The fields were soggy and the sky was grey when we arrived at Greenfield Community College for this year’s Four Rivers Tournament. As always, the Four Rivers folks were organized, and they ran a wonderful tournament. We had a bye in the first set of games, so we played our four games of the day back-to-back. We lost the first game both because the opposing team outplayed us and because we made the mistake of wearing our light-colored jerseys against a team in white. We lost at least two of our points because handlers could not easily tell the teams apart. Needless to say, we switched into dark jerseys as soon as was possible.
The weather got better as the day went on, and so did our level of play (we won all three of our remaining games). One of the most memorable moments in the day came in the final game, when Esther Lee ’25 used her excellent defensive skills to cause a turnover. Josh Freedman ’26 threw it towards Hazel Secker ’26 and Billy Tang ’25 tipped the disk into Hazel’s hands (goal #6 in our game against Williston JV with a final 8-6 win). Amazing!
Shoutouts for the day go to Arvin Mou ’25 for great defense, especially in the cup, Esther for her enthusiasm and beautiful defensive blocks, Thomas Unkles ’25 for sprinting down the field like a rocket ship, Captain Sammy Sullivan ’25 for uplifting the team and for playing well despite the fact that he forgot his cleats and had to borrow from a coach, Kayleen Tang ’25 for her aggressive defensive play and Julia Horobets ’26 for the way she turned her positive mindset into positive play. Lots of shoutouts went to Hazel Secker ’26. Hazel got shoutouts for being a strong, energetic and skilled athlete and for being a player who consistently exhibits 1) a positive presence, 2) an even-keeled mindset, and 3) helpful support to fellow players.
Our athletes additionally agreed that the team maintained good support and team spirit from start to finish, that morale was good at the start but only got better and better as the day went on, and that we never lost the willingness to play our best. Coaches are proud of the effort athletes put forth and we look forward to our final two days of play. Go Big Green!