Riverhead’s field hockey season ends in Centereach 2-0

The Riverhead Blue Waves varsity field hockey season ended yesterday in Centereach in the first round of post-season play.

No. 7 seed Centereach defeated No. 10 Riverhead 2-0. Waves goalie Corinne Kimmelman had three saves, but gave up one goal in each half, and that was all Centereach needed.

“We had opportunities but couldn’t capitalize on them,” Waves Head Coach Cheryl Walsh said. “We struggled to put the ball in the cage.”

The Waves played hard and fought to the end, Walsh said. But things didn’t gel for the Waves.

“We all have to be at the top of our game in order to succeed,” Walsh said.

It was a tough loss for the Waves, who had the best season in memory. They had a strong second half, winning six of their last seven games.

“They were very driven,” the coach said. She cited Amanda Graziano and Christy Brewer as two key players all season.

The two-week hiatus, thanks to storm Sandy, was not helpful, Walsh said. The turf field at Centereach made it even harder. Turf fields are much faster and require a different stick skills, she said. The team practiced on various surfaces, such as the skate park and the high school track, to try to get ready for a turf game.

“Most of our losses this season were on turf,” Walsh said. “But we were pretty evenly matched and we thought we had a good chance. They played hard but we didn’t get the momentum.”

The Waves are losing six seniors next year — four of them are four-year varsity players. They have no goalie returning next year, Walsh said. “We’ll have a young team,” she said.

“I’m very proud of this team,” Walsh said. “They were such a family this year. As coaches we all try to make that happen. It’s not always easy. But this year, there was good leadership and they genuinely liked each other,” Walsh said. “The girls hung out together off the field. They’re a very special bunch of girls.”

RiverheadLOCAL photos courtesy of Diane Graziano

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