Pierson Field Hockey Ends Regular Season on a High Note

The Pierson field hockey team had its pregame senior day ceremony rained out at Mashashimuet Park on Monday, but there was plenty to celebrate once the Whalers took the field against Greenport.

Senior midfielder Meredith Spolarich scored three goals in her final high school field hockey game in Sag Harbor to lead Pierson to a 5-0 victory over the visiting Porters as the Whalers closed out the regular season with an even 7-7 record in Division II play.

Pierson will advance to the postseason and will face either Greenport or Southampton in the Suffolk County Class C Championship game, which is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, October 29, at a neutral location. Greenport and Southampton combined to win just two games this season, but faced off in a season finale on Wednesday after press time to determine who would play Pierson for the county championship later this month.

“We’re feeling good,” Spolarich said after Monday’s win, which completed a season sweep against Class C competition for the Whalers, who easily beat Southampton and Babylon earlier in the year. “We also did a good job this season challenging those Class B schools, and we took a lot of people by surprise.”

The Whalers’ Class C competition — Greenport, Southampton and Babylon — had a combined 3-38 record this season, so the true tests for Pierson came instead against larger schools. In addition to its three wins over the Class C schools, Pierson beat West Babylon, East Islip, Sayville and Eastport-South Manor, while losing to several top-tier teams by single-goal margins, including a 1-0 loss to first-place Bayport-Blue Point on Friday, October 14.

Those tests, first-year head coach Kim Spolarich said, would be key come playoff time.

“It’s been amazing to play against the larger schools and many of our games were 1-0 competitions,” said Spolarich, Meredith’s mother, who agreed to coach this season when the district struggled to find a replacement for Nina Hemby, the previous coach, who stepped down after last season. “It helps to have those type of games to prepare us, and, hopefully, we’ll continue to play well.

“I’m here because of her and this group,” the coach added, referring to her daughter and the team’s other five seniors—Maddie Cohen, Sophia Beech, Mia Gangemi, Tahnie Sullivan and Eleana Merola. “It’s been a great run and I love these girls. It helps to have six seniors, and a veteran team. I’m proud of their effort and how they’ve worked together.”

Bella Eldridge opened the scoring for Pierson on Monday with a goal at the 2-minute mark of the first quarter, a period in which Pierson brought a near constant attack, including 10 corners. Beech scored late in the first quarter, and Spolarich scored her first goal at the midway point of the second to give Pierson a 3-0 lead at halftime.

The dominant trend continued in the second half as Spolarich scored two more goals to slam the door on any chance of a Greenport comeback. The Whalers’ senior star, and her mother, spoke later about how important the game of field hockey has been in their lives over last few years.

“I think field hockey has been my favorite part of high school,” Meredith said. “It’s taught me to value things that are bigger than yourself, and to really work together as a team.”

“It’s been really meaningful,” her mom added with tears in her eyes as she and her daughter walked to the far sideline to finish their senior day ceremony, the sun setting one last time following a field hockey game in Sag Harbor.