The Yorktown Patriots set a firm goal at the start of the season: Repeat as state field-hockey champions.
And the squad delivered on Saturday (Nov. 16) in Virginia Beach.
The Patriots (18-4) won the Virginia High School League Class 6 state tournament with a 2-1 victory over the Oakton Cougars in the championship game at Ocean Lakes High School.
It was vindication, as a few days earlier, Yorktown had lost to Oakton in the 6D North Region tournament-title match, as had occurred in 2023.
The state crown was Yorktown’s third in program history after victories in 2021 and 2023, with a second-place finish in 2022.
“This season we were really determined to win the state,” Yorktown senior Paige Baskin said. “After we lost to Oakton in the region, we knew we would have a tough route to the state final.”
In the state final, it was Baskin who took the initial shot in the winning sequence that was tipped into the goal by Maddie Nimerala for the game-winner with 5:32 left to play.
The goal came off of a penalty-corner situation that began with an insertion pass from Nimerala to Elena Reiser. She passed left to Baskin, who fired a hard shot that hit the goalpost. Nimerala was standing close to the goal and knocked the ball in for her third goal this fall.
“She was right there to get the rebound,” Baskin said.
After that, the Yorktown defense withstood a flurry of Oakton shots on goal in the final two minutes, with goalie Sarah Kinzer earning the victory. She made three saves in the game.
Oakton took a 1-0 lead late in the first quarter off a penalty-corner when Lindsey Calder scored on a shot that hit off Kinzer. Yorktown tied the match at 1 with 11:20 left in the second quarter when Olivia Stafford scored on a breakaway backhander from the left side on a one-on-one fastbreak rush against the Oakton goalie.
The goal was Stafford’s 20th of the season, to go with nine assists.
Stafford, Nimerala and Baskin each took two shots in the state final and Reiser (15 goals this season, nine assists) took one. Mairin Almy, who missed recent action with an injury, was substituted into the game and helped create some scoring opportunities leading up to Nimerala’s game-winner.
Yorktown head coach Olivia Shipley was not at the state final because she was getting married in Florida that day. She did comment about her team winning a third state crown under her leadership.
“This team has been tested all season with tough games and have showcased their resiliency and ability to keep improving throughout the season,” Shipley told ARLnow. “The seniors are a very special group, with four state finals and three wins. To end their careers with this title is incredibly deserving.”
Assistant coach Grace Sensenig ran the team in Shipley’s absence.
“It was a long and intense week for the team, with a good ending,” Sensenig said. “This is so awesome for the seniors to win the state again and go out in style. The players were confident they could do this again.”
Sensenig said she made the decision to insert Almy into the title match in a maneuver to create more offense. “It was a bold move but we thought we needed something then,” Sensenig said.
Yorktown was 3-0 in the state tournament. The Patriots blanked host and the previously-undefeated Stafford Indians, 1-0, in the first round, then topped the Fairfax Lions, 2-1, in sudden-death overtime in the semifinals at Ocean Lakes. Fairfax had defeated Yorktown in the 2022 state final.
Against Stafford (21-1), Leah Williams scored a second-half fast-break goal off an assist from Stafford. Riser took four shots and Stafford two. Kinzer made two saves in goal.
In the semifinal win over Fairfax, Yorktown dominated possession for most of the match. Reiser scored the game-winning goal off a hard ground-ball shot from the top of the circle with 3:53 left in the first overtime. The shot came after a pass from Nimerala on a penalty-corner pass.
Yorktown took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Anna Menard on a high shot that bounced off the glove of the Fairfax goalie with 4:52 left in the third quarter, with Stafford close to the goal trying to tip the shot. That goal also came off a penalty-corner situation.
Fairfax (22-4) tied the score at 1 with just 44 seconds left in regulation. The loss snapped a 14-match winning streak for Fairfax.
Yorktown’s three state-tournament games were all on the road. “The trips were fun, but that takes a lot,” Baskin said.
In addition to Stafford, Baskin and Reiser, Yorktown’s other seniors were Kiki Friemel, Quincy Greene, Emme Yoder and Kelly Brown. Juniors were Nimerala, Kinzer, Katherine Martin, Reagan Fruzetti, Mary Hardwick, Ellie Cooney and Maren Leonard. Almy, Menard, Eliza Conway and Molly Gill were sophomores. Freshmen were Williams, Brooke Inserra and Ellen Shuckra.
NOTE: Yorktown also defeated Fairfax during the 2024 regular season and in overtime in last year’s state semifinal.
