Mayhem From Metzgar: Easton Field Hockey Defeats Phillipsburg 2-1 in Controversial Finish

By, Shane Dunn

Phillipsburg and Easton have one of the most storied rivalries in high school football, playing each other annually on Thanksgiving since 1914. We are still more than a month away from the annual football tradition, but the rivalry has bled into other sports. Monday night, the rival programs faced off in field hockey for the second consecutive year. 

The game took place at Rappolt Field at Lafayette College in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, a special neutral-site location for the rivalry series. Despite the colder conditions, the beautiful sunset and large crowd turnout from both schools created an incredible scene for such a big game.

This was the final road game of a five-game stretch for Phillipsburg, as well as its last game in Pennsylvania this season. Despite a loss to Chatham in their previous contest, the Stateliners walked into Lafayette with their heads held high and an emphatic attitude pregame.

Easton has had quite the year itself heading into the matchup, with two players, Avery Causa and Cecilia Greg, ranking among the top 25 in assists in Pennsylvania. The Red Rovers have also received a wildly successful scoring season from Lexi Cuvo, who ranks 21st in the state in goals scored.

The game started with Easton dominating the majority of possession, but the Stateliner defense held its own against a very talented Easton offense. Possession remained in Easton’s favor for most of the first quarter, but Phillipsburg’s student section began filing in halfway through and came alive for its team, providing a noticeable boost during big moments despite the neutral-site setting.

Whether it was students or student-athletes, Phillipsburg had large numbers show up to support the field hockey team Monday.After a Red Rover third quarter that pushed the pace but didn’t result in points, the tension could be cut with a knife heading into the fourth.

Easton came out pushing the pace even more than it had in the third. While it took a while to break down Phillipsburg’s defense, Easton scored its first goal of the game with just under five minutes remaining. The goal came on a deep shot from the top of the circle by senior Abby Rinda, her sixth of the year and eighth of her career with the Red Rovers.

Most opposing student sections would start to turn down the decibels in a moment like this. Not Phillipsburg.

The new tie score ignited a fire in the Stateliner student section, making the final 4:39 of regulation riveting. Three minutes later, Avery Causa added a goal to her unreal campaign this season, giving Easton the lead with under 90 seconds remaining in regulation.

After a back-and-forth finish, Phillipsburg managed to earn an untimed penalty corner on the final play of the game, getting one final chance to send the game to overtime. Phillipsburg shot and seemingly scored, but the goal was immediately waved off by an official, causing mayhem from Metzgar.

Easton was declared the winner after the goal did not count, and many spectators and players on the field didn’t know how to feel. The decision on the final play was not announced over the speaker system, so, like many others in the crowd, I was left without an answer.

Regardless of the ending, the Red Rovers’ comeback was a thing of legend and will go down as a memorable chapter of the Phillipsburg-Eastон rivalry, even if there’s no Turkey to go along with it.

Easton improves to 9-6 on the season with two games remaining on its schedule, looking primed for a promising playoff run. With the loss, the Stateliners drop to 6-8 and will take on Bridgewater-Raritan at home Thursday.