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2021 Spring Tournament Re-Cap

By Benjamin Peters, 07/13/21, 2:45PM EDT

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2021 Spring Season Re-Cap

Hello Venom Family!

 

After the weekend’s Spooky Nook tournament, the 2021 Spring season is a wrap! After missing the 2020 Spring season we fired up our outdoor sticks ready for the new challenges that were to come in 2021. For the first time we had enough interest to support a two location season to accommodate our new schedules as the world is opening up again. On May 29th we travelled to Spooky Nook Sports in Lancaster, Pa. After a really quick shuffle up playing a day later in boh tournaments we had to scramble and make teams. Over the past year we have all gotten used to quickly changing plans and took it in our stride as we got back to playing competitive spring hockey.

Over a long wet day going from going inside the dome to the long turf we came away with a solid plan to outline the rest of the season. U14’s jumped into their first set of games with great enthusiasm and held their own by only losing the first game by the scores of 0-2 & 1-3 before they tied their third game 1-1 against the hosts Spooky Nook. The momentum swung in the U14’s favor and in the 3rd/4th playoff game. The team got the shutout and a goal to their name to take 3rd place in their first tournament with an overall record of 1W-2L-1T. U16 White came out of the gate with a 3-2 victory but then dropped the second game 0-3. After rallying in the 3rd to tie Bison FHC 1-1 the 4th and final game was against PA United which was a battle with U16 White holding out until the last minutes until one got through the defense. After dropping the last game 0-1 U16 White finished in 3rd place with a record of 0W-3L-1T. U16 White/Blue had double duty being entered into both U16 & U19 tournaments. The first section of the day started well in the U19 division winning the first 3-0 leading up a nice run of three wins in a row beating Hammers (3-1) & Tigers (2-1) with goals from Anna Drum, Bella Arnold & Abby Hershberger (3) leading into a true final against Bison FHC. The game started well for Venom going up a goal from Bella Arnold but the onslaught of Penalty Corners against proved too much and the Bison attack put one in to force the tie and ultimately earning the Tournament win on goal differential handing Venom the 2nd place with a record of 3W-0L-1T. With absolutely no break the team transitioned into their U16 Tournament. With a first game match-up against the host’s the game was back and forth but ended in a 2-2 tie with both of our goals getting the finishing touch by Bella Arnold. The fatigue set in going into their 6th game of the day as they dropped it 0-6 to PA United Navy. The score lines tightened up after that as the next team up was PA United’s Pink team but ultimately dropped the 7th game 0-2. Going into the last game of the day it was a battle for 3rd place against PA United Pink again. Anna Drum got one in but the team couldn't hold on to the lead and settled for 4th place losing 1-2. The U19’s were last in the day heading up against Nook Green first. A good back and forth but no finishing touches in our favour as we dropped the first one 0-2. A quick turnaround against the host’s second team Nook White was a better affair with Venom controlling the flow of the game. Winning the game 4-1 with goals flowing from good teamwork and communication led into a final game with the formidable D.C club Metro HC. It was a good battle but letting 2 past in the Venom cage and no offensive touches the other way handed the Venom U19’s a 0-2 loss. A 3rd/4th place playoff against Metro HC again was on the docket. With the benefit of just playing them it was a much closer contest. A few shots that went wide and some amazing saves from goalkeeper Jordan Ashbaugh kept them to only one goal against but with not enough offensive pressure handed the U19 Blue team a 4th place finish after a 0-1 loss in the playoffs.

Last weekend we returned to Spooky Nook to end our Spring Season in tournament fashion for an all in the dome tournament all running concurrently side by side on the astroTurf. The U14’s started the day off against Electric Surge Black which proved to be a close contest with only one goal being scored, unfortunately it was Electric Surge who prevailed and handed the U14’s the first loss. The day didn't get easier as they ran into a dominant Central Penn Hockey Club. After losing the second game they turned their attention to Tigers. Another tough game with the youngsters still getting to grips with the structure they let in 4 goals but forward Bailey Yatcko got one for Venom past the opposition goalkeeper. The final game of the day was against Electric Surge’s Orange team. Bailey Yatcko got another goal to tally for Venom but with another 4 goals the other way the U14’s found themselves in 5th place at the end of the day. The U16’s began their campaign playing host’s Nook Hockey and a furious back and forth game ended in a 0-0 tie when the horn went at the end of the game. The second game was against Seahawks and again the Venom offense were no match for the opposition and couldn't break through and they dropped their second 0-2. Central Penn FH were up next and the U16’s finally broke through as captain Izzy Davanti scored against the ultimate tournament champions and one of the 2 only goals scored against CPFH all day. After dropping the 3rd game the U16’s found themselves against Spartans. Ava Avampato got on the board by putting one in the back of the net giving some hope to the U16’s in their final game of the season. With some breaks and some unfortunate luck the Spartans put two in the Venom net handing them their third loss of the day. The U16’s ended up in 5th place with great progress throughout the season. U19 White found themselves against the host’s Nook Hockey and quickly found themselves outpaced as they dropped the first one to a score of 0-7. The same fate was met against Tigers dropping the game again 0-7. With the structure being formed during the day Bison had a tougher time getting through the Venom defense as the U19 White team settled into a rhythm but ultimately dropped the third game too with a score of 0-5. The last game was against MD Riptide and a battle for 5th place to end the day. A much better game going back and forth but unable to get a goal past the Maryland team and 2 going in the other way U19 White settled for 6th place to end the day. A special shoutout to goalkeepers Kayla Joyce and Jordan Ashbaugh who had extra duties fielding all 5 teams all day and with Kayla standing on her head in some instances to keep the ball from the back of the net. U19 Blue found themselves on the other side of the coin to White as they played MD Riptide first and got goals from Emma Barlett, Delaney Lentz and dueling hat-tricks from Lauran Kampi & Carly Kubacka finishing off the Maryland team with a shutout from Jordan Ashbaugh 8-0. The Bucknell team Bisons were next up and proved to be the only team to match them all day by tying the game 1-1 with the Venom goal being put in from Delaney Lentz. A tense match vs. Nook hockey was up next and putting some doubt as the Nook team went up early in the match until Lauren Kampi flicked the ball easily past the keeper’s right side to level the game. The game winner went in from an Emma Barlett hit on a PC which was deflected up high from a defender stick into the back of the net to the surprise of most. After a 2-1 victory it led to a true final against Tigers who were ahead on goal differential so Venom needed a win. Tigers proved to be quite a match for the Venom team with a deep bench where there were no subs for the Blue. The game went deep into the 25 mins of play but with 2 mins left in the game, a smart outlet to the left wing and Lauren Kampi picked up the ball and went to her reverse with a sweet hit across goal. The ball clattered around the backboard of the goal to put the Blue team up 1-0. After sitting back helping pack the defense the Tigers couldn't get any pressure in the Venom circle and the horn blew and the U19 Blue won the U19 Spooky Nook Tournament.

Congratulations to the U19 Blue team earning the gold medals and finishing a spectacular return to Spring hockey for Venom. We are so appreciative for all your support as we get back to normality in our day to day lives. As we take the summer/fall break we will be back with our Winter Indoor Season as well as some other opportunities we are currently working on that will be announced in due time.

 

LET’S GO VENOM!