Probably half of our team is young, so we’ve really integrated them well,” Cartellieri said. “We’ve had team dinners; everyone is having a blast. We’ve been together since the preseason, so this is going into our second month and so far, it’s been really fun.”

Both Cartellieri and Packard have had older sisters play field hockey at Greenwich Academy and they’re keeping their respective families’ field hockey tradition going.

“For me, I’ve watched my sister grow and we’ve had so many captains before us and we’ve learned from them,” Cartellieri noted. “So, it’s been fun to be the ones looked upon and teach them what we’ve learned.”

Following a scoreless first quarter against Rye Country Day, Greenwich Academy took a 1-0 lead with 4:51 remaining in the second quarter. Positioned at the post, Packard got her stick on a rebound off a shot by junior midfielder/forward Georgia Schmitz and knocked it into the goal off a penalty corner, making it 1-0.

The next goal came at the 3:18 mark of the second quarter. This time, Schmitz scored off a rebound on a penalty corner, with the assist going to Packard, putting GA ahead, 2-0.

Brower was pleased with GA’s overall passing and ball movement/distribution.

“This was some of our better passing,” Brower said. “We’ve been trying to work on our passing game. I thought they were seeing the passes they needed to make.”

“Rye did an excellent job of putting pressure on us, they were really good at stepping it up, so we had to adjust,” Brower continued. “I thought that everyone that got into the game adjusted and we did a pretty good job of doing what they needed to do to make the passing game work.”

Cartellieri extended GA’s advantage to 3-0 on RCDS, scoring off a penalty corner with 8:46 to go in the third quarter. Packard assisted on the Gators’ third tally. With 1:08 left in the third quarter, Leahy tallied off an assist from Schmitz on yet another penalty corner.

“RCDS did a really good job of blocking it up and stepping up to the balls as well, but I think we did a good job of communicating with one another and trying to get if finished and putting it into the goal.,” Packard noted.

Senior goalie Persia Shipman earned another shutout win for GA, which has blanked seven opponents so far this season.

“I really enjoy being on defense and it’s really nice playing against a good, competitive team such as RCDS and Sacred Heart coming up,” Packard said. “We’re looking forward to those teams.”

Brower noted that GA’s forward line of Leahy, sophomore Emily Rizzi and freshman Cordelia Blanc have generated a good number of goals during the season. Cartellieri is always a scoring threat in the midfield, while Packard, junior Mallory Walker and senior Katie Barr have been among some of the squad’s defensive standouts.

On Thursday (Oct. 10), kept its unbeaten season going with a tough 4-2 win versus Greens Farms Academy. Brower is encouraged by her squad’s teamwork and how well the first-season varsity athletes have fit in.

“We had a good preseason, we’ve got some young kids on the team this year, we lost (graduated) four seniors from last year at some pretty important positions,” she noted. “The returners have stepped up and the new kids are getting on board and working at a rate that’s expected on the team.”

“I think our weekend that we went to Pennsylvania for the Max Field Hockey Invitational was a really great weekend for us,” Brower continued. “Field hockey wise, we played really well and I think it was a turning point for our team and the culture and the bonding. It was a good weekend for us.”

Greenwich Academy visits Sacred Heart Greenwich Tuesday at 4 p.m., as they programs continue their rivalry.

“Tuesday, we have Sacred Heart on the blue field, which should be fun,” Cartellieri said.

Greenwich Academy’s captains discussed some of the team’s goals.

“Maintaining a good, positive attitude both on and off the field and putting as much effort as we can during practice and during warm-ups also, because that can pay off during each game that we play,” Packard said.

“Our goal is to stay undefeated for as long as possible, so far so good, we’ve done that well,” Cartellieri added. “We definitely want to get a trophy by the end of the season.”