Patriots Close Season with Win over Unquowa
	The Girls Field Hockey team closed out their season with an impressive 3-0 win over Unquowa School. Earlier in the week, the Lady Patriots faced a very strong and talented Greenwich Academy Gold Squad and were defeated 7-0. Coach McNamara was very pleased with how the team bounced back after GA and played their best game of the season against Unquowa. Susie Clasby started things off offensively as she scored off a beautiful pass from Shannon Coomaraswamy. Ellen Pucel netted the final two goals and goal keeper Karyn Bartosic recorded her first shut out. The game captured magnificent moments from all players and truly spoke lengths about their improvement this season. The team bids a final farewell to 8th graders Shannon Coomaraswamy and Niaomi King.

	Lady Patriots Score First Win of the Season
	The Lady Patriots Field Hockey team recorded their first win of the season on Monday afternoon against Resurrection with a score of 3-2. In the first half, Shannon Coomaraswamy started the scoring when she sent a fierce drive by the Resurrection goalie. Minutes later, Susie Clasby set up classmate Lindy Burke with her second goal of the season. Moments before the end of the first half, the Resurrection offense staged their comeback and the score at half time was 2-1. The second half was a back-and-forth battle between both teams. The Lady Patriots offense struck first when Susie Clasby scored her first goal of the season. The offensive players of Shannon Coomarasawmy, Rosie Eykyn, Ella Bruck, Lindy Burke, Sydney Autorino, Ellie Forbis, and Grace Henrich did a remarkable job in keeping the ball in Resurrection territory to set up Clasby's goal. With a 3-1 lead, the Resurrection team would not go quietly into the night. The sweeper's powerful field clearing drive, set up the Resurrection offense to notch their second goal of the game. As Resurrection was launching their efforts to tie the game, the RA defense of Liza Berisford, Sabryna Coppola, Eleanor Henrich, Grace Henrich,and goalie Karyn Bartosic did a phenomenal job in shutting them down. Coach Mac and Coach Orban were pleased with the improvement of play from their team. "Everyone on our team really stepped up their level of play today, and in the end, their hard work paid off. They were able to finish their shots on goal successfully and they all gave 110% effort. It was beautiful to watch!" The Lady Patriots are on the road next Thursday as they travel to Greenwich Catholic for a 3:45pm start.

	GCD Defeats Patriots
	Taking to the field with their spirited pigtails and red ribbons blowing in the wind, the girls field hockey team had two obstacles standing in their way on Thursday afternoon. The first, was a full roster of Greenwich Country Day players that consumed the visitor side with bright tangerine orange jerseys and the second, was five missing veterans from their squad. Playing the game with 11 players was going to be a tough task for RA, but one that would not go down without an honorable fight. Sixth grader Karyn Bartosic, a first year goalie, single handedly denied a tough Tiger offense any chance of scoring for a solid 20 minutes during the first half. Her tireless efforts in goal were remarkable throughout the entire game! The tough tandem of Grace and Eleanor Henrich along with Sabryna Coppola and Ellie Forbis demonstrated defensive toughness from start to finish. Seventh graders Liza Berisford, Sydney Autorino, and Lindy Burke stepped up to the challenge of new roles and positions and adjusted nicely. The much improved and impressive play of sixth grader Rosie Eykyn and seventh graders Ella Bruck and Susie Clasby highlight the true meaning of middle school field hockey at its best. "Watching the three of them play on the turf this afternoon brought a smile to my face," commented Coach Mac. "The improvement and aggressiveness alongside their hustle and overall stickwork was beautiful to watch. In four games to see such improvement is impressive and enjoyable!" Despite the 3-0 loss to GCD, the Lady Patriots are hopeful to have their full squad back for Monday as they play on their home turf against Resurrection at 3:45pm.

	Field Hockey Ties Mizzentop in Dramatic Play
	The Lady Patriots Field Hockey team scored with 20 seconds remaining in the second half to come back and tie the Mizzentop Toppers 1-1! After three consecutive offensive corners, eighth grader Shannon Comaraswamy's pass to Lindy Burke shook the back of the goal as she slammed in her shot and notched the first goal of her career and the season. The relentless efforts of the offense propelled a valiant comeback to bring the team to 0-2-1 on the season. The first half of the game belonged to the Patriot defense as they worked for a solid 25 minutes holding off a very hungry Mizzentop offense. Goalie Karyn Bartosic recorded a season and career high 12 saves. Her defensive unit comprised of Ellie Forbis, Eleanor Henrich, Grace Henrich, and Liza Berisford did an outstanding job of eliminating the scoring threat. Early in the second half, the Mizzentop offense capitalized on a long drive down field that despite the vast efforts of Bartosic, and the Henrich sisters,managed to find its way over the white line for a goal. The Lady Patriots were forced to play catch up and spent the remainder of the second half doing all that they could to challenge the Mizzentop defense. Long drives by Liza Berisford and aggressive play by Emilia Furlo, Sydney Autorino, Sabryna Coppola, Rose Eykyn, Ella Bruck, Lindy Burke, Susie Clasby, and Shannon Coomaraswamy helped lead a persistent attack and proved their efforts to be strong as they successfully scored a goal. The field hockey team will defend their home turf on Thursday, October 20 as they look ahead to opponent Greenwich Country Day School. Game time is 4:00pm.

	Lady of Fatima Defeats Patriots
	On Tuesday, October 4, the Field Hockey team suffered a 5-0 loss to Our Lady of Fatima. The first half of the game clearly belonged to Fatima as they capitalized on RA's slow start and dominated the field, scoring all five goals within the first 30 minutes. At the half, the lady patriots refueled and approached the second half as a newly charged team. Offensively, Ella Bruck, Ashlyn Marr, Susie Clasby, Lindy Burke, and Rosie Eykyn did their best to keep the ball down in Fatima territory. They received strong support from midfielders Ellen Pucel, Emilia Furlo, Sydney Autorino and Ellie Forbis. The defensive play of Liza Berisford, Sabryna Coppola, Eleanor Henrich, Grace Henrich, Niaomi King and Goalie Karyn Bartosic eliminated any chance for Fatima forwards to score. Despite the much improved performance by the RA squad, the Fatima goalie made several saves to hold on to her shut out record. The strong finish by the Lady Patriots was impressive! The game official made it a point after the contest to commend the team on their second half stellar play.   The team is back in action on Tuesday, October 11 as they travel to Mizzentop for a 3:45pm game start.

	Patriots Bow to NCCS
	The Ridgefield Academy Field Hockey team opened their season with a 2-0 loss to New Canaan Country School. The Lady Patriots played a solid first half and went in to half time with a scoreless game. The second half found the Lady Patriots playing a very defensive game and despite their efforts, NCCS capitalized and handed RA their first loss of the season. Grace and Eleanor Henrich along with Ellie Forbis and Niaomi King played very well on the defensive end. Sixth grader Karyn Bartosic, making her debut in goal, had 4 saves. The team is on the road Tuesday, October 4th to Our Lady of Fatima for a 3:45pm game start.