For the last four years the North Carolina Field Hockey Association championship game has featured Chapel Hill High against East Chapel Hill High. East won last year's title; CH won the two previous. This fall they played each other twice during the regular season. In the first game CH scored with four minutes left to win at East, 2-1. In the rematch, East scored in the first minute and held on to win 1-0. Each won their playoff semifinal 5-0. And today, on a neutral field, they played for another championship.
Sixty minutes of play settled nothing; CH came closest with a goal that was disallowed for striking a CH foot on its way in.*
The teams then began two ten-minute sudden death overtimes. To increase the possibility of a score, the sides were reduced from 11v11 to 7v7. With more space and tired legs, overtime usually tilts from one end of the field to the other, each side growing more desperate to knock a ball in or push it aside. In the final two minutes of the second OT--after nearly 80 minutes of level play--East got the golden goal, leaving our golden Tigers with nothing but the utter exhaustion of total effort for their reward.
It's easy to say since our girls fell one goal short, but it's hard to believe that one of these teams is really much better than the other. I will also add that it's easier to play in a game like this than to watch it. It was an epic afternoon. Congratulations Tigers for a season of excellence.
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