Clinton varsity field hockey scored a second-half goal in sideways rain against Canastota to win a weather-shortened 1-0 game at home last Monday.
Canastota was playing a great game too. At one point they managed six or seven shots in a row with all rejected by defenders or Clinton goalie Sydney Bialek. Bialek picked up four saves in 10 seconds.
After that it was up to Clinton to put the ball in the Canastota goal and win the game. So with neither team giving an inch, even in the mud, the rain, the dark clouds and growing darkness making visibility difficult, the teams battled to a scoreless halftime tie and were the only people having fun in the weather at that point.
Fans without umbrellas got a full halftime of standing in the growing storm which went from inconvenient to a prank quickly as whipping winds now decided to greet a heavy rain. Everything got soaked. Somehow stuff got muddy.
There were still nine and a half minutes left in halftime. A few minutes later the players stepped back out for warmups.
And they played back and forth in the weather slipping occasionally but generally unfazed. Halfway through the second half, a scramble at midfield showed Clinton junior Gianna Trunfio in the middle of it, making a play.
The ball started working its way upfield and Trunfio ran past everybody, just outrunning everybody with the ball to the Canastota goal.
In the same moment the Canastota goalie…