MONTCLAIR, N.J. – On a night that will be remembered, Montclair State University Field Hockey’s head coach Eileen O’Reilly earned her 100th career win. And in a fitting way to commemorate the accomplishment, the two seniors who she has coached the longest scored in this historic game.
The Red Hawks defeated nonconference opponent the Vassar College Brewers 2-0 under the lights of Sprague Field. Both goals came off penalty corners.
The game was a stalemate for the majority of the first half as both teams traded possession early. With time winding down in the second quarter, Montclair State drew a penalty in the shooting circle leading to a corner.
The Red Hawks posted their second shut out in a row.
Alexandra Marrero | The Montclarion Photo credit: Alexandra Marrero
Senior midfielder Kylie Compton received the pass on the corner attempt. She wove past a Vassar defender before sending an off-balance circus shot to the back of the net. Compton said that even she was surprised that the ball got by the opposing goalie.
“It was my reverse shot, so it was from my weak side, but the trails and the flies on their corners were just really fast, so I didn’t have a lot of time to wind up and take a hard shot,” Compton said. “So I just did a little sweep and it went in, it was hard enough and it was flat on the ground. The goalie missed it so it was a lucky shot.”
After the Red Hawks broke open the scoring, the momentum completely shifted in their favor. Montclair State dominated the time of possession, while Vassar struggled to get the ball out of their half the field.
The Red Hawks had ample opportunity to score all night thanks to the 15 penalty corners they were awarded throughout the game. The Brewers only had four set-piece opportunities during the match.
Another veteran player, senior forward Tori Sutera, took advantage of a corner late in the third quarter, lightly tapping it in after Vassar’s goalie found herself out of position.
With a sizable lead built and a strong defensive performance underway, Compton said that the forwards did an incredible job creating pressure on their opponent and jumping on every loose ball.
Compton celebrates a goal.
Alexandra Marrero | The Montclarion Photo credit: Alexandra Marrero
“We’ve been working really hard on playing the full 60 minutes, taking it quarter by quarter,” Compton said. “We look at those quarters as each one is a game; focusing on 15 minutes at a time, but playing the whole game, not letting the foot off the gas.”
As time whittled down in the match, the focus shifted from the Red Hawks on the field to their leader Coach O’Reilly. After the final whistle, she was greeted with a hand-drawn sign, balloons and cookies to mark the occasion. Reflecting on hitting the triple digit mark on wins, O’Reilly said that her players, not a win count are what give her drive.
“With coaching, it’s more about the people than it is about the wins,” O’Reilly said. “And when I think about my happiest times as a coach and my greatest moments at Montclair [State], It’s more about interactions with the women on the team than who we beat or what the score was. So I’m going to say that I’m happy to have this achievement, but more so just happy to do it with a great group.”
It was clear that having two seniors net goals in O’Reilly’s milestone game made the moment even more special. She said that the upperclassmen have been a very enjoyable group to coach.
“The senior class is very special to me and for them to be seeing success, considering that I know how hard they work,” O’Reilly said. “It’s just nice to share this with them. They really bought in. They didn’t arrive here as the most talented players on the team, but they bought into our process, and I’m just happy that they’re having success.”
Compton added that the senior class is taking in every moment during this year’s campaign.
“It’s hard for [O’Reilly] to accept that the girls that are seniors and that this is our last season,” Compton said. “It’s hard for us too. We’re just trying to enjoy our time.”
As much as she enjoyed the many congratulations she received after the match, O’Reilly’s focus quickly shifted back to the task at hand, which was setting her team up for success. She said that she wants to work on improving scoring opportunities from corners.
“I think for us, we’re going to hone in on executing in the circle, putting the ball on the back of the net and executing on corners,” O’Reilly said. “I’m going to guess we had 15 plus corners in this game and our scoring output just has to be greater if we’re going to be playing tougher opponents throughout the season.”
