Flint Hill Defeats Potomac School
It was a beautiful, hot, sunny afternoon in Oakton, Virginia on Friday, but the day seemed even better to all Flint Hill Huskies. The Huskies managed to take down the Potomac School in style with a one-sided 14-1 victory, and they were able to defeat their biggest rivals. The Huskies scored just over a minute into the game and the momentum just kept growing in their favor, never allowing Potomac a chance to get back in the game.
“Everything that could have gone right today did,” said Huskies’ head coach Adam Rice after the game. “We were as solid as could be on defense, and that in the end was really the key to everything today.”
Following Chris Peterson’s first goal of the game, the Huskies seemed to be scoring in quick two-minute intervals until the end of the first quarter, taking the score all the way to 4-0. Senior middie Chris Peterson had the first, senior middie John Rehberger grabbed the second and fourth, with sophomore middie James Shuler scoring the third.
The early deficit for the Panthers continued to grow, as they struggled to get off any high-percentage shots at talented junior Husky goalie Chris Nelson, who kept saving all of the ones that they could take at him. Two more goals were added for Flint Hill in the second quarter as junior middie Tim Peterson added one, and Chris Peterson added his second of the game with less than a minute left to give the Huskies a commanding 6-0 lead going into halftime.
Flint Hill came out in the second half exactly the same way they ended the first: scoring and revving on all cylinders. Sophomore middie Tyler Lewris scored less than a minute in. Chris Peterson then further added to his tally with another excellent shot, as he got the ball in his own half, ran down the field and put it past John Henry Strong, the Potomac goalie. Peterson was clearly thrilled at reaching his hat trick, but the day was far from over for him, or his team. He scored another less than six minutes later, starting a furious rally for the Huskies in the last five minutes of the quarter, getting four goals. Two of the four came from Peterson, one from Rehberger and one from senior attackman Christian Melton. This onslaught from the Huskies took the score to a huge, insurmountable 12-0 by the end of the third quarter, leaving the Panthers shell-shocked.
The Panthers were finally able to do what seemed would be impossible for them on the day about halfway through the fourth quarter, as sophomore middie Forrest Ackerman finally managed to put one past Chris Nelson and prevent the embarrassment of a shutout. It was a mere consolation for Potomac, however, and Christian Melton and Chris Peterson went on to add to the Huskies total later in the quarter, ending the game at 14-1. Senior captains Chris Peterson and John Rehberger ended as the scoring leaders on the day, Peterson netting six and Rehberger adding three more.
“We couldn’t have asked for anything more,” Peterson said after the game. “We had a great game-plan going in and we executed it perfectly. Our defense really helped us out a lot, and then we went out there and just attacked.”
Rehberger added to this point saying, “Coach told us coming into the game to just let it rip. We knew that if we could get a lot of shots off then we could get some goals and that’s just what we did.”
Potomac was without star attackman, junior AD Hoffman, due to a severe illness he had been suffering during the week. Coach Rice recognized this after the game saying, “They were missing their best attackman so that certainly made our jobs a little easier,” but he went on to say, “but we just really moved out feet well on defense.”
Junior goalie Chris Nelson was just over six minutes from a shutout against his biggest rival, and some of his excellent saves were what prevented Potomac from getting back in the game. Coach Rice commended his player saying, “We have a great goalie in Chris, who just kept saving whenever they took shots and that’s all that was important.” He also then went on to say, “There was a lot of momentum coming out of that first quarter when it was 4-0, and we just never let them get that one big goal or something to let them get their energy going, and that was what kept us ahead today.”
The victory takes Flint Hill to 7-5 on the season and keeps them undefeated in the MAC with a perfect 5-0 record. Their last conference game will be against GDS on Tuesday, and if they win they will be able to claim at least a share of the season’s MAC Championship, which they are defending. Flint Hill can win the title outright if they are able to win the MAC Tournament, starting April 5.
Potomac dropped to 7-5 overall on the season and the loss is their first in the conference, which takes them to 3-1 with games remaining against Maret, who they will play at home on Saturday, and Sidwell.
Flint Hill also looks forward to a big week as they hope to secure a spot in the VISAA Division I State Championship tournament, preparing for games against state foes Notre Dame and St. Anne’s Belfield. Coach Rice concluded, “For a long time we were never really contending for a league title, but this win puts us in good shape for our third in a row and we are just really very happy about it. It’s a huge game for us; we always want to beat Potomac, but we can also really establish ourselves as a top team in the MAC.” Peterson added, “We still have more work to do so it will be our goal to just stay focused. We will stay focused and stay humble.”
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
Flint Hill Goal (10:31): Chris Peterson, 1-0
Flint Hill Goal (7:23): John Rehberger, 2-0
Flint Hill Goal (5:06): James Shuler, 3-0
Flint Hill Goal (3:21): John Rehberger, 4-0
Second Quarter
Flint Hill Goal (5:20): Tim Peterson, 5-0
Flint Hill Goal (0:41): Chris Peterson, 6-0
Third Quarter
Flint Hill Goal (11:06): Tyler Lewris, 7-0
Flint Hill Goal (10:02): Chris Peterson, 8-0
Flint Hill Goal (4:33): Chris Peterson, 9-0
Flint Hill Goal (3:21): John Rehberger, 10-0
Flint Hill Goal (2:04): Chris Peterson, 11-0
Flint Hill Goal (1:14): Christian Melton, 12-0
Fourth Quarter
Potomac Goal (6:13): Forrest Ackerman
Flint Hill Goal (4:07): Christian Melton
Flint Hill Goal (3:33): Chris Peterson