Defending FAA Field Hockey Tournament champion Sacred Heart Greenwich is on pace to experience another standout season, while Greenwich Country Day School is making significant strides in the highly competitive league and the neighborhood teams tested their skills against each other in a mid-season regular season matchup on Oct. 1.

Displaying their depth, experience and championship pedigree, Sacred Heart Greenwich scored four first-half goals on its way to maintaining its perfect record in the FAA, earning a 5-1 victory in summerlike weather conditions at Magnetti Field.

The win improved Sacred Heart’s FAA record to 5-0. The Tigers of Sacred Heart sport an overall mark of 8-1-1, their lone loss coming at the Max High School High School Invitational Tournament. The Tigers of Greenwich Country Day are 4-4 in the FAA and are working their way up the ladder of success in the conference. In this matchup, Sacred Heart’s youngest player, Joanna Eken scored two goals to help propel the offense.

Kingley Ely, a sophomore, Hollis Koch and Whitney Rousseau registered one goal apiece to add to Sacred Heart’s winning effort.

“I feel like we’re getting strong at passing and playing as a team,” said SHG senior captain Casey Smith, who helped lead the victors’ stellar defensive play. “We had a variety of players scoring and that’s what we worked on in practice this week.”

Sacred Heart’s victories in the FAA have come against School of the Holy Child, Hopkins School, King School, Rye Country Day and GCDS. They have outscored their FAA foes 27-1 in the process.

“We still have a lot of things to work on, but I’m excited and happy for the girls for earning this victory,” SHG coach Alex Gheorghe said following the team’s win vs. GCDS.

Freshman Lillian Pickett scored Greenwich Country Day’s goal against Sacred Heart with her tally coming in the fourth quarter. The Tigers of GCDS have defeated league opponents Holy Child and Hopkins, with other victories coming against Canterbury School and Hackley School.

“This is a new position for me, so I’m getting to know the girls, getting to know the program,” GCDS first-season coach Clara Ambrose said after GCDS’ matchup versus SHG. “I think that the progress that they made from the first day of preseason to know is pretty remarkable.”

Ambrose coaches with Gheorghe at AGH Field Hockey Club. Gheorghe is the Founder and Head Coach/Head of Program of AGH Field Hockey Club and Ambrose Head of Operations and a co-Founder of AGH.

Eken began the game’s scoring, giving SHG a 1-0 lead on GCDS with a goal with 4:18 remaining in the first quarter. Ely made it 2-0 in favor of the Tigers of SHG, scoring 18 seconds into the second quarter.

With 4:58 left in the second period, Koch scored off an assist from Xan Collins, putting the hosts ahead, 3-0. Rousseau, who is also one of Sacred Heart’s leading goal scorers of the season, concluded Sacred Heart’s scoring in the opening half, tallying at the 3:05 mark of the second quarter, making it 4-0.

Eken capped Sacred Heart’s offensive surge with 12:52 to go in the third quarter, giving the home team a 5-0 lead on Greenwich Country Day.

Pickett’s goal came in the fourth quarter, providing a highlight for GCDS. Liv Starr earned another victory in goal for Sacred Heart. Chloe Morris made several standout saves in goal for Greenwich Country Day, who were also paced throughout the game by senior Devon Anderson and sophomore Jane Loverro.

“We have a small program, so we’re building,” Ambrose noted. “We’re taking each day and working on basics. I’m really proud of how our team has improved since the preseason and the beginning of the season.”

Sacred Heart visits Loomis Chaffee School on Oct. 8th, then travels to Hotchkiss School on Oct. 10th. SHG visits Greenwich Academy for a much-anticipated showdown on Oct. 15th.

“In practice we worked on ball movement and staying composed and we showed that on the field,” Sacred Heart captain/forward Elle Corcoran said after her squad’s win over GCDS. “Transitioning on the sides was one of our strengths. We did a good job of passing instead of just dribbling. We are doing well, but I still feel like we have a lot more room to improve and we’re still getting better every day.”

For the season, SHG has yielded only eight goals through nine games.

“We have a strong defensive line and a lot of players who are strong on defense,” Smith noted.

Greenwich Country Day is back in FAA action when it hosts Hamden Hall Country Day School on Oct. 7 and plays hosts to Masters School (Oct. 9) and Immaculate High School (Oct. 11, non-league foe).

In a recent 3-0 win against Rye Country Day School at Magnetti Field, Sacred Heart received one goal each from Eken, Rousseau and Corcoran. Eken and Rousseau had one assist apiece and Starr made three saves for the victors.