Burnside's three assists help Buccaneers extend winning streak to three

ST. MICHAELS —Kent Island High head field hockey coach Laura Harding was looking to strengthen her midfield this season.

So after a roster scan and some careful thought, Harding decided to take her leading scorer from a year ago, Ellie Burnside, and shift her back to center mid. The decision has turned out quite nicely for everyone involved except for maybe the opposition.

One week after collecting three assists, Burnside doled out three more on the afternoon of Oct. 3, to help fuel Kent Island’s 3-0 victory over St. Michaels in the Bucs’ North Bayside opener.

“She definitely has that strength, and she’s really good at distributing the ball to the forwards,” said Harding of Burnside. “So I think that was a very good move on our part. She’s not scoring the goals she was scoring last year, but she’s got six assists in two games.”

Burnside, who has played field hockey and lacrosse for Harding since she was five, hasn’t seemed to mind the move one bit.

“Being a midfielder is definitely more running,” said a smiling Burnside. “But I like to run, so I’m fine with that. But knowing you’re also going to be part of the defense too is important. So being able to play both sides of the field between both 30s is my favorite part.”

Burnside was strong on both sides of the 50, helping the Buccaneers (5-1 overall, 1-0 North Bayside) notch their third shutout of the season and their third consecutive win.

The first quarter was fairly even, with Kent Island earning two penalty corners and St. Michaels one. But with 1 minute, 27 seconds remaining, Burnside directed a ball that Ella Napier deflected into the goal for a 1-0 lead.

Then with just 2:13 elapsed in the second quarter, Parker Tengwall converted a Burnside feed off a penalty corner for a 2-0 lead.

“Elle can just see the field,” Harding said. “She’s in the middle and she looks up, and she’s worked with these girls also on the front line. So she kind of knows where they are and how fast they are. She knows Willow (Yost) is always going to be up there because Willow has that speed. She knows where Caroline (Levin) is going to be. She just kind of knows where they’re going to be. I think that’s very helpful.”

What’s also been helpful — and possibly thrilled Harding more than anything else Thursday — was the fact the Bucs’ first two goals were scored by non-starters.

“It’s kind of nice that we have the depth on the bench that we can rotate ‘em in and out, and just be able to know I put two players in that are just as strong as the two I’m pulling off,” Harding said. “So that’s really, really nice.”

Kent Island earned four corners early in the third quarter, but could not put a shot past Saints goalie Olivia Patrick. But with 1:34 left in the period, Burnside hit a ball that Audrey Fleshman was able to squeeze through a crack in the crowd that was bunched on the right side of the cage for a three-goal lead.

“Being a midfielder you’re kind of behind the ball somewhat,” Burnside said. “So being able to get it through to the forwards is most important to me because then they’re the ones who are able to put it in the goal.”

Despite the three-goal deficit, St. Michaels (2-5, 2-1) kept pushing into the Bucs’ end, and earned four corners in the opening four minutes of the fourth quarter. St. Michaels then had a man-advantage for two minutes, but couldn’t get a shot past Kent Island goalie Brynja Petursson (three saves).

“That’s what we do this year,” St. Michaels head coach Karen Hopkins said. “We keep pushing. We’re not giving up. We’re moving to the ball. We’re doing all the things we need to. We just need to capitalize in the circle.”

Harding had pulled her starters entering the fourth quarter, but with the Saints filtering into the circle and earning their string of corners, Burnside was reinserted along with Sydney Riska, who used her long arms to intercept passes and neutralize pushes into the zone.