BY MATT SCHOOLEY

The Pelham High School field hockey team continuously pressured Bow High School on Friday, Sept. 21, but the Lady Pythons scored only once, losing 3-1.

Alex Catalano was outstanding in net for the Pythons. The freshman made 14 saves, including many diving stops in the face of Bow’s attack, to help keep her team close most of the contest.

Pelham, in fact, jumped to a 1-0 lead with 18:17 remaining in the first half after Kellie Chadwick slapped the ball past Bow’s outstretched goaltender.

However, Bow evened the score a little more than two minutes later when Becka Keyes knocked in a loose ball.

With 10:45 remaining in the contest, Pelham fell behind for good as Heather Bennett knocked in a rebound to put Bow up 2-1.

Still, the Pythons were in good offensive position during much of the game. Head coach Mary Johnson said it’s difficult to show her players how to make that final push.

“Punching the ball in when you’re that close is the most impossible thing to teach. It’s right there, and it’s just a matter of wanting it,” she said. “You can take the ball 100 yards and get it to that 10 inches, but sometimes that 10 inches seems even farther.”

While they played well in many aspects of the game, the Pythons, their coach said, need  work on the game’s mental aspects.

“We really have to deal with the mentality and keeping our hopes up,” said Johnson. “When we score (to go ahead) – great.

But we still have to keep that momentum and continue to play. We just have to keep continuing to push hard.”

“In field hockey, unless you are an amazing field player, it comes down to heart and who wants it. You have to have that will and desire,” said Bow head coach Tracy Berube. “We saw that (our players) could run and hang with Pelham, and they just had to want it more.”

Jess Fanaras played well defensively and Alicia Beauregard played well on offense for the Pythons, who dropped to 2-6 with the loss.