Bermudian Springs field hockey wins first game since car crash involving players
The healing process continued for the Bermudian Springs field hockey team Thursday, as the Eagles took the field for the first time since four players were involved in a Tuesday car crash that postponed a game.
The Eagles beat Hanover 7-0, but first received a kind gesture from their opponent. The Nighthawks captains handed a bouquet of flowers and two cards to Bermudian Springs coach Neil Bixler during the pregame captain's meeting.
"It was awesome, it brings tears to my eyes," Hanover coach Gail Anderson said. "They thought of that without an adult telling them and that's pretty cool."
It was one of many displays of respect that teams throughout York and Adams counties have shown for Bermudian Springs since the crash. Delone Catholic and Biglerville wearing red during their game and South Western players wearing red bows in their hair during their game were among other examples on Thursday afternoon and evening.
Bixler said he even received emails from coaches at York College, where Bermudian Springs won a tournament last spring.
"The response from everybody has been overwhelming," he said. "We really want to thank everybody for all the well wishes. It's just been unbelievable, the response. We've just been getting stuff from everywhere."
Of the four players involved in Tuesday's crash, only Ashley Kunkle played against Hanover. Victoria Lilley watched from the sideline wearing a sling around her right arm, and Olivia Blasone and Carli Messinger remained in the hospital recovering from their injuries. The Bermudian Springs players etched Blasone's, Lilley's and Messinger's names and numbers on their wrists using black marker that read Liv 6, Vic 8, Carli 7.
They FaceTimed with Blasone before the game, and Lilley held up the phone in the middle of the huddle to include Blasone in the team's "I believe that we will win" chant.
When the game started, it took less than a minute for the Eagles (2-0) to take the lead on a goal by Kenzie Farley.
"I saw Olivia yesterday and she said, 'go score some for me.'" Farley said. "I was thinking about that when I scored my first goal. I just had the mindset and that was it."
She scored again less than two minutes later, and twice in the second half. The Eagles also got three goals from Nicki Wolf, including one assisted by Kunkle.
When the final buzzer sounded, there were plenty of hugs to go around from both teams.
"It's been emotional for everybody, but everybody's good," Bixler said. "We needed to do this today. We haven't gotten our season off to a start because we've had three postponements; this is only the second game we've played. It was just good to get back out here today.
"I just told them to have fun. Just try to put all this other stuff aside for 60 minutes and go out and have some fun and I think that's what they did."
Bermudian Springs 7, Hanover 0
Bermudian Springs25—7
Hanover00—0
First half — 1. BeS, Kenzie Farley, 29:05, 2. BeS, Farley, 27:35.
Second half — 3. BeS, Farley, 23:57, 4. Nicki Wolf (Kayla Pyles), 21:09, 5. Wolf (Farley), 12:24, 6. Farley (Wolf), 7:05, 7. Wolf (Ashley Kunkle), 2:21.
Shots on goal — BeS 24, Han 3
Corners — BeS 10, Han 2
Goalies — BeS, Madison Dewease. Han, Saige Stevens.