The #1 Rye Field Hockey team needed double overtime, but they bested #4 John Jay-Cross River on Thursday, October 30, by the final score of 1-0. Garnets junior Liv Prata scored on the doorstep with less than a minute to play in double overtime, sending Nugent Stadium into an early afternoon frenzy.
Prata cashed in after deflecting a shot pass from Sienna Myers off a Wolves’ defender, but corralling the rebound and becoming the first player to find the back of the net all afternoon. Her goal with 52.5 seconds left in the second overtime period marked her second sudden death OT winner against JJCR in 2025, with this most recent one being the most important goal of the season for the Garnets.
Wolves goalie McKenzie Ryder had been 15/15 before allowing Prata to score just a few seconds after a corner for the Garnets, as her incredible performance was wasted. Rye goalie Chloe Holden matched Ryder save for save, ending up with a remarkable 16 stops (!!) to preserve the shutout. “She had an incredible game, making a variety of saves,” Head Coach Valerie Perkins said of her star goalie after the win. Between her epic performance in the upset of Lakeland in the regular season, and this clean sheet in the sectional semifinals against JJCR, Holden has had quite the year.
#1 Rye (16-2, 2-0 postseason) advances to the sectional championship game on Saturday, November 1, against #3 Horace Greeley. The Quakers are coming off an upset 2-0 victory over Lakeland yesterday, and are 1-0 against the Garnets so far in 2025. The game is set for noon at Lakeland’s high school turf (somewhat ironic) on the first of November. Replay the electric win over JJCR here (editor’s note: the game-winning goal occurs at around 2:07:00 of the stream, and it is recommended to watch with sound on but without headphones).
