Sports 4 min read

Rye Country Day tops Hackley for its 15th NYSAIS field hockey title

By The Best News Network November 10, 2026

PURCHASE — Rye Country Day School's field hockey team fell to Hackley by two goals during the regular season but Monday at Manhattanville College it scored three times in the second quarter en route to defeating the Hornets 3-1 to win its 15th New York State Association of Independent Schools championship.

Hackley might have had a slight advantage in the first quarter but it was all Wildcats in the second quarter, with RCDS winning the race to multiple loose balls and creating penalty corner chances for itself.

In fact, two of the Wildcats' three goals came off corners with Alexandra Lund and CC Liu scoring.

Lund also scored the Wildcats' third goal off a tremendous, lifted right-to-left shot that landed in the cage's upper left corner.

What it means

This was the second straight NYSAIS title for RCDS, which made the final as the tournament's No 3 seed. It finished the season 9-4.

Hackley, the top seed, finished 10-5-1.

Player of the game

The game's top honor was shared by two Wildcats seniors, midfielder Bailey Donovan and goalie Lillian Pereira.

Donovan, who'll play lacrosse for Div. I Davidson, had multiple takeaways, including to keep offensive drives alive in the Hackley defensive and and on her own defensive end, particularly as Hackley tired everything to get another goal in the fourth quarter.

Pereira, who enjoyed good defensive support during that fourth quarter Hornet push, especially from Greta Leslie, Catharine Mohraz, Ryah Egan and Donovan, also made a couple of nice saves off corner chances, notched the shutout with five saves. She also had a couple of clears.

Stats

Hackley cut the Wildcats lead to two with 2:38 remaining in the third quarter when Charlotte Frazier scored off an Emelia Pieri assist.

Playing her final Hornets game between the pipes, Maddie Edwards had 12 saves, including a tough split save to keep her team in the game in the fourth quarter.

They said it

"They were pressuring us. The first quarter was pretty even. I feel like the second quarter maybe we got into our heads a little bit. … It was just one of those momentum things," Hackley coach Jenny Leffler said. "They sort of lifted their energy to leave everything on the field."

Pereira, who hopes to play collegiate club field hockey, said playing a tough schedule paid off at the end for her squad.

Donovan also pointed to momentum swinging. She said in the two clubs' initial game this season, her team had come out strong but after Hackley scored a couple of goals, the momentum shifted. But Monday, after Frazier scored, RCDS didn't sit back on its heels.

"We just kept playing our game and didn't think about what they were doing," Donovan said.

"I think our teamwork is what makes us the strongest," said Pereira, who, with Donovan and the rest of the Wildcats planned to celebrate the title together going out for frozen yogurt.

Nancy Haggerty covers sports for The Journal News/lohud

Semifinals stats

Below find stats from Hackley's semifinal victory over Chapin and Rye Country Day's semifinal win over Fieldston, which set up Monday's showdown between the rivals.

Hackley 4, Chapin 1

Hack

— Erin O'Rourke: 1G

— Bridget Frazier: 1G

— Adelle Hostetler: 1G

— Charlotte Frazier: 1G

— Emelia Pieri: 3A

— Maddie Edwards: 5S

Chap

— Vera Heintz: 1G

— Emely Ombalino: 12S

Other scores