When you get late into a field hockey season, and deep into the playoffs, games can often be determined by a single touch, a single umpire’s decision, a decision to take a chance.
Yesterday, the Michigan High School Field Hockey Association held its championship doubleheader. In the Division 2 matchup for small schools, Chelsea (Mich.) was looking to win its first state championship in its current iteration; the last time the program had won a state final was when it was the co-op team known as the Washtenau Whippets.
Chelsea had taken a 1-0 lead after halftime, and Dexter, a two-time defending state title-winner, was looking to get the equalizer.
In the final minute of regularion, the Dreadnaughts had the ball on the right wing with a side-in, then pulled the ball into the final third. An angled ball bounded towards the goal, and evaded the goalkeeper, hitting the goal-board.
Dexter celebrated, but the umpires got together and conferred. No goal.
It took a second for me to run back the footage from the NFHS Network (and if you’re not yet a subscriber, it’s well worth it). Because of the automated gimbal, I had to play a game of “spot-the-ball” in order to figure out the distance and angle from the attempt on goal. It looked like the shot came from about a yard outside of the striking circle.
Fine margins; that’s what makes playoff field hockey so amazing.