Double Trouble in Field Hockey

McLean High School’s field hockey team rebounded from a string of defeats with a gut-wrenching 2-1 double-overtime victory at Marshall High School Thursday night.

The victory didn’t come as cleanly as others, however, with the game decided by a goal that may not have scored. In the second overtime, the Highlanders controlled the ball near the Statesmen net, luring the Marshall goalie off to the right before centering the ball for a shot from Leslie O’Neil. With the shot en route, Marshall defender Sam Mills hurled her body into the goal crease to stop the shot. That’s when the game ended and the controversy began.

Marshall Head Coach Christina Carroll maintains that the ball never crossed the goal line. In order for a goal to count, the entire ball must cross the line. However, Carroll and her players believe they saw Mills stop the ball and clear it away. Whether Mills stopped it or not, the ball kicked out to the 18-yard mark and the referee signaled that the ball went in, saying she heard the ball hit the wooden, bottom portion of the goal. Carroll disagrees.

“It may have gone in, but we don’t know,” Carroll said. She remains doubtful, however. “The ball just doesn’t kick 18 yards out of the cage.”

The ball may not have hit the wooden portion of the goal, but Mills certainly did. After the play, Mills lay injured on the ground in the goal, after slamming into the net. Mills took several minutes before she recovered her senses and get off the field. “I think that’s what the referee might have heard — Sam slamming into the net,” Carroll said. Regardless of the goal, Carroll lauded Mills’ effort on the evening. “She played the game of her life.”

Paula Rogo scored the first goal for the Highlanders, while Lauren Byrne provided the marker for the Statesmen. Marshall followed its game against McLean with another double-overtime contest, this time a 0-0 tie against Fairfax. “Hopefully we won’t have another double-overtime game for a long time,” Carroll said. “Because they are exhaustin