Robinson’s Addie Walsh, right, and Chantilly’s Bryndie Ballam battle for the ball during Tuesday’s game at Chantilly High School. Photo by Craig Sterbutzel.
Chantilly field hockey coach Ralph Chapman felt the Chargers outplayed Robinson during the teams’ 2013 regular-season meeting, but the Rams pulled out a victory in strokes.
On Tuesday, Oct. 7, it was Robinson that came out on the short end of the stick.
Chantilly forward Victoria Iturbe scored the game winner with 37 seconds remaining as the Chargers pulled out a 1-0 victory on senior night at Chantilly High School.
The Chargers earned a penalty corner late in regulation, and after forward Bryndie Ballam dribbled through the Robinson defense, Iturbe found the back of the cage, keeping Chantilly alive for one of the top seeds in the Conference 5 tournament.
“It’s definitely a relief because if you don’t score in [regulation] time, you go to overtime and overtime is really tricky because it’s only [7-on-7],” Iturbe said, “so it’s just a lot of relief to just be able to get the game over with fast.”
Chapman said his team came out flat, due in part to the distractions of senior night and homecoming week.
“Finally we played with a little bit of intensity,” Chapman. “It was not one of our better games. I’m not taking anything away from Robinson. They played hard They played a good game. They were in the right positions, they anticipated, they did everything my kids didn’t do. My kids are capable of playing [better].”
Robinson head coach Lindsay Arnsmeyer, a former Chantilly player and assistant coach under Chapman, said her team played well before surrendering the game’s lone goal in the final minute.
“I think they played very strong,” Arnsmeyer said. “I think they caught us watching toward the end, so that’s why they capitalized at the end.”
How frustrating is it to lose a game in that fashion?
“Very frustrating,” Arnsmeyer said. “There were 37 seconds left in the game.”
Chapman had fun with his former pupil after the game.
“I said, ‘Lindsay, this is payback from last year,’” Chapman said. “She started laughing.”
The victory improved Chantilly’s record to 10-2, including 2-1 in Conference 5. The Chargers have games against Centreville and Herndon remaining, with a chance to earn a top-two seed in the conference tournament.
“I’m proud of my girls,” Chapman said. “I’m a little upset that they didn’t play their best, but they found a way to win when they didn’t play their best. Hopefully, we’ll go back to playing our best.”
Robinson dropped to 11-3, including 1-3 in the conference. The Rams defeated Centreville, and lost to Westfield, Herndon and Chantilly. Robinson will travel to face Oakton at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15.
“I think the competition is definitely stiffer in our conference, but I think [during the] Westfield and Herndon [games], we started off very slow,” Arnsmeyer said. “Today, we played very strong. I think [we] moved the ball very well [and] I think [we] dominated for I would say 80 percent of the game until the end.”