Jennifer Medjid leads Garden City to Class B field hockey title
Garden City field hockey players celebrate their win against Miller Place during the Long Island Class B Field Hockey Championships on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016. Credit: Richard T. Slattery
Jennifer Medjid added her name to the storied pages of the Long Island Class B final book between Garden City and Miller Place yesterday.
The junior midfielder, who had one goal and three assists all season, scored what turned out to be the winning goal as Garden City captured its fourth straight Long Island Class B field hockey championship after a 2-1 victory against Miller Place at Adelphi’s Motamed Field.
Garden City (15-2) advances to the state Class B semifinal and will face Vestal at 10 a.m. Saturday at Maine-Endwell High School.
“It’s just an amazing feeling,” Medjid said, “to get the goal that helped us win the Long Island championship.”
When it comes to Long Island Class B championship games, it doesn’t get any better than Garden City and Miller Place. The teams, which also met in the 2015 title game that Garden City won, 2-0, have now combined for 31 of the 36 all-time Class B crowns. (Garden City has 18 titles).
“Miller Place is a great field hockey team,” Trojans coach Diane Chapman said, “and we knew it would be a great game.”
Emily Clarke redirected a shot by Taylor Gladd off a corner and scored 3:14 into the first half to give Garden City a 1-0 lead. Clarke, who has 11 goals this season, also tallied the winning goal against Miller Place in last season’s title game.
“We knew if we came out and gave 100 percent,” Clarke said, “we would come out on top.”
Medjid ensured the Trojans would come out on top when she played a rebound off Ally Tarantino (six saves) into the back of the net off a scramble in front after a corner with 13:42 remaining in the game.
Miller Place (17-2) came to life in the final minutes, as Crystal Esposito beat Trojans goalkeeper Ann Sullivan (four saves) with 2:29 left. But the Panthers could not get off another shot, as the Trojans were able to run out the clock.
“I knew we could do it,” Garden City’s Taylor Gladd said. “We’ve worked hard for this all season, and it just feels amazing.”
