BY DAVE CHOATE

The girls of the Hopkinton varsity field hockey team knew they were going to have a rough time against undefeated Derryfield.

No one expected it to be this rough.

Hopkinton lost to unbeaten Derryfield on Sept. 12, 2-0, dropping the Lady Hawks to 4-2.

Hopkinton fell behind early in the game thanks to a quick goal from Derryfield senior Katherine DiPastina.

Far worse for the Hawks,  senior midfielder Jackie Reen was hit in the face by a high stick from Derryfield player, forcing her to leave the game. Reen was helped from the field and required four stitches to close the bleeding wound near her ear.

Derryfield followed with another goal near the end of the first half by Kelly Schwarz, which capped the scoring.

Hopkinton clamped down in the second half thanks to excellent defense from senior defender Joanna Fortier and goalie
Elyse Sedgley, but the Hawks could not generate any offense. A series of too-high passes generally kept the team close to its own goal.

“That was kind of unusual for us, and I think we were taking things a little too fast,” said Hopkinton coach Patty Connolly.

“We talked about taking shots a little quicker against a team like Derryfield, but we were rushing it a bit.”