The Robinson Lady Rams defeated the National District champion Yorktown Patriots 17-7 Tuesday night to advance to the regional quarterfinals. Robinson fell behind 5-3 early on, but 5 unanswered goals to end the half gave them a lead they would not relinquish. Campbell Collier led Robinson with 5 goals, Katie McHugh added 4, and 6 other Rams got on the scorecard in the convincing victory.
With the support of the home crowd, the Patriots came out strong and took the early lead, but Collier seemed determined to swing the momentum back in the Rams favor. The star junior defender scored back-to-back goals to give the Rams their first lead. When the Lady Patriots knotted it up a minute later, it only took freshman Maggie Hyland 8 seconds to recapture the lead for the Rams. Hyland’s quick catch-and-shoot goal was the fifth in as many minutes of a game that began at a frenetic pace.
But as the game began to slow down, it was the Patriots who continued to add tallies to the score sheet. Their methodical approach in the Ram zone led to three straight goals, and forced Robinson head coach Sally Collier into her first timeout.
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“I asked them if they wanted to be here,” Collier admitted. “I told them if they were on the field that they should be ready to play and show us something, or we would find someone else to put in.”
Collier actually subbed out two of her best attackers to let them think about what she had said, and when they returned, they immediately made an impact. Campbell Collier added her third, before senior Katie Rowson got on the scorecard. Junior Shannon Picard scored between a pair of goals by McHugh to complete a 5-0 run before the half and give Robinson the 8-5 lead.
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McHugh picked up where she left off in the second half, scoring to goal in as many minutes and the route was on. Austin Courtney, Alexis Mooney, and Megan Barlow added their name to the score sheet as the Rams score 9 in the second half. Equally as impressive was the Ram defense, which made the proper adjustments and held a high-powered Yorktown offense to just two goals.
“We had been in a prevent defense on the 8 meter, but they had been getting comfortable on the ball in our zone,” Collier explained. “We extended out to pressure the ball and it proved to be the difference. I also felt like we protected and cleared better.”
With the win, the Lady Rams will move on to the regional quarterfinals to play Langley, who defeat West Springfield 4-1 in their regional playoff debut. In an earlier meeting this season, the Robinson girls lost a 16-14 thriller to the Lady Saxons. This time around, the winner will not only advance to the regional semi-finals, but will also advance to the state tournament.
“We are going to get out tomorrow and practice harder than we have all year,” Collier said. “We’ll treat it like it is the state semi-finals. Thursday’s game means everything to us.”
