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Back in her playing days at HHS, Becca Henderson dreamed of qualifying for the National Indoor Field Hockey Tournament.
Sadly, in a career chock full of remarkable achievements (at the scholastic and collegiate levels) Becca never had the opportunity to live this dream. This past weekend, however, she received a second chance...thanks to the talented group of girls she currently mentors.
Now known on the local field hockey scene as Coach Maciejewski, Becca took a team of players to a qualifier at State College. It was a last-minute arrangement and the girls left with only modest expectations...
“We only had two weeks to get everything together,” she said. “But, with the quality of players we have here now, I knew it was worth the gamble.”
Was it ever!
The “Queen Bees” tore through their bracket in pool play, winning three consecutive matches en route to a bye and a berth in the quarterfinals.
Honesdale’s girls lost their first game in medal round action, but then posted an epic overtime win to seal the deal on a first-ever National Tournament invite.
“I’m so excited for these girls,” Coach Maciejewski said. “They played incredibly well and they deserve to go. It’s an experience they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”
When the final whistle blew in this qualifying event, the Queen Bees had posted a stellar 4-2-0 record. The local lasses will be heading to Virginia Beach March 2-4 for Nationals.
On a Roll
Honesdale opened pool play with a 5-2 victory over Happy Valley.
Mickey Johannes paced the attack with a hat trick, scoring three goals. Desiraye Mack added a goal and an assist, while Mart Martin chimed in with a goal and two dimes.
Nicole Cush turned in the first of many sparkling efforts between the pipes, making six saves.
“It’s really hard to believe that Nicole has been playing keeper for just a short time,” Coach Maciejewski said. “She’s such a natural back there.”
With their confidence growing by the minute, the Queen Bees were even more impressive in their second pool play encounter.
Martin led the way in this one, hammering home four goals in a 6-0 whitewashing of the Vipers. Johannes and Mack were once again solid in supporting roles, Mickey tallied a goal and an assist, while Mack contributed one goal and a pair of assists.
Cush made three saves in posting the shutout.
Back in her playing days at HHS, Becca Henderson dreamed of qualifying for the National Indoor Field Hockey Tournament.
Sadly, in a career chock full of remarkable achievements (at the scholastic and collegiate levels) Becca never had the opportunity to live this dream. This past weekend, however, she received a second chance...thanks to the talented group of girls she currently mentors.
Now known on the local field hockey scene as Coach Maciejewski, Becca took a team of players to a qualifier at State College. It was a last-minute arrangement and the girls left with only modest expectations...
“We only had two weeks to get everything together,” she said. “But, with the quality of players we have here now, I knew it was worth the gamble.”
Was it ever!
The “Queen Bees” tore through their bracket in pool play, winning three consecutive matches en route to a bye and a berth in the quarterfinals.
Honesdale’s girls lost their first game in medal round action, but then posted an epic overtime win to seal the deal on a first-ever National Tournament invite.
“I’m so excited for these girls,” Coach Maciejewski said. “They played incredibly well and they deserve to go. It’s an experience they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”
When the final whistle blew in this qualifying event, the Queen Bees had posted a stellar 4-2-0 record. The local lasses will be heading to Virginia Beach March 2-4 for Nationals.
On a Roll
Honesdale opened pool play with a 5-2 victory over Happy Valley.
Mickey Johannes paced the attack with a hat trick, scoring three goals. Desiraye Mack added a goal and an assist, while Mart Martin chimed in with a goal and two dimes.
Nicole Cush turned in the first of many sparkling efforts between the pipes, making six saves.
“It’s really hard to believe that Nicole has been playing keeper for just a short time,” Coach Maciejewski said. “She’s such a natural back there.”
With their confidence growing by the minute, the Queen Bees were even more impressive in their second pool play encounter.
Martin led the way in this one, hammering home four goals in a 6-0 whitewashing of the Vipers. Johannes and Mack were once again solid in supporting roles, Mickey tallied a goal and an assist, while Mack contributed one goal and a pair of assists.
Cush made three saves in posting the shutout.
Game Three went right down to the wire before the Queen Bees emerged with a 3-2 win over East Coast.
Stacey Hart, Martin and Mack each lit the lamp in this victory and Cush made it stand up with an even dozen saves. Martin recorded the game winner with just one minute left in regulation.
With this win, the Queen Bees advanced to he medal round as bracket champs and a #1 seed.
Epic Battles
Honesdale absorbed its first loss in the quarters, a 4-2 decision at the hands of True North Silver.
Faced with an elimination game, the Queen Bees dug down deep and prevailed in an overtime epic.
Honesdale battled the Bison to a 1-1 stalemate at the end of regulation. Johannes posted the Queen Bees’ lone goal off an assist from Martin and Cush stopped an eye-popping 15 shots.
This sent the game to a shootout, where Honesdale simply dominated.
Johannes gave her team a quick lead, scoring on the first penalty stroke. Cush followed by stone-walling the initial shot she faced.
When Martin tallied on her stroke and Cush forced another Bison miss, the celebration was on.
“We were all crying and jumping around,” Coach Maciejewski said. “It was an amazing experience. I love these girls and I can’t wait to take them to Nationals.”
