SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – On Wednesday evening there was a field hockey game between Saratoga and Shaker, although there was a lot more going on than just field hockey.
“Today was the day and we definitely made her proud,” Aubrey Ide said of Saratoga’s Pink Game, which was in memory of their former coach, Beth Roberts. “We wanted to do something extra to honor her memory. She was definitely here with us today. She’s here with us everyday.”
The Blue Streak’s 5-1 victory almost seemed like an afterthought on an day that included a halftime ceremony, as well as a postgame lantern tribute in honor of Roberts.
Allie Shamberger, a junior, got Saratoga on the board first with a goal early in the first quarter. Senior captain Lily Gutch tacked on the Blue Streak’s second goal later on in the period. They’d take a 2-0 lead going into halftime.
“It felt awesome,” Shamberger said of scoring the first goal in the Pink Game. “I knew that she was cheering for us the whole time. She’d always be cheering our names and it was like I could hear her cheering my name today after the goal.”
Shamberger recalled that the last time did an interview after a game, Roberts first gave her a pep-talk and then coached her through it.
“I was freaking out and she just kept telling me it was okay and to breathe,” Shamberger said of a postgame interview last season. “Coach Roberts helped me out with what to say and I felt so much more confident with her there by my side.”
During the ceremony at halftime, Saratoga’s captains Addison Carmer, Lauren Barlow and Lily Gutch spoke about the Pink Game and Coach Roberts. They spoke in front of their teammates, the crowd and head coach Jo-Anne Hostig, who was standing with Beth Roberts’ son, Andrew.
Hostig then spent a majority of the second half with Andrew, as she had plenty of volunteer coaches there to help her out the rest of the game.
“It was awesome that he was here,” Hostig said of Andrew. “The team hasn’t seem him. We haven’t seen him. It made the night complete. It’s hard enough not having her and he’s an extension of her. It gave us comfort that we’re paying it forward, that he was here and we’re going to keep spreading the word about how his mother was so great.”
In addition to Sara Marshall, who is Saratoga’s official assistant coach, Kristen Dart, Lynsday Eddy and Sarah Winters were all on the sidelines helping out. All four played field hockey at Saratoga for Hostig and Roberts and have, at one point, been on the coaching staff.
“They know exactly what I want the girls to do because they’ve done this before,” Hostig said. “They understand what our philosophy is and what Saratoga’s about. They felt it was super important for them to be here because the played under us and got to coach with us.”
Tonight was about a lot more than field hockey🏑 pic.twitter.com/avTosDWiXL
— Kyle Adams (@kasportsnews) October 14, 2021
When the second half of the game picked up, Ide decided that it was time to put it out of reach for the Blue Bison. The junior delivered two goals, one in the third quarter and one in the fourth, making it 4-0 Saratoga.
Shaker was able to get on the board in the fourth quarter, avoiding the shutout.
Hailey Kopraski put in Saratoga’s fifth goal with just over two minutes left in the game.
“This has been a hard season for us and we’ve come a long way,” Ide said. “It was awesome to see all these coaches come back to support Coach Roberts and our teammates.”
The proceeds form the Pink Game will go towards the Beth Roberts Scholarship Fund at Schuylerville High School. As the season has progressed, other schools have taken notice of the absence from Saratoga’s sideline. The Shenendehowa field hockey team presented the Blue Streaks with flowers and a donation to the scholarship fund. Columbia offered flowers and Burnt Hills wore pink when they came to Saratoga.
“You’re rivals with these teams on the field, but you develop relationships, you talk to each other and Beth was so good with that,” Hostig said.
Join us Wed. Oct 13 for our annual Toga FH Pink Game. All donations collected will go to the Schuylerville Teachers Association. Memo- Beth Roberts Scholarship Fund. We will accept checks, Venmo and of course cash. Come watch Toga take on Shaker Jv-4:15 and Varsity 6:30. pic.twitter.com/XBwzlzeqbh
— Saratoga Field Hockey (@TogaFieldhockey) October 12, 2021
After the game, Saratoga players walked off the turf away from the lights and into the dark football practice field, where they began the lantern lighting.
“On Monday night, I thought about how we could do a tribute to her, aside from just the Pink Game and how we could release our energy in a positive direction,” Hostig said. “I knew that we couldn’t get to her, but I was hoping the lanterns would get us a little bit closer and hopefully she enjoyed the show.”
“I had never done this before. I had YouTube’d it and I was like ‘okay, this doesn’t look hard’. It was a little harder than I thought.”
FINAL: SARATOGA 5, SHAKER 1
Saratoga Springs High School
Saratoga Springs, NY
SHAKER 0-0-0-1 — 1
SARATOGA 2-0-1-2 — 5
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HIGH SCHOOL FIELD HOCKEY: Saratoga gets some closure; wins Pink Game 5-1 against Shaker - The Saratogian
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