One week before the West Point Invitational, the Boston’s ladies went traveled to West Point to prepare for the upcoming tournament. For Vibe Drostgaard, Monica Plassen, Marianne Andersen, Blandine Antoine, Sanja Popovic, Alex McCaffrey and Karin Geisendoerfer it was their first game in Boston jerseys. For Alex, it was even her first handball game ever, and it turned out to be a very successful start.
First, Boston matched up with West Point’s more experienced team, West Point Black. A full bench allowed them to rotate nearly all players around and try out different combinations. West Point impressed by creating turn overs and combinations that often put their wing player, No. 8 – Bandi, into action, giving her a chance to individually tally up 8 goals. West Point dominated the first half, as Boston still had to find their rhythm integrating new players. Monica continued to keep Boston alive, adding several goals from the wing and left back positions after faking her opponent in one-on-one situations. As the team became more comfortable together on the court, Boston started to create more openings for their players, and a more evenly played second half appeared. West Point ended up keeping their lead and winning 20:15.
Boston played a second game against the West Point Gold team which was supported by German army exchange student Boekenkroeger. Boston’s Scandinavian trio, Vibe, Monica, and Marrianne, initiated nice combinations often finished by Sarah Whitley who was on a scoring streak, shooting the majority of her 10 goals in this game. Alex demonstrated that she quick ability to learn and adapt to a new sport by shooting 2 goals precisely in the upper corner, leaving West Point’s goalie without a chance. Boston ended up gaining confidence as a team and took a 20:13 win home against the Gold team. Since playing time on a full court is rare, Boston convinced West Point to play another 30 min against a mix of Black and Gold.
In the end, Boston left exhausted, but felt well prepared for the coming weekend. Boston Team Handball extended a great thanks to both the West Point teams and their coaches for offering and arranging a day of competitive and friendly scrimmages.
S. Hansen