ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- A dominant second-half performance vaulted Rocky River to a non-conference win over Hathaway Brown on a chilled Thursday night at Rocky River Stadium. Breaking free from a 6-5 lead early in the second half, the Pirates scored four straight goals and went on to defeat the Blazer, 11-6.

Sophomore Olivia Konopka's second goal of the game -- at 17:20 of the second -- came as a quick response to the Blazers' first score of the second half. The goal marked the first of four in a row for the home side. Hathaway Brown wouldn't score again until the 1:55-mark. Junior goalkeeper Hannah Burgess was mostly responsible for that long drought. The River netminder stymied five straight shots on frame during the near-16-minute stretch without a goal by the visitors. Burgess made several stops in close quarters throughout the game; she finished with 11 saves.

The Thursday-night contest opened with three straight Pirate goals and then three straight scores by the Blazers. River would go into halftime leading, 5-4. The Konopka marker at 17:20 of the second was followed by Iris Polly and Daisy Thompson scoring in the next two minutes. With Burgess giving the Pirates a lift at the other end, and with River defenders spilling Blazer possessions before they got to the Pirate goalie, the Maroon & White cruised to the victory.

Rocky River (6-1) has now won five straight games since losing to Avon on March 23.

For the game, Rocky River scored 11 goals on 25 shots; 16 were on frame. Hathaway Brown tallied six goals on 22 shots (17 on goal). Turnovers were a 14-14 exchange; River edged HB in the groundball war, 24-23. Seven different Double-R players logged caused turnovers.

Konopka (three goals), Iris Polly (two), and Grace Harte (two) registered multiple scores on the night. Ella Nejad had a goal and three ground balls while pushing River to an 11-6 edge in draws. Madeline Lundin had two caused turnovers and four ground balls.


by Skip Snow

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