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EAP Summer Academy July 2&3 - Venom Exclusive Registration - Public Registration Starts Friday!

Tue, 05 May 2026 18:10:09 GMT

LEAP ACADEMY

This is it.

Leap Academy is coming to Pittsburgh.

Two days. World-class coaches. High-performance environment.

If you’re serious about performing at the highest level — this is where it happens.

�� Dates & Location

2 & 3 July

��South Pointe Field House, 4000

⏰ Thursday: 11:00am–4:00pm

⏰ Friday: 9:00am–2:00pm

�� Price – $398

�� REGISTRATION IS NOW LIVE!

⏱️ Only 75 spots available. Once they’re gone — that’s it.

�� The registration link is here to sign up - https://www.leaphockey.com/product/pittsburg-pa-2026

Set your alarm. Be ready to sign up.

See you on the field,

Ronan Taggart & The Leap Hockey Team

Venom Summer Scrimmages 2026

Tue, 05 May 2026 18:08:30 GMT

2026 SUMMER SCRIMMAGES

 North Park Sports Complex

2318 Wildwood Rd, Gibsonia, PA 15044

7:30pm-8:30pm

July 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th,

August 6th

Open to players U14-U19

Play pick-up field hockey this summer! Stay sharp for the fall season. Warm-up + organized scrimmages. Venom coaches on-site to supervise and give feedback.

$30/session

$135 for all 5 sessions.

April 06, 2026 | Introducing Bridges Adaptive Field Hockey (Pittsburgh)

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 14:50:14 GMT

Hello Venom Family!

We would like to introduce Bridges Adaptive Field Hockey , a new adaptive, disability-inclusive field hockey team serving the greater Pittsburgh area. Bridges is the first adaptive field hockey team in Western PA and the Great Lakes Region. Lydia Smeltz is the founder and head coach of the team.

Her mission is to:

Increase access to field hockey for athletes with disabilities;
Build relationships between disabled and non-disabled athletes in the greater Pittsburgh region; and
Raise community and healthcare awareness of the importance of physical activity for people with disabilities.

They are actively recruiting athletes with disabilities to join the team. All genders and ages are welcome! They will have a variety of adaptive equipment to best accommodate each athlete’s needs and maximize their experience.

Spring practices will be held on Saturdays 10-11am April 25, May 9, and June 6 at the Brookline Rec Center . You can participate for one date or all three. More details are included in the sign up:

https://glrfieldhockey.playbookapi.com/programs/more_info/class_package/62507/

Thank you for helping us grow inclusive field hockey in our community. We truly believe there is a sport for everyone and we look forward to expanding opportunities in Pittsburgh!

LET'S GO VENOM!

Longstreth Official Equipment Partnership

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:11:18 GMT

We are excited to partner with the leading Field Hockey Supplier in the USA! Join The club to get access to our club discount!

NFHCA Recruits Club Membership Access

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 22:46:24 GMT

Join the top NCAA Recruiting platform in the USA for Field Hockey!

HELLO VENOM FAMILY!

As a club we pride ourselves on our recruits that we send out into the world. In our 10+ years of sending kids to college we have boasted a wide range or schools and levels from D2 & D3 all the way to D1 National Champions Northwestern where Venom alum Kayla Joyce (GK) currently plays and wears a National Championship Ring!

Alongside our NCAA recruitment tournaments that we go to, National Indoor Tournament, Shooting Star Thanksgiving NCAA Showcase, Regional Club Championships, Shooting Star Easter NCAA Showcase, we have partnered with the NFHCA and their recruiting platform which ALL NCAA coaches use. The NFHCA is the National Field Hockey Coaches Association. Every NCAA and ultimately every coach in the USA is a member of the NFHCA. It is the meeting ground and learning center for all Field Hockey Coaches. They also are a part of hosting the Shooting Star Showcase tournaments.

We already have some members signed up and using the platform, if YOU have already paid money to be on the platform, please contact me and we can get you added to the club platform.

If you wish to become a member you can join for the lower cost of $250/year, the club will make up the difference as our investment into you helping you get recruited to college.

NFHCARecruits is the software platform behind our club’s recruiting process and is endorsed by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA). We chose NFHCARecruits to ensure that you all have access to best-in-class technology to take control of your recruiting process. The NFHCARecruits platform is powered by SportsRecruits, so to learn more about the capabilities of the platform, check out this quick 5-minute video: Platform Overview - Why SportsRecruits.

The NFHCA created their own recruiting platform and we have become a member club, where you can use the platform to connect with NCAA coaches, see their avaliability and what tournaments they might be attending. A central platform to put your grades and hockey resume and use it to connect with every NCAA coach in the country.

We will be holding virtual seminars on recruiting, best practices for contact with college coaches as well as tips on how to make your highlight reel and which clips to send. As well as how to act at showcases and what college coaches are really looking for i.e sideline behavious and attitude when things don’t go well.

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me: ben@pittsburghfieldhockey.com

Coach Ben

2026 Spring Season Info & Registration Details

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 22:03:38 GMT

Register today to join our Spring season & new ELITE for OUTDOOR!

Hello Venom Family!

We have opened Spring Registration for Non-Travel & Travel as usual.

BIG NEWS we are making another evolution in the club this season by adding ELITE to our Spring programming with our sights on the USAFH Regional Club Championships!

In additional to Travel programming our ELITE will attend two practices a week (WED & SUN) & tournament then a 3 Day 11v11 Regionals in Louisville and if we come in the top 3 we qualify for USAFH National Club Championships at the end of June in Virginia Beach.

ELITE is open to any travel member but final selections will be made for the RCC team so if you do not think you can play at the top level Travel is for you.

LET'S GO VENOM!

Winter 2025/26 Registration is LIVE!

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 22:00:47 GMT

Register today to secure your spot this season!

Hello Venom Family!

We are very excited to announce our Winter Indoor Information & Registration links! We have expanded our Elite programming this season for even more activities! We have some very exciting news to share in the next few weeks! Registration is open and we expect all sessions to fill up so please get your registrations in quick to avoid missing out and being placed on our waitlist.

LET'S GO VENOM!

2025 Spring Season Is LIVE!

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:59:12 GMT

Hello Venom Family!

The spring season registration is LIVE! This year we have expanded our Spring season to three locations. Our usual North location in North Park Sportsplex on Sunday mornings. South is at Southpointe Fieldhouse on Friday afternoons and our new location is All American Field House in the East on Wednesday evenings!

We have both our Non-Travel and Travel options at all our locations and you can register for multiple locations at a discounted rate. We also have signed up for Shooting Star Jamboree in April which is our Spring NCAA Showcase. More information on the website.

We look forward to seeing you back on the turf after the long Winter inside!

LETS GO VENOM!

NEW WEBSITE & WINTER INDOOR 2024/25 REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

Tue, 10 Sep 2024 02:14:02 GMT

NEW WEBSITE & WINTER INDOOR 2024/25 REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

VENOM WINTER INDOOR 2024/25 INFORMATION

NEW WEBSITE!

Hello Venom Family!

We have teased it for a while now and its finally here! A NEW WEBSITE! To move into the next stage of our Black & Gold rebranding we have officially moved to our new website which has allowed us to be more indpendent. Taking the middle men (SportsEngine) out off the equation and be able to take everything inhouse with a better experience for you with a more direct approach to registration taking and payment. Both web addresses will still work as we have a couple of options to direct to our new digital home. This should mean it will be easier to get the information and register for all future Venom events!

PITTSBURGHVENOM.COM

PITTSBURGHFIELDHOCKEY.COM

The new system is the similar to our old registration. You go onto the Winter Indoor 2024/25 page and you can learn all about the options as well as indoor hockey and the differences from outdoor hockey. Once you decide which season you wish to enroll in, Non-Travel, Travel & Elite Travel, fill out the registration form and once it prompts you to pay. You can click the payment button to pay us directly through Square in your own payment method. Either in full, or selecting a payment plan subscription in which you can divide the payment into smaller amounts.

Families with multiple athletes please use the coupon code (SIBLING20%) for the multi athlete discount.

Once you pay and you receive the confirmation e-mail from us you're good to go! We will contact you with more information closer to the field hockey season. We have more exciting things to announce soon like our new Uniforms & Pinneys!

We are also switching over our mailing list from SportsEngine so this may be the last e-mail from this platform. If you receive another e-mail from Pittsburgh Venom Hockey Club or BeeHiiv please add us to your contacts as a trusted e-mail source.

Please contact us if you have any more questions or concerns.

Venom Summer / Fall Clinics REGISTRATION OPEN NOW!

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:56 GMT

Venom Summer / Fall Clinics REGISTRATION OPEN NOW!

HELLO VENOM FAMILY!

We have listened to all of your responses from the questionnaire, thank you for everyone for your input and we are excited to offer our first full Summer & Fall programming!

The Summer / Fall season is a per session signup as we know everyone has different plans. Please sign up quickly as we expect these to fill up and we do have a limit so if you can't register for a particular clinic, then it is full. If clinics start filling up we may look at expanding the clinic if there is space. Once the High School season starts we transition into a Skill & Pick-Up Scrimmaging with coaches to keep everyone sharp and a space to play in the fall for anyone who doesn't have school hockey!

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns,

LET'S GO VENOM!

VENOM HOCSOCX!! First Order Run | Spots still open on the Shooting Star Jamboree roster!

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:54 GMT

VENOM HOCSOCX!! First Order Run | Spots still open on the Shooting Star Jamboree roster!

Hello Venom Family!

We still have a couple of open sports on the roster for the spring NCAA recruit showcase which is the Shooting Star Jamboree in Delaware April 13-14th 2024. If you would like to come please let us know ASAP we have finalized our practices and need to confirm the roster in the next week.

We are delighted to announce with our new branding comes our first piece of Black & Gold Merch! Hocsox have come up with this design for our first run of their under pad socks. What are hocsox? From their website Hocsocx.com :

"Hocsocx were founded by sports mom and pharmacist, Debbie, out of necessity for her daughters who play field hockey. Debbie founded that by wearing Hocsocx under their shin guards and pads, her daughters did not develop shin guard rash and irritation like many of their teammates. Our specially designed socks added no bulk to the shoe, stayed in place and felt amazing to wear. The girls loved them! Hocsocx were born!"

The first design is below and will be available in full toe socks and leg sleeves:

Socks:

Small: Shoe Size Youth13-4

Medium: Shoe Size 5-10

Large: Shoe Size 10-14 (Goalies tend to get the large for full coverage as they are 3” longer than medium)

Leg Sleeves:

The “footless” Hocsocx are 13” long (One size fits most).

$25/pair (Footless Sleeves or Traditional Hocsocx)

If you would like to order please fill out this order form. We will be closing this order on March 30th 2024.

VENOM HOCSOCX ORDER FORM

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns,

LET'S GO VENOM!

Club Statement - Rebrand

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:53 GMT

Club Statement - Rebrand

Dear Venom Family,

This year is special to me in more ways than you may know, in addition to umpiring the 2023 Pan American Games, 2023 Junior World Cup & Season 5 FIH Pro League Argentina this Winter Season. This is also the end of a period of time where I owed the previous owner for Venom.

In 2017 Rutger Wiese (the previous owner) was appointed to be the Head Coach of the USA Men's National Team. As an employee of USAFH he could no longer own a member club. I was the first Assistant Coach in the spring of 2011. I had stuck with the club through thick and thin. From 6am practices in Winchester Thurston Gym and taping goals to the walls to shoot at, to running both U14 on one side and U16/19 on the other side by myself to manage spring coaching when the other assistant was sick. While working with him in Pittsburgh I learnt how to run the club and how to become a better coach until he moved away in 2015 to become the Assistant Coach of Harvard. He made me Head Coach and we worked our way from 6 members in 2011 all the way to a healthy 45 in 2017 when he handed over complete control with a contract to pay him in arrears in any time frame I could make it work. The dream scenario for an aspiring Umpire/Coach in his late 20's.

I took the plunge and quit my bartending job to concentrate on running Venom as well as my Umpiring Career. From my experience with Rutger and previous coaches I realized I wouldn't be able to do it alone and quickly made the correct decision to hire a No. 2. By bringing in a local NCAA Head Coach Kyla Spallone I knew that I would have someone I could trust to help us grow the level of youth Field Hockey in Western PA. We started with a Coach first philosophy by making all our coaches go through the USAFH Coaching courses and helping our own sustainability by hiring previous club members Emily Humiston & Kirtsen Rambo to join the coaching ranks. Over the years from humble beginnings we are now a National powerhouse with a membership of over 200+ athletes over Winter & Spring with 10 Coaches on staff with Youth Director Sanda Zugell.

Since 2017 we have changed the philosophy of Venom from a small club mindset and limited skill availability, to an eclectic range of Field Hockey athletes across the club and pushing for an Elite program rolling out next Winter. We have earned 6 National Indoor Championships as well as numerous Spooky Nook Regular Season Tournament Wins Indoor and Outdoor. With another year of qualifying at least 1 team at each USA National Indoor Tournament U14, U16 & U19 we have cemented ourselves with National recognition.

Pittsburgh is unique in many ways. It’s the only city in the world with all of the professional sports franchises colors to be the same as the colors of the city. In keeping with the tone of Pittsburgh, the City of Champions, we feel that this is the perfect time to align ourselves with the other great sports franchises that live in this City. To separate ourselves from the competition in the region. To strive for the excellence that Western Pennsylvania expects.

We know that a change like this can be frustrating for new and old members who have may just invested in our Navy & White uniforms and apparel. Our new supplier has assured us that our new uniforms will be cheaper than the last and we will be selling them at a discount for at least the first two years to help the financial burden this may cause. We will be soft rolling out the change with Pinney's & Uniforms available to purchase. We will either go all Pinneys or a mix of uniforms to be worn for Spring, it doesn’t break any rules to mix at tournaments except at National Events. To help with the change we encourage all currently owned Black & Gold Pittsburgh sports team apparel for support and practices. There is more exciting news to come. I cannot wait to see where we can go in the new era of Pittsburgh Venom FHC.

Benjamin Peters

Club Administrator

Venom Hockey Store - SOLD OUT EQUIPMENT

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:52 GMT

Venom Hockey Store - SOLD OUT EQUIPMENT

Hello Venom Hockey Family!

We have had such an overwelming interested in our first ever product launch! We have had so many orders that we have SOLD OUT of most of our items. We are looking at re-stocking but due to the massive interest we have had to shut down some of the items online. Please forgive us as we didn't expect such a rush on our gear. If you still need indoor equipment please go to Longstreth.com to purchase any equipment you still need for this indoor season. Please contact me, Coach Ben (ben@pittsburghfieldhockey.com) with any eqiuipment questions you may have.

LETS GO VENOM!

Winter Indoor Season '23/'23 Registration Open Now!

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:49 GMT

Register for this years edition of Venom Winter Indoor Season!

2023 Shooting Star Thanksgiving Showcase Nov 24-26th - Reply to register

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:48 GMT

We are looking for athletes for this years NCAA Shooting Star Thanksgiving Showcase.

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2023 Summer Shoot 'n Save Clinics - Register Today!

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:46 GMT

This summer's Shoot 'n Save clinics are open to registration!

Pittsburgh Pirates to host Venom & Field Hockey Night!

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:45 GMT

Pittsburgh Pirates to host Venom & Field Hockey Night!

Hello Venom Family!

We have partnered with the Pittsburgh Pirates this year for one of their theme nights. They are celebrating local Field Hockey and have partnered with us to do so! If you are a current member you will be invited down to the warning track for a pregame salute!

Atlanta Braves @ Pittsburgh Pirates

PNC Park

Tuesday August 8th 2023 7:05pm

$35 Lower Level (including: $10 concession credit)

$25 Upper Level (including $10 concession credit)

If you would like to book 10 or more tickets please contact Maggie Koroly: Maggie.Koroly@pirates.com or 412-325-4766.

USAFH 2022 Awards Popular Vote

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:44 GMT

VOTE NOW: People's Choice Voting

Now Open for USA Field Hockey's 2022 Annual Awards

USA Field Hockey is pleased to announce that people’s choice voting is now open for USA Field Hockey's 2021 Annual Awards. Over the course of the past several weeks, USA Field Hockey received nominations from numerous individuals to build the nominees for the following award categories: Grow the Game Award, National Coach Award, National Umpire Award and National Club of the Year Award.

Now it’s time for the people to choose! Please visit the links below to vote and show your support.

Each fan can vote once per award during the voting window. Votes can be changed during the time frame but revisiting the link, but only one vote per IP address counts. USA Field Hockey will accept votes from Wednesday, December 7 to Wednesday, December 21 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Winners will be announced and honored on usafieldhockey.com the week of January 2, 2023.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Statement from Club Owner Benjamin Peters

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:41 GMT

Statement from Club Owner Benjamin Peters

Hello Venom Family!

As we kick off this year's Winter Indoor season I would like to share with you some updates that have happened this off season. We are now Award Winning! We have been awarded 2022’s Best Youth Organization by the city of Bridgeville! A wonderful surprise and recognition of excellence from our players & coaches.

When I started as assistant coach with the club in 2010 we had 7 athletes, two of which are coaches today (Coach Emily & Coach Rambo), in Winchester Thurston’s gym with tape goals to shoot at for two hours on Sunday morning’s. Then going to tournaments and getting beat by 20 goals each game. Today 12 years on our programming spans the entire week with all levels being catered for from beginners to the game to graduating NCAA athletes. Now when we go to tournaments, we are coming away with medals, championships and undefeated seasons!

Over the past 5 years that I took over ownership of the club we have grown from 35 athletes and pushing for NIT qualifications to 130 for this season so far & 5 National Indoor Championships in the past 4 years. The club has taken on a life of its own as anything does when it grows. We are now an established winning club with a national presence. With that development comes more responsibilities and restructuring as the club grows. Coupled with my duties as Club Director of Venom I have been pursuing my dream of Umpiring our sport at the highest levels in the world. I started umpiring back in England at the age of 15. Back then I quickly figured out I was a much better umpire than a player. When I moved to the USA at 19 years old I was told I had a future at the International level. I started my international career in tandem with my Venom one. This year I have been appointed to the Nations Cup in South Africa which is the inaugural FIH Pro-League Qualifier. This tournament is for countries ranked 9th-16th in the world to get into the Pro-League, which is a year-long tournament for teams ranked 1st-8th, at the end of the season the lowest team in the league gets replaced by the Nation’s Cup winner.. The Nation’s Cup Tournament is being held in South Africa from November 27th - December 5th 2022. To properly prepare for this international event I have been given the opportunity to go to England and umpire their National League. I will be leaving for Europe on November 11th to prepare for my biggest challenge yet internationally.

With my increasing international duties I am finding myself away from Pittsburgh at inopportune times in the Venom season. With this becoming more and more likely we have decided to officially re-structure the Venom leadership. I will be taking the mantle of Owner & Coach and we are promoting our Coaching Director Kyla Spallone to Club Director and all the responsibilities that will entail. This in turn will mean we will be promoting Head Coaches to take responsibilities of individual teams to align our structure with the bigger clubs in the nation. I will still be managing the club’s administration and I will also be coaching for the club but Kyla will be taking on the responsibilities of managing the club teams, coaches, curriculum & tournaments.

This is a very exciting time for our sport and club. We have been growing every year and we have shown what happens when you have dedicated people all working together for a common goal. Our success on the court and field was unheard of a decade ago in Pittsburgh. Now people look at us in Western PA as a force to be reckoned with. I cannot wait to see where we will go this year and in the future with our new professional club structure.

Benjamin Peters, Owner

As we enter this next year of indoor field hockey and with Coach Ben’s role being adjusted to fit what is best for the club, I think it is important for everyone to understand how lucky we are to have him as our leader here within the club. I have been with this club team since 2017 and I have had the opportunity to watch the club grow, but also other coaches along with it. Coach Ben has always stated his talents lie on the umpiring side of field hockey rather than the coaching side and I think it is important for everyone to know just how much he has accomplished across the years. At this point in time, he has umpired all over the world from here in North America to Europe to South America to Australia and this upcoming winter he will be traveling to Africa to continue his journey. He first started his international career out as a youth umpire and has worked his way with both mens and womens field hockey to his next journey at the Nations Cup. This next tournament is where he pushes his career even further along and closer to his ultimate goal of hopefully being an umpire at a summer Olympic Games and with that an opportunity to umpire the Top Teams in the world in the FIH Pro League. He actually will more than likely get his 50th international “cap” while at this tournament. Not only has Coach Ben succeeded on the international level but he has helped put and keep Pittsburgh field hockey on the map with his coaching ability and his extensive connections with collegiate coaches and USA field hockey personnel alike.

His relationships with NCAA coaches extend from the very best of the best to Division II and Division III schools as well. Last year alone, he was one of the umpires selected to work the Final Four for Division II and the ACC Championship. He is continuously taking his facetime with these coaches to remind them of our excellent club team and Pittsburgh field hockey in general.

When you really get to break down all of what he has accomplished, you can see how important both Venom and his umpiring career is to him. I hope everyone can understand those moments to which he needs to prioritize his umpiring and allow us as the hometown coaches to not just hold down the fort but continue to push this club forward without his day to day guidance.

I look forward to stepping into this role within the club’s structure and seeing our own head coaches continue the successes we have seen across the past few years.

Kyla Spallone, Club Director

LET'S GO VENOM!

2022 National Indoor Tournament Recap - U19 Blue Pool S National Champions!

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:40 GMT

2022 National Indoor Tournament Recap - U19 Blue Pool S National Champions!

U14 NIT 2/19-21

U14 Blue - Pool BB | 2W-2L-1T | 4th Place

The very young Venom U14 National Indoor Tournament team traveled to Spooky Nook in Lancaster, PA in February 2022. The very young group boasted only three 13yr olds coupled with two 10yr olds & the rest were 12, making this a very young and feisty team. The tournament started on Saturday 19th Feb in the evening against Competitive Edge. The game started off even with the Venom girls getting settled on the National stage. Slowly the Venom U14’s took control of the game and outplayed Competitive Edge and the goals started to go in. First to break the deadlock was Captain Lilliana Rose who scored on a Penalty Corner from Addison Burns who inserted the set piece.. Burns then took the ball and buried it from a well played baseline run from Ava Williams to get Venom’s second goal. Competitive Edge got one past the Venom defense to bring it to 2-1 but then the floodgates broke and the Venom goals started to flow. Violet Kucler got the third from another baseline assist from Williams. Ava Williams got her own when Kucler returned the favor for the fourth. Williams got another when Addison Burns assisted on a breakout pass through the middle of the court. Exploiting the weak right hand side of the court was Addison to put in Venom’s sixth from a Williams baseline run. Violet netted the seventh from another Williams baseline run assist. Violet Kucler got the eighth and final Venom goal from another Burns assist. When the final horn blew, the game ended 8-2 sending the Blue team to a victory. Formidable club Alley Cats from the east side of the state were up next. After the first minute it was clear the opposition were much more experienced for the pool level and had been playing together for multiple years. The Venom U14’s stood strong and never hung their heads as goals went in. The game ended 0-14 to the eventual pool winners who swept each team by 10+goals. The resilience was on show as a much more level game against Empower was next. The game was a tight one with neither team giving many opportunities at goal. Goalkeeper Genevive Hanson coupled with defenders Layney O’Brian, Hannah Markowitz, Grace Chrobak & captain Lilliana Rose all came together to stop nearly all of the Empower attacks. Only one goal went past the Venom defense which set up the offense nicely. With the penalty corner count even between both teams the chances were slim. Finally Ava Williams got a goal from a clever penalty corner inserted from Rose. Neither team could get another break to put in another one as the game ended tied at 1-1. Monday morning brought the final two games of Nationals. First up was Next Level FH. A stout defense from Next Level stopped every Venom attempt. Over the 40 mins of play only a couple of goals went in through the Venom defense but with no offensive goals the game ended 0-3 handing the team their second loss of the tournament. Strikers FHC were last on the schedule to potentially bring the record .500 with a win. After the tough loss in the morning, the Venom youngsters rallied to bring it all in the final game. The venom offense was fiery, getting 11 penalty corners to the Strikers’ 4. The PC opportunities were grabbed first by Ava Williams from an insert by Liliana Rose. After a Strikers attacking play, Williams went end to end pulling around 3 defenders and the goalkeeper to put Venom up by 2. The final goal of the tournament was another penalty corner goal from captain Liliana Rose inserted from Williams. Only letting in 1 goal Genevive got her second win of the tournament bringing the final record 2W-2L-1T to come 4th on goal difference. Congratulations to the entire team stepping up and playing above their level at Nationals. Congratulations to player of the tournament Layney O’Brian & Ava Williams for most goals with 5 for the tournament.

U19 NIT 2/25-27

U19 White - Pool P | 1-2-2 | 5th Place

The U19’s took their talents down to Richmond, VA for the February 25th weekend to showcase what we have in Western PA. U19 White kicked off the tournament first as they were the highest qualified seed going into the weekend. Playing in Pool P they knew they had a battle on their hands each and every game going up against some of the biggest clubs in the country. Their first game was mid afternoon on Friday against PA rivals Pinnacle FHC. Always difficult to get into the Nationals mindset and speed of play, the Venom defense was tested early. After enduring some early pressure they got away with only letting one goal in. The play was fast and the most competent of the season. With a couple of mins left in the 1st half, Pinnacle put another one away. Going into the second half the U19 White team got into the groove and started making plays up the court. Finally they broke the Pinnacle barrier with a smart passing play from Callie Rautenbach led to Lauren Ghil rattling the backboard and getting the team’s first goal of the weekend. The second half didn’t go as planned as Pinnacle put in another two and Venom not getting any of their own, ending the game 1-4. Next up were rivals from the west, Ohio natives Field Hockey Life. As this game was only an hour and half since the first, the U19 White team was mentally prepped for the speed needed. A furious back and forth game proved the skill of both teams. The first venom goal was a nice board pass from the back, Mia Brinkley sent the ball to Rautenbach who got the first goal of the game. Quickly after scoring FHL got one of their own to tie the game. The penalty corner count was heavily in favor of the Venom team with 9-1 but they only managed to get one in, inserted from Ghil to set Rautenbach for her second of the game to make it 2-1. Another quick response from the Ohio team tied it at 2-2. Going into the last 5 mins of the game it looked like neither team could break the defense with goalkeeper Jordan Ashbaugh making some crucial saves to stop certain goals, with help from Julia DeFoggia, Mia Brinkley, Ava Zimmer & Abby Hershberger in front keeping them from scoring again. A very clever quick restart from Ghil got around the press, with a precise pass to Isabella Arnold in the circle gave her the space to pull around the goalkeeper to net the game winner in dramatic fashion. After securing the close 3-2 victory, the U19 White team ended the first day at .500 1W-1L, a successful first day. The second day started against New Jersey powerhouse Jersey Intensity. The beginning of Saturday was tougher than Friday night. The formidable Jersey team took the Venom side by surprise which set them on the back foot. Although the Penalty Corner stats were more even (1-3) the Jersey team found a new level and put 7 past the Venom side. A very tough game which didn’t see the Venom side drop their heads or break. A couple of good chances from the Venom offense that just didn’t manage to go in dropping the game 1-7. After dropping the first game of the day the U19 White team got together in the break and found a new determination for the game ahead. FSC the eventual tournament champions were next on the schedule. The team from Eastern PA took control of the ball but the Venom White mindset had changed, hustling to each and every ball, getting set into double teams knowing they had to step up for the game. FSC didn’t know what hit them. Some stout Venom defense and a swift counter attack, a quick pass out of the back from Mia Brinkley sent Bella Arnold 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper and she sent the ball far side and U19 White into the lead 1-0. A great game back and forth with every Venom victory bolstering their morale. The Philly rivals scored one on a penalty corner but that lead was quickly snapped when U19 white got a PC goal of their own. Inserted from Brinkley to DeFoggia at the top of the circle, a quick snapshot into the bottom corner sent U19 White up 2-1. As the clock was ticking down the talent was on display. With FSC knowing that a loss would have the tournament championship slip through their fingers, facing defeat they found one more piece of skill to even the game 2-2 to salvage some points.. The final horn sounded with U19 White being the only team in the tournament not to lose against this Eastern PA team. Headed into the final game on the final day the U19 White team were ready for their final match-up with Field Hockey Club of Connecticut. A great showcase of skill was on display. With Venom securing the PC advantage 5-1, they had the lion’s share of the possession. Captain Mary Wymard scored first from a passing play from Ashlyn King back to DeFoggia who slotted it back to Wymard who buried it to take Venom in the lead. The club from Connecticut didn’t back down, answering each time Venom scored. The second and third U19 White goals came from Penalty Corners drawn expertly on the right hand side by Madelyn Holmes. The PC routine was in full force when Brinkley set up DeFoggia once, then Ghill inserted to DeFoggia for her second in quick sucession. When the final horn sounded to end the tournament the score was tied 3-3. U19 White ended the tournament in 5th place with a record of 1W-2L-2T. A fantastic showcase of talent in Western PA, congratulations for playing up there with the best. Congratulations to Julia DeFoggia for scoring the most goals in the tournament with 3.

U19 Blue - Pool S | 4W-0L-1T | Champions

The U19 Blue team took to the National Stage late on Friday evening against Maryland Legacy Teal. With a lot of this roster coming back after winning a National Championship last year the experience was on show as mentally they had the edge on the Maryland opponents. The PC count was 11-6 in favor of the Venom side. With dominating control of the ball the Venom offense took their chances. Ava Hershberger got a pass from Fiona Kortyna for the first goal of the game. Then U19 Blue took their second of the game from a PC with a quick insert from Madison Keenan to Ava Hershberger who scored her second. After gaining a 2-0 lead the momentum changed in the Maryland favor but while the Venom defense buckled they did not break. With some strong defensive corners, goalkeeper captain Gwen Hershberger kept them off the scoresheet for the shutout with help from defenders Emma Barlett, Sophia Bovino, Danielle Deer & Annabelle Rose. Ava Hershberger scored her hat-trick from a very quick defensive free hit, she went up the middle around almost the entire Maryland defense to put the game away 3-0, a dominant first performance of the tournament. Headed into the second day the southern powerhouse Texas Pride Blue was the second matchup of this year’s NIT’s. With a renewed hunger, Venom Blue took their chances at every turn. Only one goal was let in for the Venom defense but with the offencive on fire the goals started flowing. Ava Hershberger got her first, a well placed pass from Madison Keenan got the Venom offense rolling. Delaney Lentz was second up for a goal. After watching the opposite line score they decided to get in on the action. Emma Barlet assisted as she passed through the middle to Lentz to get Venom up 2-0. To keep up with the line changes it was like each other wanted to keep the streak going back and forth, the Hershberger line went back out to score the third of the game from a link up play down the left, Lauren Kampi set up Hershberger to make it 3-0. At the end of their shift, an offensive penalty corner set up defender Annabelle Rose to score from Hershberger to bring it 4-1. The second half didn’t slow U19 Blue down with another Keenan/Hershberger assist/goal combo. Sofia Boyle also got in on the action with an assist from Delaney Lentz, who didn’t want to be left out and scored an unassisted goal to end the final tally at 7-1. With two good wins in the bag the real test of the tournament was up next, Nook Emerald & HUSEL. The Nook Emerald game was a tight one. With an absolute showcase of indoor hockey the play went back and forth. Nook drew blood first with a quick two goals. Not to be deterred, U19 Blue took it in their stride and trusted the system. The first to break the Nook defense was a well placed PC. Ava Hershberger struck first with a quick insert from Keenan. The second Venom goal to tie the game was another Hershberger PC from Rose. The play was hotly contested with each team getting good chances, both goalkeepers had to be on their toes to keep the scoreline low. A quick counter attack from A. Hershberger broke the tie as she busted through the Nook defenders and slid her third of the game past the goalkeeper to make it 3-2. With time ticking down the Nook players seemed to back off and defend. With some smart play up the right side of the court earned U19 Blue their 9th PC of the game. A quick insert from Kampit to A. Hershberger gave her a quick shot, which rebounded off the keeper’s chest back to her. After collecting it again and shooting, it was stopped by the keeper’s blocker only to rebound back at Ava’s feet. She took the ball one more time along the top of the circle and shot it low and to the left to finally beat the keeper for her fourth of the game. The final horn blew shortly after to end the game 4-2 and the day just at the top of the standings 2 points above HUSEL, setting up a big match up on Sunday. The final day started with a big match up for sole possession of top place in the tournament standings on the line. The game started like the last with the Maryland team HUSEL coming out of the gates hot and getting two quickly past the stout Venom defense. After going behind in all scoring categories the U19 Blue team rallied together mid game to turn the tide of goals. A. Hershberger got the first Venom goal with a nice breakout pass from Sophia Bovino in the back. Lauren Kampi decided to show her fighting spirit when she collected the ball on the left side and pulled around two defenders to score the equalizer. The game went back and forth and although they dropped the PC count 3-6 in favor of HUSEL the U19 Blue team didn't back down. They kept fighting and the fruits of their hard work showed when Kampi got her second of the game from a Keenan assist. With time ticking down and what seemed like the entire convention center spectators had made their way to Court 3 with much of the support going the Western PA team's way. In the last few minutes HUSEL took a late lead with some fine hockey getting past the Venom defense. In a late call A. Hershberger took the pushback immediately following the goal but instead of passing back, she ran directly into the HUSEL half. Taking the still celebrating team by surprise A. Hershberger took the ball around all 5 defenders to score the tying goal with seconds to go in the game. As the cheers for the final goal were dying down the game ended tied 4-4 with Venom keeping their edge by virtue of 2 points because HUSEL tied Nook earlier in the tournament. Only the Connecticut teamHTC stood in the way of U19 Blue claiming the national championship in their final game of the day. The objective was clear; win and become champions, tie or lose HUSEL wins. The CT team stood their ground going toe to toe with the Venom skill. A good back and forth game with the PA team getting the edge of possession and chances created with the PC line 12-4 in Venom's direction. What ended up being much needed Penalty Corners the first three Venom goals came from set pieces. A. Hershberger scored from Keenen passes twice and then Delaney Lentz got on the score sheet from an insert by AB Rose. The CT team didn’t pull any punches and they got one through the defense to make it 3-1 on a Penalty Stroke. With less than 3 to go in the tournament a fourth security goal from Fiona Kortyna got the would be the tournament winning goal from a Kampi shot assist. HTC took some chances in the dying minutes to get two more goals but it wasn't enough time to make the full comeback as the tournament ended with a 4-3 victory over HTC to clinch the outright Pool S National Championship with a 4W-0L-1T record. Congratulations for a hard fought battle from start to finish. A well deserved national championship with an individual congratulations to Ava Hershberger with most goals of the tournament with 15 over 5 games.

U16 NIT 3/4-6

U16 Blue - Pool C | 2W-3L-0T | 3rd Place

The final National Indoor Tournament of the playoff season was back in Lancaster, PA at the Spooky Nook sports complex. In a Venom record setting undefeated regular season. The U16 Blue team took 2nd place at their first & second regular season Nook Tournament’s, losing the tiebreaker on points each time due to ties. They then went to NIT Qualifiers and went undefeated to secure 1st overall ranking at Nationals, a first in club history. Then they went undefeated again at their final Spooky Nook regular season tournament and won two back to back tournament championships. Boasting a truly impressive 15-0L-3T record going into the final weekend of the season. By winning their entire Qualifying tournament in January the U16 Blue team was placed in the 3rd highest pool in the nation playing in Pool C going up against 5 of the top 18 teams in the country. First up was national headliner WC Eagles’ 3rd team on Friday morning on Court 1. The eastern powerhouse certainly thought that they were in for a rout against perceived weaker cross state competition. The U16 Blue team stunned the Eagles team by standing strong and not backing down and displaying the skill needed to compete with the top in the nation. With a couple of probing attacks it was U16 Blue who broke the deadlock and a well placed run up the middle putting Ava Hershberger on the scoreboard from a Josie Schomburg assist. They quickly scored an equalizer to bring the game level 1-1 off of some clever quick passing. The game intensified and the Western PA team didn’t relent, a nice passing play of their own led to Hershberger getting her second of the tournament from Isabella Elm to send the WC team behind again. WC are not a club who finds themselves behind in games too often and they showed why they ended up being eventual undefeated champions of the pool by systematically breaking down the Venom defense to put in 4 straight over the course of the next 15 mins of the game stopping all of the Venom attacks. The WC defense did break down once more from a well timed shot from Ava Williams who got it from Hershberger for the assist to end the game 3-5 in favor of the WC Eagles. A fantastic effort by U16 Blue standing tall and getting the most goals against the WC team over the course of the weekend. After a short respite Electric Surge was up next to end day one. The Delaware team proved to be worthy adversaries as each team in these pools won their respective qualifier. The U16 Blue team attacked the balls winning most 50/50’s to earn them the edge over the skilled Surge team. The first goal was a raised flick from Hershberger inserted by Isabella Elm to put the Venom team ahead. Williams got back into the goal scoring mood after Herberger slipped the ball to an open Williams who scored the 2nd goal of the game. The Surge offense broke the Venom defense of goalkeeper Kayla Joyce and defenders Mia Brinkley, Ava Zimmer and Hershberger only once to spoil the shutout but that was it. Rebuffing all other attacks while the U16 Blue team got one more set piece goal from inserter Zimmer to Hershberger to secure the victory 3-1 ending the day with an even record: 1W-1T. Saturday started early on Court 1 against New England titans Cape Ann FHC. An intense game back and forth put both teams to the test to gain the edge over the other. With all scoring stats even, none was able to break the deadlock. Ohio’s own Sofia Boyle got on the board first from a Hershberger assist which proved to be a very fruitful partnership over the course of the tournament. Cape Ann got one of their own and nearly got a second but standing tall in goal was Kayla Joyce who stopped a Penalty Stroke to keep them from going ahead. The familiar duo of a Hershberger assist from the middle to Boyle on the left sending in the game winner secured the victory as the PA team narrowly edged the CT team 2-1. Texas Pride was the late game of day two. The formidable team from the south proved to be just as competitive with both teams trading blows. Josie Schomburg scored the first Venom goal from a Hershberger assist. Then Texas replied with one of their own. The Venom defender duo decided to take matters into their own hands as Ava Zimmer made a passing play around the press to Mia Brinkley who took it into the circle and smashed in the second Venom goal. With play going back and forth it was a flurry of hockey as Texas got their own second goal to level the game again. A stretch passing play from Zimmer to Hershberger got the third Venom goal to put pressure on the Pride shoulders. Those shoulders could evidently burden the weight as a quick series of offensive plays managed to break the Venom defense twice to hand the U16’s a narrow loss in the last mins of the game. With a 2-2-0 record, 3rd place was on offer if the Xcalibur Lancers, one of the best teams in the country, could be held to a modest goal differential. Being the only other team who put 3 goals against the WC Eagles, the Xcalibur team showed their tournament fortitude and fitness by running their plays around the Venom defense. The U16’s buckled but they didn't break, limiting the Jersey offense as much as they could, even getting a counter attack goal from a quick run from Hershberger to slide the ball left to a waiting Boyle to get the only Venom goal against the powerful Jersey defense. By limiting the Xcalibur goal count to 6 and adding one of their own they managed to secure 3rd place in the pool and top 15 in the country by virtue of a higher goal difference than Texas Pride. Congratulations for your absolute stellar performance this weekend. You truly show how bright the future of Western PA field hockey! Also an individual congratulations to Ava Hershberger who scored 5 goals.

Congratulations to all Venom teams who traveled to Nationals at the end of the season, we can’t wait to see what you can do next year!

2021/22 2nd Winter Indoor Tournament Recap

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:39 GMT

2021/22 2nd Winter Indoor Tournament Recap

Hello Venom Family!

Saturday -

Early morning Saturday started with the U12’s kicking off a long day of hockey for the Venom Teams. The U12 Blue team went up against the host Nook Black team and after getting a short corner 42 seconds into the tournament and a disallowed goal they earned their donuts at next practice! Unfortunately they dropped the game 0-3 but with lots of opportunities that aren't taken by the young Venom attack. The second game looked alot better with a great goal from Laney O’Brian put the Venom U12’s ahead but with an unfortunate goal from the other Nook team ended the second game in a 1-1 tie. Building on every single game the U12’s went head to head with Central PA FH and after a hard fought game the Venom youngsters got their first ever win! An excellent goal from Hannah Markowiz assisted by Addison Burns lifted them to a 1-0 victory from the central state rivals, giving goalkeeper Genevive Hanson a shutout! Going into the last game, it was held concurrently with the u14’s which depleted the bench. A hard fought battle against eventual tournament winners PA Revolution handed the U12’s their second loss of the day and a second place finish in the tournament! Fantastic showing in your last tournament of the season. An excellent finish from our first ever U12 season!

U14 Blue had the tough SoMD Eliminators first on the docket. A rough awakening for the first game as they get 5 goals past the Venom defence. The one shining moment for the Venom offence was a great penalty corner play with Addison Burns getting the goal. After dropping the first game 1-5 the U14’s took that personally and came storming back with a shutout from goalkeeper Genevive Hanson. The U14 offence wanted more and Addision Burns got two of her own while getting the assist on Avery Kripke’s first of the day giving a well earned 3-0 shutout against PA Revolution. The third game handed the U14’s a reverse in fortune, getting no sustained offensive pressure and letting 3 in the Venom net with state rivals Vipers handed Venom a 0-3 loss. The last game of the U14’s day was another tough game against SB Robins while Burns got another Penalty Corner goal and Kripke netted one of her own but it wasn’t enough as the U14’s ended the final game 2-6 to earn T-3rd place in the tournament. A good tournament full of ups and downs ready for Nationals this weekend!

U16 Black took to the court in the middle part of the Saturday at Spooky Nook. The team got matched up against Delaware Shore, a very strong club from the east coast. A very back and forth game led to many opportunities for both sides. The two venom goals both came from great passing from Ava Perischetti in the middle setting up both Addison Burns & Colette Walter. The Delaware team took their chances too by putting in two late goals ending the game in a tie to start the tournament. PAAC Mighty was up next for the U16’s but they were up for the challenge as a very tight game gave little chances on goal. The solo goal in the game got past the PAAC goalkeeper on a Penalty Corner inserted by Perischetti and put away by Chloe Kim giving Venom the narrow win and goalkeeper Kayla Joyce the shutout. The third game was against powerhouse Maryland club MD Rebels. The U16’s did their best with both their goals coming from Perischetti with Kiera Bolton getting an assist. The two goals were not enough as the Maryland team put 6 past the Venom defence. After getting rocked for 6 goals the U16 Black team got together to face the last game of the ‘22 Winter season against Hymax Bengals. The collective mindset was on full display as only one single goal got past the Venom defence but 6 were scored with authority as goals came flowing from Walter, Burns & Maggie Gentile got her first of the day, Perischetti was the star of the show getting a hat-trick giving Venom the 6-1 win to secure a team best 2nd place in the tournament! Congratulations on your hard work this season. You have improved so much, well done!

The U19’s started their tournament play in the evening stanza of Saturday. U19 Black was first up with a tough day ahead of them going up against some top clubs at Spooky Nook this weekend. First up was the DC club Metro HC. With a close game back and forth a couple of Penalty Corners that didn't evolve into any Venom goals, two slipped past the Venom defence over the 25 mins to hand them a narrow 0-2 loss. The next game was against another Maryland club, SoMD Eliminators. In a mirror of the first match with no chances being put away from the Venom offence and two slipping into the Venom net, they dropped the second game 0-2. Delaware Shore was the third match-up for U19 Black. Another closely matched game with neither team breaking the goalies, as our own Elizabeth Loing stood strong in net with the help from the Venom defence to get the shutout. The game ended in a 0-0 tie leading into the final game of the day against PAAC from home state PA. The eastern state rivals proved to be a little too strong for the U19’s as 4 goals against and none for ended the tournament in 4th place in the tough pool. Great work for the final tournament of the season. Some tough games but you elevated your play to be in with the top teams of the pool. Narrow misses today but on to the next season of progress!

Pushing back against host’s Nook Lime was U19 Gold in their first game. A tough game to start the tournament as they get the loss after no goals for and 5 against. After the shock of the first game wore off, U19 Gold went to work by playing their own game and with great link up play against DE SHarks. Captain Madison Lennon scored first with an assist from Aly Solomon. One got past the venom defence but Anna Drum set up Eden Brush for the second Venom goal. Aly Solomon got another assist on the final venom goal of the game coming from Anna Drum to secure the 3-1 victory. Pennsylvania rivals PA Revolution were next up. A great link up play from Maddie Lennon to get Aly Solomon her third goal of the tournament wasn't enough as a breakdown in defence led to a 1-7 loss in the third game of the day. The final game of the season was another tough one against another PA rival PAAC Strong. Brush got on the assist column by setting up Mia Costello for her first of the tournament but unfortunately the only Venom goal as they dropped 1-4 into 5th place in the tournament. Some ups and down this season but some great hockey being played as a team!

After a late schedule change from Sunday to Saturday U19 Blue found themselves in the same pool as U19 Gold on Saturday evening. First up was PAAC Strong. Venom defence was on full display as goalkeeper captain Gwen Hershberger stood strong with team defence in front of her getting a shutout. With lots of the offensive control of the game, goals started going in after a clever passing play from Delaney Lentz to Ava Hershberger put Venom on the front foot. The next Venom goal came from an excellent run from Lauren Kampi giving them a 2-0 lead. An onslaught of Penalty Corners for, finally they got one into the net coming from Keenan inserting to Sofia Boyle for her first of the tournament giving U19 Blue a 3-0 shutout win. Next up was the very tough hosts Nook Lime. A stalemate in the first half of the game kept the intensity ratcheting up until the dams broke in favour of Venom with Ava Hershberger getting a well-timed pass to Sofia Boyle to get the score line to 1-0. More back and forth play and great defensive play from backs Dani Deer, Annabelle Rose & goalkeeper Gwen Hershberger kept the shutout intact as a breakout stretch pass up the entire court from Delaney Lents to a behind the back tip from Sofia Boyle in the circle slipping the ball past the Nook goalie giving Venom the narrow 2-0 win. After the elation of the past game they absolutely sent it against DE SHarks Shore by sending 10 past the goalkeeper giving them a 10-0 shutout victory with goals coming from passes from Fiona Kortyna, Kampi, Boyle & Ava Hershberger getting assists. Goalscorers were: Kampi (4), Dani Deer the Ultimate Dangling Defensive Goal Scorer Supreme III, Ava H (2), Keenan, Boyle. The PA rivals PA revolution were the final opponents of the tournament with a win giving U19 Blue the championship. A fast paced game went back and forth with Venom breaking the deadlock by getting the first goal with the assist going to Keenan on the PC insert to Ava H twice in the game and the third goal coming from Ava H to Kampi securing the win 3-1 and the tournament championship. Congratulations on your medals, good luck at Nationals in a few weeks.

U19 White also got rescheduled to Saturday so they found themselves facing some tough competition which is perfect for Nationals preparation. The first game was SB Pelicans who was a close match up as the game went back and forth with some dynamic play breaking the Venom defence for an unfortunate 2 goals against handing U19 White a 0-2 loss. Rallying after the tough first loss they found Hymax Sabres on the other side of the court. Looking at the negative side of the Penalty Corner count the defence stood strong by only letting in 1 goal from great defensive plays from captain Mary Wymard & Ashlyn King. Taking the open court chances with two unassisted goals from Callie Rautenbach to open the Venom scoring. Mia Brinkley saw how much fun Callie was having and decided to get her own unassisted goal. Isabella Arnold also thought it would be fun to get an unassisted goal to bring the score to 4-1. Rautenbach got the lone assist in the game when she set up Arnold for her second straight goal to give the U19 White team a 5-1 victory. Maryland Rebels proved to be tougher competition as Lauren Ghil got the first from Julia DeFoggia and Brinkley tapped in a great pass from Rautenbach. Two goals were not enough as Rebels put in two of their own to end the game tied at 2-2. The last regular season game before Nationals was against state rivals PA Revolution. Another tense hard fought game ended in a 2-2 tie with goals coming off another brilliant unassisted run from Bella Arnold. Maddy Holmes got on the scoresheet by assisting Abby Hershberger to end the tournament in 3rd place. Congratulations on your performance and can't wait to hear how you did at Nationals.

Sunday -

Only two teams made their way to Spooky Nook on Sunday. U16 White was first up in the afternoon against PA powerhouse Central Penn FH Lilac. The game started off a bit slow for the Venom team as they put in a couple of quick goals. They rallied and got to tournament speed and stopped the goals going in and fought back. Unlucky with some decisions kept them off the scoresheet but they had a fantastic second half keeping the scoreline 0-4. Baltimore club Ballyhoo was next. Another very strong club came to play and the U16 white team couldn't keep them out of the net dropping the second game 0-6. Maryland club Freedom HKY was up third for U16 White. Another tough game but with some success on offence getting two past hte stout MD defence. With goals getting assisted by Ava Kessler inserting on PC’s to Taylor first on the PC and then again in field play getting two in the game. Although they dominated the PC stats the open field play let down the Venom defence as the skilled Baltimore team put 7 into the Venom goal. Building on every game they found resolve to end the tournament season against Lewi U16 on a high. The game was tense and a close one but goalkeeper Erin Barlett rallied the defence of Eliana Jones, Liliana Rose & Taylor Murphy for a shutout. The U16 White offence got on the board from a great passing play up the right hand side from Anvi Chopra to get the only goal in the game giving U16 White the win. Congratulations on a fantastic season building step by step getting stronger each week. We look forward to your future!

U16 Blue took to the court with high expectations coming off of their NITQ 1st place win last tournament. Baltimore rivals Ballyhoo were up first and they didn't waste any time by getting on the score sheet not once but 5 times. With goalkeeper Kayla Joyce keeping her first clean sheet of the tournament with defensive help from the Venom backs. Sofia Boyle started with an unassisted run to put one in. Then Ava Hershberger got in on the action twice with goals assisted by Ava Zimmer on a PC and the second was unassisted. Ava Williams put her first of the tournament in from a baseline run from Hershberger. Isabella Elm scored the 5th with a pass from Josie Schomburg. They didn't slow down with CentralPaFH Orchid up next the dominant form kept going with another 6-0 shutout victory with goal scorers Hershberger from Zimmer. Williams from Hershberger. Schomburg from Williams, Another Hershberger/Zimmer PC combo whilst Hershberger completed the hat-trick from a pass from Williams who assisted the 5th and 6th when she passed it off to Schomburg to get her second of the game to round out the scoring. U16 Blue kept on rolling as they encountered CT titan AGH. The game was closer but Joyce in goal practically stood on her head to stop all shots sent her way to get a third straight shutout. The Venom offence was held back but they still managed to get 4 goals past the CT defence. Elm got the first game with no official assist but a spirited emotional assist from Williams on the bench started the scoring. With goals in her heart Elm went down and got a second unassisted goal until one of the 7 PC’s went in from a Hershberger insert to Mia Brinkley up top. After giving one goal to a teammate Bella Elm decided to run the gauntlet again to get her third unassisted goal to complete the hat-trick to lift Venom 4-0. A true final awaited U16 Blue as Norlanco Stix were also undefeated going into the final game of the regular season. A much closer game for the true final, back and forth and some outstanding defensive plays from GK Joyce defender Zimmer standing strong on the left hand side which held the Norlanco offence out of the circle. A tight deadlock on goals was broken by Ava Williams when she snatched a loose ball to run up the right hand side and slot in the first goal of the game with about 10 mins remaining in the game. The game intensified as the medals were on the line and neither team had been down in the scoreline in the tournament. After the first goal went in, the Venom team settled into the rhythm and Norlanco panicked. Taking their time they waited until they got a rare Penalty Corner and with Boyle on the insert Mia Brinkley put another one in for the 2-0 victory for the U16 Blue team. Congratulations to Kayla Joyce with a very rare entire tournament shutout. Well done on your first ever back-to-back tournament wins. Good luck at Nationals!

LET'S GO VENOM!

2021/22 1st Winter Indoor Tournament Recap

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:37 GMT

2021/22 1st Winter Indoor Tournament Recap

Hello Venom Family!

This year marks another development in our club structure. We have divided our Travel tournaments between Saturday & Sunday with the NITQ teams playing on Sunday.

Saturday -

The day Started early in the morning with our U14 teams. For most this was their first experience at Spooky Nook and Tournament play. With such young teams the Venom U14’s were in the thick of it. The U14 Blue team, who had more tournament experience, managed to keep the games close but unfortunately they dropped the first game 0-2 and then dropped the 2nd & 3rd games 0-1. After rallying for the last game they managed to keep a clean sheet, credit Ava-Grace Churches and tied 0-0 the game to end the tournament on a positive note. Our U14 White team had much less Indoor Tournament experience and it showed in the results. After each game the team got stronger and managed to end the tournament in our most positive game. The results didn’t go our way in the U14 division but for our first tournament and lots of experience at Spooky Nook will slingshot us to our next tournament in January!

U16 Black took to the court in the late morning. The first game against RAM White took us a couple of minutes to get warmed up and they let a few goals in but once they got into their stride the structure was solid. The first game was dropped 0-4. The second game was against eventual pool winners, formidable Alley Cats. The U16 Black teak broke through their tough defense once. The goal was scored by Ava Perischetti who tipped a brilliant ball in the back of the goal. The game was ultimately a loss with an end score of 1-6. The third game of the day was a much closer game against RAM White only letting two goals and Ava P getting her second of the tournament, the final horn blew and the game ended 1-2. Headed into the last game of the day it was the 3/4th place playoff against RAM White. After the last close match the team went in determined. A fast and furious game went back and forth with Collette Walter scoring 2 goals but the RAM team put two in of their own and the tournament ended with a 2-2 tie. A great performance growing in each game finishing with a 0W-3L-1T record.

The U19 Black & Gold teams ended the tournament day. U19 Black started their day with a bump in the road going up against the dominant PA Revolution team going to NITQ’s. After dropping the first game 0-7 they rallied to play MC Huskies and put in a dominant performance. The game was tough but the counter attack was powerful with Izzy Davanti putting the ball in the back of the net. The game was capped off by two more goals coming from Emily Bloom. The defense stood strong with GK Elizabeth Long earning the shutout. The third game was against host Nook Forrest. A close game ensued and a close battle for goals with Morgan Smith scoring but Nook put two past the Venom defense and the games ended 1-2 to Nook. The last game for U19 Black was against the Other PA Revs team, after a much closer game than the first. The score line read 0-3. A great first tournament with a clear path forward ending with a 1W-3L-0T record.

U19 Gold started their tournament with a 1-1 tie with PAAC with Annalese Bartolacci getting the Venom goal. After a tight first game the goals started flowing in the second game. Two more goals for Annalese and Anna Drum getting in on the action. With 3 goals for Venom, MC huskies played really well and also put in 3 goals to end the second game in a 3-3 tie. MC Huskies were Gold’s next opponents. A great close game which saw Anna Drum put in her second of the tournament then the Huskies scored to keep it level. A great passing play up the right side of the court led to a great tip from Eden Brush. The Huskies then went on the offensive and put in three straight to hand Gold their first loss of the tournament 2-4. The final game of the day was against PA revs Diamond and it was another hard fought game but with the Venom shots missing just wide or deflected by their GK, the REV’s put in 2 against the Venom Defense ending the tournament on a 0-2 loss. A very positive tournament standing up to tough opponents and getting a record of 0W-2L-2T.

Sunday -

On Sunday the NITQ teams took to the court to prep for the upcoming National Indoor Qualifiers. U16 Blue pushed back first against PA Power. With the Blue team asserting themselves on the court, some clever play from our Penalty Corner’s Sofia Boyle got a PC goal and a field goal while the defense stood strong to give GK Kayla Joyce her first shutout. In the second game HUSEL went to battle on court. A game where we were up against it by going down 0-2. After getting our heads back in order we came back with goals from Sofia Boyle and Mia Brinkley to come back and tie the second game 2-2. H2O Blue was the third matchup and with varying changes in presses and formations from the well coached H2O squad our only goal came from Sofia Boyle on a Penalty Stroke. The game ended 1-1 when they got a lucky goal past the defense. After tying two games the Blue team decided to ramp up and give Kayla and the defense a second shut out. Goals coming from Sofia, Mia, Isabella Elm and Anna Zimmer but shoutout to Ava Williams with a hat-trick! Ending the tournament on a 7-0 victory but losing the championship by 1 point to take second place with a record of 2W-0L-2T.

At the same time U19 White was playing on court 2. Their first game was against PA Power and although we had the PC advantage the game ended scoreless with the defense standing strong with GK Jordan Ashbaugh for the Shutout. The second game had many more goals with a fierce battle with Hymax Sabers. With a dominating 8 penalty corners for and 0 scoring 3 of 8 with goals from Lauren Ghil, Callie Rautenbach & Bell Arnold. With another from Bella Arnold in field play the U19 White only let in 2 to secure a 4-2 victory. The last two games were both tense affairs with Norlanco Stix being first up and some frustrating play in the middle. The two teams were deadlocked with both defenses playing brilliantly and when the final horn blew the score line remained tied at 0-0 giving Goalkeeper Joyce and defense the shutout. The last game was with High Voltage and wound up being the tournament final. A great game ensued with Bella Arnold getting a great goal in but with minutes left in the game High Voltage put one in and ended the game at 1-1 ultimately taking the championship by 1 point from U19 White. The team ended in 2nd place with a record of 1W-0L-3T.

In the early afternoon the U19 Blue & U16 White teams got into the action. U19 Blue started their campaign with a couple of speed bumps. Dropping the first game to PA Power 0-5 the team rallied to play their style of hockey and with a goal from Lauren Kampi from a Penalty corner it broke the scoring drought. With an unlucky series of plays allowing them to go ahead and take the game 1-2. The U19 Blue’s third game against High Voltage was another better performance overall but no goals came from the many Venom attacks and the horn blew and ended the game 0-2. The final game showed much more promise with the U19 Blue attacks finally connecting, putting in 5 goals against the strong H2O team. With goals coming from Kampi (2), Sofia Boyle (2) and Fiona Kortyna securing a 5-1 win to finish the tournament at 1W- 3L-1T.

U16 White ended our first tournament with style! The team came out of the gates with a bang against H2O with goals from Anvi Chopra, Bailey Yatchko & Ava Kessler the U16 White team took the game 3-0. The second game against Hymax proved to be a bit more difficult allowing a goal in but with great passing play Anvi, Bailey & Anvi twice found the backboard of the goal to give them 2 straight victories. The third game of the day was for seeding to see who would be placed top of the pool going to the playoffs. High Voltage was their opponent and a fast paced back and forth game ended with a 3-1 victory for Venom getting goals from Eliana Jones, Ava Kessler & Maddie Zeunert. The final game was against High Voltage again and the game started right where the previous has left off. After quickly asserting the dominant pace the goals started to go in. The first Venom goal in the final went in from Ava Kessler from a nifty offensive steal to deke the goalkeeper and put the team up 1-0. The second goal was also unassisted as Bailey Yatcko also took the ball from a well placed press to put the side up 2-0 in the final. One last nail in the High Voltage coffin was from Captain Caroline Miller as another unassisted goal flew past the goalkeeper. Once the final horn blew the U16 White team looked at another shutout for GK Erin Barlett and the tournament championship medals! Congratulations on your undefeated tournament win! 4W-0L-0T

LET'S GO VENOM!

2021 Spring Tournament Re-Cap

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:35 GMT

2021 Spring Tournament Re-Cap

Hello Venom Family!

After the weekend’s Spooky Nook tournament, the 2021 Spring season is a wrap! After missing the 2020 Spring season we fired up our outdoor sticks ready for the new challenges that were to come in 2021. For the first time we had enough interest to support a two location season to accommodate our new schedules as the world is opening up again. On May 29th we travelled to Spooky Nook Sports in Lancaster, Pa. After a really quick shuffle up playing a day later in boh tournaments we had to scramble and make teams. Over the past year we have all gotten used to quickly changing plans and took it in our stride as we got back to playing competitive spring hockey.

Over a long wet day going from going inside the dome to the long turf we came away with a solid plan to outline the rest of the season. U14’s jumped into their first set of games with great enthusiasm and held their own by only losing the first game by the scores of 0-2 & 1-3 before they tied their third game 1-1 against the hosts Spooky Nook. The momentum swung in the U14’s favor and in the 3rd/4th playoff game. The team got the shutout and a goal to their name to take 3rd place in their first tournament with an overall record of 1W-2L-1T. U16 White came out of the gate with a 3-2 victory but then dropped the second game 0-3. After rallying in the 3rd to tie Bison FHC 1-1 the 4th and final game was against PA United which was a battle with U16 White holding out until the last minutes until one got through the defense. After dropping the last game 0-1 U16 White finished in 3rd place with a record of 0W-3L-1T. U16 White/Blue had double duty being entered into both U16 & U19 tournaments. The first section of the day started well in the U19 division winning the first 3-0 leading up a nice run of three wins in a row beating Hammers (3-1) & Tigers (2-1) with goals from Anna Drum, Bella Arnold & Abby Hershberger (3) leading into a true final against Bison FHC. The game started well for Venom going up a goal from Bella Arnold but the onslaught of Penalty Corners against proved too much and the Bison attack put one in to force the tie and ultimately earning the Tournament win on goal differential handing Venom the 2nd place with a record of 3W-0L-1T. With absolutely no break the team transitioned into their U16 Tournament. With a first game match-up against the host’s the game was back and forth but ended in a 2-2 tie with both of our goals getting the finishing touch by Bella Arnold. The fatigue set in going into their 6th game of the day as they dropped it 0-6 to PA United Navy. The score lines tightened up after that as the next team up was PA United’s Pink team but ultimately dropped the 7th game 0-2. Going into the last game of the day it was a battle for 3rd place against PA United Pink again. Anna Drum got one in but the team couldn't hold on to the lead and settled for 4th place losing 1-2. The U19’s were last in the day heading up against Nook Green first. A good back and forth but no finishing touches in our favour as we dropped the first one 0-2. A quick turnaround against the host’s second team Nook White was a better affair with Venom controlling the flow of the game. Winning the game 4-1 with goals flowing from good teamwork and communication led into a final game with the formidable D.C club Metro HC. It was a good battle but letting 2 past in the Venom cage and no offensive touches the other way handed the Venom U19’s a 0-2 loss. A 3rd/4th place playoff against Metro HC again was on the docket. With the benefit of just playing them it was a much closer contest. A few shots that went wide and some amazing saves from goalkeeper Jordan Ashbaugh kept them to only one goal against but with not enough offensive pressure handed the U19 Blue team a 4th place finish after a 0-1 loss in the playoffs.

Last weekend we returned to Spooky Nook to end our Spring Season in tournament fashion for an all in the dome tournament all running concurrently side by side on the astroTurf. The U14’s started the day off against Electric Surge Black which proved to be a close contest with only one goal being scored, unfortunately it was Electric Surge who prevailed and handed the U14’s the first loss. The day didn't get easier as they ran into a dominant Central Penn Hockey Club. After losing the second game they turned their attention to Tigers. Another tough game with the youngsters still getting to grips with the structure they let in 4 goals but forward Bailey Yatcko got one for Venom past the opposition goalkeeper. The final game of the day was against Electric Surge’s Orange team. Bailey Yatcko got another goal to tally for Venom but with another 4 goals the other way the U14’s found themselves in 5th place at the end of the day. The U16’s began their campaign playing host’s Nook Hockey and a furious back and forth game ended in a 0-0 tie when the horn went at the end of the game. The second game was against Seahawks and again the Venom offense were no match for the opposition and couldn't break through and they dropped their second 0-2. Central Penn FH were up next and the U16’s finally broke through as captain Izzy Davanti scored against the ultimate tournament champions and one of the 2 only goals scored against CPFH all day. After dropping the 3rd game the U16’s found themselves against Spartans. Ava Avampato got on the board by putting one in the back of the net giving some hope to the U16’s in their final game of the season. With some breaks and some unfortunate luck the Spartans put two in the Venom net handing them their third loss of the day. The U16’s ended up in 5th place with great progress throughout the season. U19 White found themselves against the host’s Nook Hockey and quickly found themselves outpaced as they dropped the first one to a score of 0-7. The same fate was met against Tigers dropping the game again 0-7. With the structure being formed during the day Bison had a tougher time getting through the Venom defense as the U19 White team settled into a rhythm but ultimately dropped the third game too with a score of 0-5. The last game was against MD Riptide and a battle for 5th place to end the day. A much better game going back and forth but unable to get a goal past the Maryland team and 2 going in the other way U19 White settled for 6th place to end the day. A special shoutout to goalkeepers Kayla Joyce and Jordan Ashbaugh who had extra duties fielding all 5 teams all day and with Kayla standing on her head in some instances to keep the ball from the back of the net. U19 Blue found themselves on the other side of the coin to White as they played MD Riptide first and got goals from Emma Barlett, Delaney Lentz and dueling hat-tricks from Lauran Kampi & Carly Kubacka finishing off the Maryland team with a shutout from Jordan Ashbaugh 8-0. The Bucknell team Bisons were next up and proved to be the only team to match them all day by tying the game 1-1 with the Venom goal being put in from Delaney Lentz. A tense match vs. Nook hockey was up next and putting some doubt as the Nook team went up early in the match until Lauren Kampi flicked the ball easily past the keeper’s right side to level the game. The game winner went in from an Emma Barlett hit on a PC which was deflected up high from a defender stick into the back of the net to the surprise of most. After a 2-1 victory it led to a true final against Tigers who were ahead on goal differential so Venom needed a win. Tigers proved to be quite a match for the Venom team with a deep bench where there were no subs for the Blue. The game went deep into the 25 mins of play but with 2 mins left in the game, a smart outlet to the left wing and Lauren Kampi picked up the ball and went to her reverse with a sweet hit across goal. The ball clattered around the backboard of the goal to put the Blue team up 1-0. After sitting back helping pack the defense the Tigers couldn't get any pressure in the Venom circle and the horn blew and the U19 Blue won the U19 Spooky Nook Tournament.

Congratulations to the U19 Blue team earning the gold medals and finishing a spectacular return to Spring hockey for Venom. We are so appreciative for all your support as we get back to normality in our day to day lives. As we take the summer/fall break we will be back with our Winter Indoor Season as well as some other opportunities we are currently working on that will be announced in due time.

LET’S GO VENOM!

2021 National Indoor Tournament Club Re-Cap

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:34 GMT

First Ever U16 & U19 National Indoor Champions!

Venom became the first club in Western PA to win a National Indoor Championship in the U16 & U19 age divisions. Congratulations!

2021 USAFH National Indoor Tournament Season Re-Cap

Below are the write ups for this years USAFH National Indoor Tournament (NIT) season. Written in the following order:

U19 Blue

U16 Blue

U19 White

U16 White

U14

U19 Blue

The U19 Blue team arrived in Richmond earlier on Friday for their afternoon fixture against cross state club Electric Surge. A great match ensued as the U19 Blue team found themselves against a competitive team trading blows as Captain Pfeifer Hill (1) and Ava Hershberger (1) both scored goals but so did the Surge offense. The final horn blew to end the game and a fair result in the tie as neither team took their chances to put away the winning goal.

On day two the U19 Blue team found themselves against a team they have played before in national competition last year. Majestyx FHC seemed to not have the answer for the Blue team's press. The Majestyx defense got caught in the Venom trap and the goals started flowing in the Blue team’s favour. Ava Hershberger (3) got a hat-trick with Ashley Loftis (1), Lauren Kampi (1), Pfeifer Hill (1) and Fiona Kortyna (1) all scored to end the game with a resounding 7-1 victory and the momentum into the next game.

At the time neither team could know the next game was crucial but what ended up being the pool final the U19 Blue team took the court against Metro HC Silver. The Blue momentum was evident as the Venom side took early control of the game. Taking possession and maintaining pressure Venom struck first with Ashley Loftis (2) put her two in quickly on the left post from Kampi and Ava H. The skilled Metro team didn’t just lie down and take the beating and they answered with a goal of their own. With short corners being even, neither team could convert with defenders Nica Schratz, Maria Duchi and Annabelle Rose putting their bodies on the line to stop the techniques of the D.C team. Fiona Kortyna (1) put one in to make the game 3-1 and that's when Metro put on the pressure. Knowing if you drop a single game at Nationals your destiny is out of your hands the Metro offence kicked into high gear dominating the last 5 mins of the game. The entire Venom team stuck together and managed to see the rest of the game out only allowing one more goal as the final horn blew with Venom victorious 3-2 ending the day in a goal differential race with Surge.

The last day of the indoor season had a tough schedule ahead of the U19 Blue team. Going up against the top club in the country in WC Eagles’ Sky team. The game started with the Venom trap defense working as the WC offense couldn’t penetrate the Venom circle to get close to GK Gwen Hershberger. After holding back the WC offense the Venom structure held and a counter attack led up the right by Lauren Kampi let Ava Hershberger (2) break the tie with a great goal between the keepers legs. After some back and forth hockey, great penalty corners from both teams and goals on said corners from Ava H and Pfeifer Hill (1).The game ended again with Venom looking at a 3-2 victory and one more game to decide the National Championship.

The Columbus team FHL was up next for U19 Blue who has taken both pool rivals Surge & Metro to one goal games. With Metro and Surge playing on the court behind the Blue team the stage was set. If the U19 Blue team wins and so does Surge it’s a count of goal differential and Surge has a 2 goal lead. If Metro beats surge and U19 Blue tie or lose, Metro wins the National Championship. The horn blows and the hockey is calculated and steady. Neither team wanting to break first the play stays in the midfield. A barrage of U19 Blue penalty corners tested the Columbus defense until Ava Hershberger (1) put in one top right beating the keeper high. Hearing rattles of the backboard and cheers from the Metro team didn't distract them from the game. The first half ended with an unfortunate mistake from the Blue backfield which ended in a FHL goal. The second half started with the U19 Blue team on a mission, get the next goal. After another barrage of penalty corners the FHL defense stayed strong until 2 mins left in the game and Kampi sent the insert of the final corner of the game and veteran defenseman Nica Schratz stepped up and pounded the ball rattling the backboards. As the Venom cheers rang through the convention center the Metro FH bench could only look over their shoulders as the U19 Blue shut down the last mintues the game to secure the first ever U19 National Indoor Championship for Venom and any Western PA region team.

Congratulations on your undefeated 4-0-1 Pool U National Indoor Championship!

Player of the Tournament: Pfeifer Hill (3 Goals, 1 Assist)

U16 Blue

The Blue team kicked off their campaign on Saturday with a grueling 3 games in one day. Being the only Venom team to win a regular season tournament the team set out to prove their worth on the National stage after a 2nd place finish last year. Field Hockey Life from Columbus was first on the docket and U16 Blue showed their mindset by putting 4 goals in quick succession. Abby Hershberger (1), Ava Hershberger (2) and Ruby Jacops (1) got the four goals with assists from Ava H & Madison Keenan. With stellar defense from defenders Dani Deer, Julia DeFoggia & Maddy Keenan they helped GK Jordan Ashbaugh to a 4-0 shutout victory.

The formidable New Jersey team NJ Starz were next. After letting in an early goal to the NJ side the U16 Blue team settled in and racked up the goals as Callie Rautenbaugh (2) got on the tournament score sheet putting in two goals as Abby H (1) got one with Ava H (3) getting a hat-trick to round off the 6-1 win. Assists on those goals go to Keenan who got one as well as Ava H.

Last on the marathon first day of Nationals was against the Baltimore rival Ballyhoo. The U16 Blue team were on a roll from the previous win and the goals kept flowing. Another 6-1 victory and another straight hat-trick plus one performance form Ava H (4) with Callie (1) and Abby (1) helped by Ava H twice and Julia DeFoggia rounding out the 6 goals ending on a perfect 3W-0L-0T day one.

Day 2 and the U16 Blue team knew their fate was in their hands being tied with Central Penn FH they first had to get through the club giant X-Calibur. The team from Eastern PA put up a fight but the flood barriers burst in the second half and they saw a tense few moments as X-Calibur struck first but with a 6 goal answer from another hat-trick from Ava H (3), Isabella Arnold (1), Callie R (1) and Abby H (1). Special shoutout to GK Jordan Ashbaugh for stopping a penalty stroke as well as a multitude of shots from the skilled cross state rivals.The game ended with Venom as victors headed to a true Nationals Final against CPFH, winner takes the Championship in the last game of the tournament.

The two undefeated teams clashed on court 6 of Spooky Nook Sports as the hockey was fast and furious and both teams were rising to the occasion of a National FInal. Central Penn were well disciplined and it took a penalty corner set piece for Ava Hershberger to break the tie shooting top right blasting past the keepers blocker. As play continued it was a back and forth affair with neither team gaining much advantage. With only 2 penalty corners for each team, the chances on goal were rare. The second and last PC was expertly put again top right by Ava H to rattle the central PA team only after they put in their only goal to tie the game breifly. As the game wore on the CPFH defense got tired and was taken full advantage of by Ava H as she dribbled up the middle twice to deke the GK and secure the 4-1 victory and the first ever U16 National Championship for not only the club but the first ever in the U16 division by any team from Western PA.

Congratulations U16 Blue for your undefeated 5-0-0 Pool Y National Indoor Championship!

Player of the Tournament: Ava Hershberger (16 Goals, 6 Assists)

U19 White

The U19 White team traveled down to Richmond, VA for their first ever National Indoor appearance. After getting a late admission to the tournament they set out determined to show their skill at the national stage. Late Friday night, the last game of the day in the tournament the U19 White team faced off against Frontier FH. Getting used to the bright lights of the national stage and the twang of the metal boards Marnie McCormick (2) put in both Venom goals with one from great solo play and one with the help of Sophia Bovino. After letting in one unlucky goal GK Carolione Sarneso and defenders Delaney Lentz, Bovino and Mary Wymard kept them from the scoresheet to keep them at 1. The opposing defense was being equally as stout only letting up one of our 9 short corners, the game ended with the White team taking the first game by a score of 2-1 ending the day victorious.

Day 2 was a shock to the system as the White team was slow to adjust to the speed of Nationals going up against a well drilled Mayhem team they dropped the second game 1-11 with Mary Wymard getting the only Venom goal with an assist from Delaney Shusko. The team had little time to compose themselves as only a 5 min break then they went head to head with the eventual pool winner’s Central PA titan CPFH. The team was more structured against the CP offense but the cracks showed and the purple opponents took almost all of their chances and put 9 in but was stopped on a Penalty Stroke by GK Caroline Sarneso as she stunned the attacking player with a brilliant save. The offense saw two bright beacons of hope as Delaney Shusko (2) put in two brilliant goals with assists from Bovino & Mary.

After dropping the two middle day games the U19 White team looked to end the season on a better note. They came out of the gates unfortunately on the back foot as they ran into trouble against Alpha Hockey and couldn't convert any of their chances missing the inside of the post multiple times. The game ended 0-4 for Alpha.

PA United was last on the schedule as the U19 White team took the Nationals floor once more and put in a stellar performance as GK Caroline S had a breakout performance in her first Nationals and kept the score to a modest 0-5 for PA United.

Congratulations U19 White on your first ever appearance at Nationals and 5th place (1-4-0) in Pool Y.

Player of the Tournament: GK Caroline Sarneso (1 Penalty Stroke Save)

U-16 White

The U16 White team arrived at Spooky Nook late on Friday evening to go up against State College Blue Lions. With a breakout performance the White team set out on their first ever appearance at Nationals winning the first game 6-0 with two goals each from Mia Brinkley, Aly Solomon & Ava Zimmer. They had assists from Zimmer, Brinkley & Anna Drum. The defense was especially strong, Sophia Hershberger, Ava Zimmer, Caroline Miller, Eliana Jones & Avery Snowden all rotating to shut the Lions attack down giving goalkeeper Kayla Joyce her first Nationals shutout.

Day two had three games in store for the White team so we had our work cut out for us. The day started against Rebels. This game was being live streamed on the USAFH YouTube channel.

Game 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVh2Dc-DGmI Game Time Stamp: 08:51:08

A tense back and forth game saw the Venom fighting from behind but Sophia Hershberger and Aly Solomon had great chemistry helping each other to give us a tie at 2-2. With seconds left Brinkley hit the post and the game ended tied.

Another tough game came next as the long middle day stretched on. Next was Summit Monadock. With almost all the stats being tied forward Anna Drum got our only goal from Solomon. A tense few minutes as short corners went back and forth, the final horn blew and the score remained locked at 1-1.

The third and final game of day 2 was against Eastern PA powerhouse X-Calibur. A tough game which wasn’t in our control wasn’t by fatigue of 3 games. We got goals from Aly Solomon and Ava Avampato with an assist from Avery Snowden but being outmatched they dropped their 4th game 2-5.

The final day gave us two games but only 1 game was counted for our record against Long Island. With a long rest overnight, the White team came back out on the court with purpose and with goals from Anna Drum and Brinkley (2) helped by Zimmer and Solomon the tournament ended with a solid 3-1 win.

Congratulations U16 White team on your 2-1-2 record and 3rd place in Pool Z.

Player of the Tournament: Kayla Joyce (GK) (1 Shutout)

U14

Our U14 team traveled back to Spooky Nook sports for one final time this year to compete at nationals in USA Field Hockey’s National Indoor Tournament. We were placed in Pool V against Infinity, CPFH, Team AGH, Mayhem & Souderton Strikers.

The tournament kicked off on Saturday evening as the team took to Court 3 which was being live streamed on USAFH’s YouTube channel.

Game 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_slDmXqB0yg&t=28454s Game Time Stamp: 07:54:15

In the first ever Venom live broadcast game the U14’s took to the floor with poise as they took demanding control of the court with Captain Mia Brinkley putting in 5 of her own goals with Addison Burns, Josie Schomburg and Captain Sophia Brinkley getting one each. Ava Williams got 2 assists with Mia also getting two helpers. One unlucky play led Infinity to a goal but when the final horn sounded Venom was on top 8-1.

Day two started with a bang as PA rivals Central Pennsylvania Field Hockey proved little in the way of competition as the goals kept flowing. Mia got another two goals from Ava. Taylor Murphy got her first of the tournament while Josie & Sophia got another one each from Mia & Taylor. Shoutout to Goalkeeper Ashley Tornatore who recorded her first shutout as she kept CPFH off the score sheet.

The competition ramped up dramatically when the team met Team AGH from New England. A back & forth game was intense as neither side got a lead more than a goal. With goals from Mia (2), Ava (1) and Anvi Chopra we managed to squeak out a tie with the scoreline 4-4.

The third and final day kicked off against Mayhem Eagles and very quickly Mia got a hat-trick with Sophia getting in on the action. The helpers from Taylor, while the captains got assists on each other’s goals linking up in excellent open play passing.

The national championship came down to this last game with other results needed on other courts. The last game started in quick fashion. Fatigue seemed to set in while Ava & Sophia achieved a goal each. It wasn’t enough to match up and the defense couldn’t hold the strong attack back leading to the U14’s dropping the last game 2-5. With AGH winning their last game with a plus 7 goal differential the U14’s had to settle for 3rd place in the pool.

Congratulations U14’s on your 3-1-1 record and getting 3rd in Pool V.

Player of the Tournament: - Mia Brinkley (12 Goals, 5 Assists)

2021 U14 NIT Re-Cap

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:32 GMT

A recap of the 2021 USAFH National Indoor Tournament and our teams performance.

Hello Venom Family!

Last weekend the U14 NIT Team traveled back to Spooky Nook to compete in this years USAFH National Indoor Tournament! This year the team found themselves in Pool V which consisted of some tough competition from CT, NJ & the other side of the State.

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2020 U-16 USAFH National Indoor Tournament Re-Cap

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:31 GMT

Our U-16's take 2nd place at the 2020 NIT's!

On February 28th the U-16 Boomslang team travelled back to Spooky Nook in Lancaster, PA to compete at the 2020 U-16 USAFH National Indoor Tournament. By qualifying 6th in Ithaca, NY the U-16's were placed into the highest-ranking pool of any Venom team to date. With an extra month of training after the regular season, they were ready to compete!

The tournament kicked off on the Friday with a very strong New Heights Blue team who came in from New Jersey. The game gave us a clear indication of how tough this tournament was going to be as both teams came out of the gate storming. If there was any sense of nerves or apprehension it was dispelled when the whistle blew as the game was tense back & forth with multiple chances for both teams. New Heights scored first finding a gap in the Venom defence, not for long as #12 Ava Hershberger cruised past the New Heights defence to put away her first. The play was very even as they put another goal in free play. With some clever passing, #21 Callie Rautenbach slotted away our second to bring the score level 2-2 at half time. The second half was much of the same with both teams putting away their chances with #12 Ava Hershberger & #21 Callie Rautenbach getting another one each. Neither team looked like they were going to buckle & as the horn went to end the game the score remained tied 4-4.

On Day 2 all the teams had a good idea of what level of play was to be expected & our 2nd game of the tournament was against a formidable Mayhem Hawkeyes who hail from Philadelphia. The cross-state rivals proved to be a tough opponent as the game started with very little scoring. Chances were few & far between as both defences held strong. Our GK #92 Jordan Ashbaugh coupled with her defence #81 Dani Deer & #8 Annabelle Rose, they kept Mayhem at bay until one lucky passing play on a counter-attack put Mayhem ahead. Not for long as #12 Ava Hershberger brought the game level at 1-1. The second half was much of the same with multiple near misses on the Venom end & Mayhem making the most of their chances & Venom was soon looking at the wrong side of a 3-1 score. With another great running play from #12 Ava Hershberger & some excellent passing from #100 Isabella Arnold & the defence they brought the game within 1 goal. Even after pulling our GK #92 Ashbaugh & with the extra field player we gained the momentum. The mayhem defence & GK held strong & by the time the final whistle blew Mayhem handed Venom the close 1 goal loss.

Knowing now that to win the National Championship we needed some help, all we could do was control the next game until we got to the end of Sunday. North East Elite, a strong team from New Hampshire was next & knowing that we now needed the goal differential to potentially win, the U-16's came out of the gate firing in the final game of Day 2. With a renewed vigour most of the possession was with Venom. Not giving up an inch in the first half the team looked dominant by gaining Penalty Corners (PC) & pressuring NE Elite into their own half. We got goals from #83 Abby Hershberger & two from #12 Ava Hershberger. Lookin comfortably in the lead & with some substitutions, we gained another short corner & defender #8 Annabelle Rose stepped up to take the PC & with a great shot to the bottom right corner of the goal. #8 Rose got a very rare Defender goal. With one unlucky odd-numbered breakaway NE Elite found one goal to ruin the clean sheet & the game ended at 4-1 to put venom comfortable at the top half of the table battling with New Heights & Mayhem for the Championship.

The final day of Nationals started against Central Pennsylvania FH who showed up to play, as by now all the teams have gotten accustomed to the level of play & there was no one who is in any doubt of the skill & level of play. With some clever passing from #9 Julia DeFoggia, #62 Lauren Kampi & #21 Callie Rautenbach the team was able to get the ball in the CPFH goal 3 times with #12 Ava Hershberger getting the final touch on all three to give her a Hat-Trick in the game! A dominating performance came under scrutiny as CPFH didn't give up & they got 2 goals in the second half of the game to bring the scoreline closer than what the game felt like & as the final horn blew the score remained in the favour of Venom giving us a second win by a margin of 3-2.

With Mayhem beating New Heights in the previous game we now knew that the National Championship was out of reach. Not to be discouraged we knew that 2nd place was still up for grabs but that was all resting on a final win for the U-16's. With that knowledge, they came out of the gates in the final game of the tournament & really put pressure on Hymax Wildcats. An early PC gave #12 Ava Hersberger her 10th of the tournament & the entire team stepped up in this final game of the season. Great standout performances from #6 Aly Solomon who coupled with captain #9 DeFoggia managed to get the ball to #62 Kampi. She made an excellent move around the winger, took the ball to the baseline & sent it across to a waiting #21 Rautenbach who rang the board in the goal to give Venom the 2 goal cushion. With 2nd place insights they locked down the game by playing clever defensive hockey but it wasn't enough, as late in the game Hymax broke through on a counter-attack & putting in a late consolation goal but soon after the final horn of the season blew & Venom was looking at a 2-1 scoreline in their favour to take 2nd place at Nationals!

With this 2nd place finish at Nationals, they became the most successful Venom U-16 team in our short history & we cant wait to see what you do in the future. We want to congratulate #6 Solomon who gained the most improved of the tournament award & to #8 Rose who earned the most improved in the season award.

Special Congratulations to #12 Ava Hershberger who earned the top-scorer of the tournament with 10 goals. With that, the 13-year-old competed in all three age divisions at Nationals this year & with these 0 goals that brought her Nationals season total to 38!

What an unbelievable achievement from all on the team as they came away with the silver! Congratulations on a terrific season!

Pittsburgh Venom U-16 Boomslang#92 Jordan Ashbaugh (GK)#9 Julia DeFoggia (C)#12 Ava Hershberger (C)#100 Isabella Arnold#81 Dani Deer#83 Abby Hershberger#62 Lauren Kampi#21 Callie Rautenbach#8 Annabelle Rose#6 Aly Solomon Pool R2/28/20 6:30PM New Heights Blue *Court 6 (White) (4-4 T)2/29/20 1:45PM Mayhem Hawkeyes *Court 8 (Blue) (2-3 L)2/29/20 6:15PM North East Elite White *Court 7 (White) (4-1 W)3/1/20 1PM CPFH Orchid *Court 2 (White) (3-2 W)3/1/20 4:45PM Hymax Wildcats *Court 3 (Blue) (2-1)2nd Place 3-1-1

LET'S GO VENOM!

2020 U-19 USAFH National Indoor tournament Re-Cap

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:30 GMT

Our U-19 King Cobras travelled to Richmond, VA to participate in the 2020 USAFH National Indoor Tournament!

Last weekend the U-19 King Cobra's travelled down to Richmond, VA to take part in the 2020 USA Field Hockey National Indoor Tournament. The U-19's gained their spot at Nationals in the 11th hour as they missed their qualification by a double shootout. There were 32 9th place teams that just missed qualification & only 2 At-Large spots in the nation. Our King Cobra's were one of the two selected & so they were ready to show up in Virginia!

Day 1 started with one game against Souderton Strikers from just outside Philadelphia, PA. As always the first games are up in the air with Nationals Nerves & feeling out the tournament. King Cobras controlled the majority of the game with great ball possession & team structure. They probed the Souderton defence but with a combination of some great saves, hitting the post & crossbar the game was entering the final minutes of the game still tied 0-0. Souderton drew back into a defensive structure as the Venom offence closed in. After a series of several short corners, the dam broke with a clever short corner play from #9 Pfeifer Hil to #12 Ava Hershberger with less than a minute left on the clock sealed the narrow victory for Venom 1-0.

On Day 2 our first game was against HTC from CT. We knew that it was going to be a hard-fought game & it didn't disappoint. A well-structured team from the New England held strong against us with great defensive hockey keeping the score deadlocked as defenders #61 Raina Dodson, #53 Natalie Loftus, #2 Maria Duchi & captain #3 Nica Schratz held strong in front of goalkeeper #96 Gwen Hershberger. In the second half saw the only real opportunity go in the back of the net for HTC to hand the King Cobras a very close 1-0 loss.

The second game of Day 2 was against SPark White. The Maryland team were another tough opponent with a well-drilled structure kept the Venom chances at a minimum but with most of the possession, it was only a matter of time before the Venom forwards would pierce the defence. With some great link-up play from #84 Ella Strzempek, #37 Ally Barcaskey to #12 Hershberger to get a goal. With a fantastic penalty corner gave defender #61 Dodson a rare penalty corner goal. With only one mistake in the backfield allowing SPark to put on in the cage & multiple formation changes coupled with pulling the goalkeeper with 1 min left they couldn't break through once more & the final horn went with Venom getting the 2-1 victory.

The final day started with the top three teams South Jersey Edge, HTC & Venom, all vying for the National Championship. Our first game of the day was against South Jersey Edge. Knowing this was going to be a difficult game against the very successful club from New Jersey, there was another level of play we had to come onto the court with. The first half was fast & frantic with multiple chances for both teams as the pace kept increasing. Stunning plays from goalkeeper #96 Gwen Hershberger with one particular full stretch diving stick save to keep Venom well into the game. The game went back & forth with Venom goals from captain #91 Georgia Eson & #12 Hershberger the 1st half ended tied at 2-2. The second half started with as much intensity but the bounces seemed to go in favour of South Jersey Edge with great defensive play coupled with Venom shots hitting posts or narrowly missing wide of the goal the Venom scoring dried up, once the horn blew to end the game the dust settled with South Jersey edge with 6 goals & Venom wit just 2.

The final game of the day was against another New Jersey team, Stong Island Sharks. With this being the final game of the season the Venom U-19's rallied together to keep the pace from the previous game to end on a high note with 2nd place in the tournament still within reach depending on goal differences. With some great link-up play the Venom attack looked strong with the Strong Island defence buckling to captain #9 Pfeifer Hill getting her first of the tournament. Once the dam broke the goals kept going in with #3 Schratz getting in on the action as well as #12 Hershberger getting two herself. Strong Island didn't roll over, putting two in themselves to end the tournament with Venom ending on a high note with a 4-2 victory.

This year was only the second time ever our U-19's have qualified for Nationals. With a record of 3W-2L-0T, our Venom King Cobra's placed 3rd behind HTC in 2nd with South Jersey Edge becoming National Champions. Congratulations on your 3rd place! Special mention to 13-year-old #12 Ava Hershberger who was the team-leading goal scorer with 5!

We would like to wish all the seniors good luck at college next year, thank you for your effort & passion making us the club we are today!

#3 Nica Schratz - St. Francis University

#9 Pfeifer Hill - University of Rochester

#37 Ally Barcaskey - University of Kentucky

#91 Georgia Eson - University of New England

Congratulations on such a fantastic season!

Pittsburgh Venom King Cobra#96 Gwen Hershberger (GK)#9 Pfeifer Hill (C)#3 Nica Schratz (C)#91 Georgia Eson (C)#37 Ally Barcaskey#61 Raina Dodson#2 Maria Duchi#12 Ava Hershberger#53 Natalie Loftus#84 Ella Strzempek#27 Ashley Loftis - IR Pool W2/21/20 5:30PM Souderton Strikers White *Court 7 (White) | W 1-02/22/20 4:45PM HTC Blue *Court 5 (White) | L 0-12/22/20 8:30PM SPark White *Court 6 (Blue) | W 2-12/23/20 1:45PM South Jersey Edge Black *Court 3 (Blue) | L 2-62/23/20 4:00PM Strong Island Sharks *Court 2 (White) | W 4-23rd Place 3-2-0

LET'S GO VENOM!

2020 U-14 USAFH National Indoor Tournament Champions

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:29 GMT

A re-cap of the 2020 USA National Indoor Tournament Championship.

On February 15th 2020, our U-14's travelled to Lancaster, PA for the USA Field Hockey National Indoor Tournament to end the 2019/2020 Indoor season. Last year the U-14's went undefeated to run Pool DD & claim the first-ever National Championship for Western Pa.

The weekend started against Freedom HKY Leopards hailing from Maryland. The game started back & forth with trading goals with neither side gaining a significant advantage. #12 Ava Hersberger scored both goals, one on a Short Corner set-piece & one with a Penalty Stroke. Halftime came with the score tied. Shaking off the initial nerves of being at Nationals, the team rallied together & gained the majority of possession. With sustained pressure, the Freedom defence cracked & with great offensive play #32 Ava Avampato scored from a pass from captain #15 Mia Brinkley to put Venom up 3-2. #19 Josie Schomberg put the game away when she took a pass from #12 A. Hersberger and rattled the backboards to end the first day with a decisive win.

Day 2 started later in the day with Venom playing night games. The next opponent was Focus Pink. The game started like the first game ended. Sustained pressure, possession & quality finishing lead to Venom taking the early lead. #12 A. Hersberger had a breakout game slotting in 5 goals. Focus got one consolation goal. After the game looked like it was going to end 5-1 a late short corner #123 Ava Zimmer took the initial shot hitting the goalkeeper, she received the rebound and put the ball between the GK's legs to end the game 6-1.

The second game of the day was against NJStarz White. The U-14's didn't take the foot off the gas & kept putting in goals with a combination of great overall play, expert dribbling & an opposition Goalkeeper injury which kept her out of the game for 15mins. #12 A. Hersberger put away all 6 goals with helpers from #14 Sophia Hersberger, #20 Isabella Elm, #18 Aisley Shusko, #122 Ava Williams & #33 Liliana Rose. #91 Kayla Joyce (GK) kept them at bay until one unlucky odd-man breakaway broke the shutout but with only one goal against #Joyce got her 3rd W.

The final day of the tournament started in high spirits being only two wins away from the National Championship. The day started against Buffalo Hurricanes. #20 Elm scored her first then #12 Hersbeger slotted in 5 more. Buffalo got 2 goals then #20 Elm got her second of the day to cap the game at 7-2, leading Venom into a true National Championship as the final game of the tournament was against also undefeated True Grit.

The last game of the tournament leads to a true National Championship game as both teams were sitting at a 4-0-0 record. With True Grit sitting at +20 goal differential & Venom on a +17, winning the game is the only option if our U-14's want to win the big show. The whistle blows as tensions were at a peak & we could get the final match of the season underway. In the first minute of the game, a short corner for True Grit put away their first attack past the Venom defence, putting us behind for the first time this weekend. Without buckling the ladies found their resolve & shortly afterwards #12 A. Hersberger put them level 1-1 from a Short Corner. The game went back & forth until halftime with #Hersberger putting in two more to gain the hat-trick once more, the game remained tied at 3-3 with 20mins left to play in the championship. After a quick pep talk & determined resolve, the play heated up on the Venom side of the court as quick play from the backfield of #123 Zimmer & #14 S. Hersberger up to #12 A. Hersberger in the midfield & #20 Elm & #15 Brinkley upfront. With a great baseline run from #122 Williams a sure goal was interrupted by a foul from the True Grip defence & the umpires called a Penalty Stroke. #12 A. Hersberger took the position & fired the ball into the top right corner to now give True Grit their first look from behind. The tension broke in the Venom stands as #12 A. Hersberger gained her 23rd goal of the tournament & 5th of the game on a short corner to gain a one-goal buffer leading the National Championship 5-3. With 3 minutes left on the clock, True Grit put one past the Venom stronghold to make the game 5-4. True Grit gained some sense of hope with that last goal & they came down the court looking to equalise but #91 Joyce stopped them short and got the ball to the offence who then took the ball down for 4 successive short corners whilst whittling down the clock. With Venom in possession, the final whistle rang out & with the score Pittsburgh Venom 5, True Grit 4. Handing Venom a very rare Back-To-Back National Championship by sweeping Pool BB & taking home the second ever National Championship for Field Hockey in the Western PA region.

Congratulations to our 2020 U-14 USAFH National Indoor Tournament Champions!

Pittsburgh Venom U-14#91 Kayla Joyce (GK)#15 Mia Brinkley (C)#14 Sophia Hershberger (C)#32 Ava Avampato#20 Isabella Elm#12 Ava Hershberger#33 Liliana Rose#19 Josie Schomburg#18 Aisley Shusko#122 Ava Williams#123 Ava Zimmer Pool BB2/15/20 8:30PM Freedom HKY Leopards *Court 1 (Blue) | W 4-22/16/20 5:30PM Focus Pink *Court 6 (White) | W 6-12/16/20 7:45PM NJ Starz White *Court 5 (Blue) | W 6-12/17/20 11:30AM Buffalo Hurricanes *Court 8 (Blue) | W 7-22/17/20 1:45PM True Grit *Court 8 (White) | W 5-4NATIONAL CHAMPIONS! 5-0-0

2020 National Indoor Tournament Qualifiers Re-Cap

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:27 GMT

A Re-Cap of the 2020 NITQ's.

Nationals & NIT Qualifiers Recap

As the program has developed & the influx of younger players we have been capable of sending a U-14 team to Nationals. They have been attended Nationals for the past two years, 2018 & 2019. Last year the team went undefeated going 5-0-0 to secure the Pool DD USAFH National Indoor Championship in only our second attempt. With that Championship, we became the first-ever Western PA team to bring home the hardware. This year we are sending a team back to Nationals to try and go back-to-back.

Unlike the U-14 category, teams in the U-16 & U-19 category must participate in a qualifying tournament to reach Nationals. Venom has been sending U-16 & U-19 teams to the Regional National Indoor Tournament Qualifiers since 2012. We have qualified & sent teams to Nationals in the U-16 category in 2014 & 2015. U-19 have qualified only once back in 2017.

National Indoor Tournament Qualifier Structure

4 Pools of 4 teams, 16 total teams playing for 8 NIT Tickets. Round Robin play between the pools starts the tournament. 1st place in each pool gains automatic qualification & then they go into battle with each other for the top 4 places in the tournament. 4th place in each pool is automatically disqualified from Nationals playing in one more playoff game for T-13th place. 2nd & 3rd place teams get matched up together 2's playing 3's in a one-game playoff for Qualification. Each team that qualifies then plays out a bracket to determine 5-8th place. The 4 losers of this round all play each other in a one-game T-9th place seed game. After all NIT Qualifiers have been played over 16 locations during the season there will be 32 9th place teams. Out of those 32 teams, 10 get selected to gain At-Large bids to qualify for Nationals.

This year we sent our one U-16 team up to Ithaca College in NY on Saturday, Jan 11th to attempt to Qualify. The two U-19 teams travelled a day later, split between Louisville, KY & Lock Haven, PA on Sunday the 12th. On Saturday the U-16 Boomslang team started the day with a 2-2 Tie with Hammers. The second game against PA United was dropped 2-1, putting the team in a desperate place in the pool standings with everything on the line in the final pool game of the day. The last pool game was against East Stroudsburg which was a tense back & forth with goals going both ways the final horn went with the score in a deadlock at 2. Meanwhile, on the second court, the two previous opponents were also at a gridlock. With multiple ties, it came down to goal difference. With the performance of our offence, we squeaked out the 2nd seeding in the pool. The one-game playoff started with Venom controlling the ball over serpent rivals Viper III. The game went back & forth but neither team could break either goalkeeper & the game ended scoreless. To break the tie & determine wh would qualify it goes to a one-on-one shootout. 6 seconds for the player to run in & put the ball past the keeper. Neither #92 Jordan Ashbaugh or the opposition GK could be bested until the last shot of the shootout before sudden death. #12 Ava Hersberger took the ball inside the circle, pulling right past the keeper's pads & the sound of the ball rattling inside the back & sideboards told us that the Venom U-16's were going to nationals for the first time since 2015.

On Sunday Venom Pythons went to Louisville & King Cobras took to the court in Lock Haven, PA. In Kentucky, the Pythons started the day on the back foot in the first half against Texas Pride letting in an early two goals. The second half of the game is where they got going scoring one from #109 Kelly Powell, putting more pressure on their defence. As it was looking like they were going to equalize a quick counter-attack by Texas late in the game put the game out of reach as it ended 3-1. The second game was a hard-fought battle with multiple balls being sent just wide of the post. The opposition put in one goal & Pythons couldn't get the touches they needed to score dropping the second game 1-0. The last pool game looked daunting against the ultimate tournament champions IFHCK. The last pool game ended in a 9-0 loss. The Pythons came back on the court for the 13th place game against FHL where they controlled the game netting 2 goals from #99 Sidney Lisak & #37 Delaney Shusko whilst keeping a clean sheet from GK #93 Andie Hardin.

King Cobras kicked off their campaign against an east coast rival Xcalibur FHC. The Cobras went 2-0 up in the first half then netted one more to finish 3-0 for the good. Rivals from Columbus, OH were next as we took the court against Coyotes. After another dominant performance, they left with 4 goals, a hat-trick from #3 Nica Schratz & another clean sheet from GK #96 Gwen Hersberger. The final pool game was against the other undefeated pool team, Reach FHC. Winner takes the qualification, the loser has to win in their next game to reach Nationals. As expected the two high-quality teams played hard but when the final horn went Reach found themselves up 2-1 going to Nationals with Cobras looking to the 3rd place team from Pool B in a one game-winner takes qualification game. Their opposition for this game was east PA club Marojoka FHC. When the game started an early blunder let them through the Venom stronghold and they put one in to go up early. after the first breach, the Cobras pulled together and controlled the rest of the game. With the aid of bad bounces, unlucky touches the offence could only put one goal in even with 2 short corners in the last minutes of the game. The final horn sounded & this team faced an only too familiar situation. This is the third year in a row in which their Nationals fate came down to a Shootout. Our three shooters were #12 Ava Hersberger, #91 Georgia Eson & #3 Nica Schratz, with #96 Gwen Hersberger in between the posts. The first round of 3 shootouts ended in a tie & it went to sudden death. We shot first with A. Hersberger trying to flick over the keeper but the GK batted it out of the air. G. Hersberger came out of her net & stopped the opposition fast in her tracks. Eson came in on the reverse but a patient Marojoka GK kept the ball out. After another save from G. Hersberger we got to the final round of 2SO. Schratz came in making a move but a great save denied Venom again. The final shooter from Marojoka put them hurtling into Nationals giving Cobras their third straight defeat in a shootout preventing them from Qualifying. They picked themselves up from bitter defeat to play for an At-Large big but they needed to win one more game before they could return to Pittsburgh. With new determination after the upset, they showed how strong this team could be defeating New Heights 4-0 giving them a 1 in 3 chance at getting an At-Large bid finishing 9th at Qualifiers.

On Monday, January 27th USA Field Hockey sent out invitation letters to the 10 teams who were selected from 32 9th place teams. Our Pittsburgh Venom King Cobras received one of those invites sending them to Nationals on Feb 21st in Richmond, VA! This is only the second time we as a club have sent a U-19 team to Richmond and ending our 3 year drought.

With King cobras receiving an At-Large qualification is historic for us as this is the first time ever that we have had teams playing at Nationals at all three age groups (U-14, U-16 & U-19). We are moving rapidly on to larger & greater things. This has been the most successful season we have ever experienced & we want to wish good luck to all teams representing the club on the National stage in February.

U-14 Nationals

2/15-2/17 Spooky Nook, PA

Pittsburgh Venom U-14Kayla Joyce (GK)Mia Brinkley (C)Sophia Hershberger (C)Ava AvampatoIsabella ElmAva HershbergerLiliana RoseJosie SchomburgAisley ShuskoAva WilliamsAva Zimmer

U-16 Nationals

2/28-3/1 Spooky Nook, PA

Pittsburgh Venom U-16 BoomslangJordan Ashbaugh (GK)Julia DeFoggia (C)Ava Hershberger(C)Isabella ArnoldDani DeerAbby HershbergerLauren KampiCallie RautenbachAnnabelle RoseAly Solomon

U-19 Nationals

2/21-2/23 Richmond, VA

Pittsburgh Venom U-19 King CobraGwen Hersberger (GK)Ally Barcaskey (C)Pfeifer Hill (C)Nica Schratz (C)Raina DodsonMaria DuchiGeorgia EsonAva HershbergerAshley LoftisNatalie LoftusElla Strzempek

GOOD LUCK AT NATIONALS!

LET'S GO VENOM!

3rd Spooky Nook Tournament Re-Cap

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:26 GMT

3rd Spooky Nook Tournament Re-Cap

U-14

The U-14's kicked off the day at 8 am! Our U-14 Blue team started the day off with a win against PAAC putting them down 3-1 with goals from #12 Ava Hersberger & #32 Ava Avampato. With U-14 Blue moving up to the top division they were in for some tougher competition than they're used to. The second game against Panthers United ended with both teams finding the net once but the third game against Warriors proved too much as they held us scoreless whilst putting in 3 of their own. They bounced back in their final game against Koa! Winning the high scoring game 4-2. #12 Ava Hersberger earned herself a Hat-Trick with Captain Sophia Hersberger getting one herself. A great team effort with our last tournament before Nationals. Even after moving to the top division they still earned 2nd place in the pool!

U-14 White had a great performance in their 3rd ever Indoor Tournament. It has been great to see the effort & energy of the team, totally unrecognisable from the first team practice! The day started off against Greene Turtle. After a hard-fought game where both teams had their chances, Greene Turtle came away with a win after they slotted one home. The next two games were both dropped by 3 goals & the final one by the travelling Connecticut team HTC by a score of 0-5. Hard fought day with lots of progress! Congratulations on a successful season U-14 White!

Results

U-14 Blue

Venom Blue (3-1) PAAC Blue

Venom Blue (1-1) Panthers United

Venom Blue (0-3) Warriors White

Venom Blue (4-2) Koa White

*2nd Place*

U-14 White

Venom White (0-1) Greene Turtle

Venom White (0-3) Nook Green

Venom White (0-3) TGT Gold

Venom White (0-5) HTC FHC

U-16

The U-16's took to the courts in the early afternoon. With three teams in this age group, the day gets busy, especially with all 10 courts being played on from 8 am-9 pm. U-16 Blue was also moved into the top division to prepare for Nationals at the end of February. A big shock to the system going up against AGH who eventually went undefeated to win the entire tournament. A slow first 10 mins ended with us looking straight into a 3-0 deficit. Getting shoved into the right mindset we battled back & didn't let another goal in the rest of the game whilst also earning their own chances. #12 Ava Hersberger netted a Penalty Stroke, ending the game down 1-3. The next game was against NJ Strarz's top team. Going up against tough opposition we kept our structure & pressured them at one time going up 3-1. They came back but the pressure was enough to withstand as the game ended with Venom the victors at 3-2! The third game against HTC Shock was another tense battle. The Connecticut team had great skills but we held strong to win the next game 2-1 going into the final game of the day in great spirits raring for the next challenge. HUSEL was our last game of the day, by this game we are at full speed & we dispatched them easily 4-0. After the first hurdle, they came back to beat the rest & took 2nd place in the tournament in the top division! Congratulations & good luck at Nationals!

U-16 White also moved up a division to keep our season progression along. A tougher day against tougher opponents. The progress we have been making has been astounding even if we didn't win a game on Saturday. A great day especially for Goalkeeper Rylee Branscum celebrating her birthday with us at a Venom tournament! Happy Birthday & Congratulations on an awesome season U-16 White!

U-16 Gold had a similar day as U-16 White with some of the U-14 Blue members playing up an age division. Although they dropped every game #15 Mia Brinkley got a goal against Ballyhoo 3 to ruin their shutout. Fantastic progression especially with U-14's playing up a level. We cant wait to see your progression into Spring!

Results

U-16 Blue

Venom Blue (1-4) AGH

Venom Blue (3-2) NJSTARZ

Venom Blue (2-1) HTC Shock

Venom Blue (4-0) HUSEL

*2nd Place*

U-16 White

Venom White (0-7) TNT

Venom White (0-5) PAAC Pink

Venom White (0-8) TGT Emerald

Venom White (0-8) Baltimore Stix

U-16 Gold

Venom Gold (0-2) Velocity

Venom Gold (0-6) Freedom Lynx

Venom Gold (1-11) Ballyhoo 3

Venom Gold (0-8) RAM

U-19

In the late afternoon to the early evening the U-19's kicked off their 3rd tournament & U-19 Blue played first. U-19 Blue was in for the same treatment that U-16 Blue was going up against AGH. Playing the well-drilled club was a tough task, one that at times looked like it could be overcome but the team from Connecticut kept pushing & they lost the first one 0-8. After the rude awakening, they kicked it into gear & the rest of the tournament was much closer. Even though they didn't end up with a win the ladies started scoring and were only losing the games by one or two goals. Congratulations for your goals this tournament #91 Georgia Eson, #37 Ally Barcaskey, #12 Ava Hersberger & #61 Raina Dodson. Well fought especially after playing in the top division tournament & good luck in Richmond, VA at Nationals!

U-19 White kicked off the campaign with a hard played game against NJSTARZ they ultimately lost the first one only by 1-0. They found their resolve in game two by tying Milford Maniacs 1-1. The final game of the pool play was against PAAC Pink where they put in 5 goals to win the game 5-1. They were then in the 3rd place playoff game against PAAC Pink where they equalled their previous performance by winning again by 5-1. Congratulations on ending the season on a high note!

U-19 Gold started the day by winning the first game by 5 goals against Velocity but then ran into the tougher competition against HUSEL & they tied the second game 1-1. The third game against High Voltage Gold proved too much for the defence & they dropped it 0-4. Some redemption in their final game against Zebra Hawks as they tied it 2-2. Great performance by U-19 Gold and these scores have been getting better & better as the season has gone along. Well done this season!

Results

U-19 Blue

Venom Blue (0-8) AGH

Venom Blue (1-2) High Voltage

Venom Blue (1-4) PAAC Blue

Venom Blue (2-3) DE Shore

U-19 White

Venom White (0-1) NJSTARZ White

Venom White (1-1) Milford Maniacs

Venom White (5-1) PAAC Pink

Venom White (5-1) PAAC Pink - 3rd Place Game

U-19 Gold

Venom Gold (5-0) Velocity

Venom Gold (1-1) HUSEL

Venom Gold (0-4) High Voltage Gold

Venom Gold (2-2) Zebra Sharks

Congratulations everyone for their performance by representing us on the court! All of your hard work & commitment has truly made us the best club in Western PA!

Good luck everyone travelling to Nationals this season! Its the first time ever Venom will be represented at all three National Indoor Tournaments!

Good Luck!

LET'S GO VENOM!

2nd Winter Indoor Spooky Nook Tournament Re-cap

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:24 GMT

This is a subtitle for your new post

A re-cap of the 2nd 2019/20 Winter Indoor Spooky Nook Tournament

We had our 2nd Spooky Nook tournament of the 2019/20 Venom Indoor Season on January 4th & it was a fantastic experience for all 8 of our teams!

The day started with our U-19's taking the court with all three teams picking up wins in the tournaments. Great showing from all of our teams with lots to work on but special congratulations to U-19 Blue who swept the pool to go undefeated bringing home the hardware! After U-19's, the U-16's took over & Venom Blue dropped one game to the eventual tournament champions to take 2nd place. Venom White & Gold had a tougher day on the court with good competition the teams adjusted giving us good direction for the future!

U-14's took the late shift in the evening with both teams putting pressure on the opponents winning their first games. Venom Blue won their second game but dropped the third to the eventual champions but bounced back with a 5-0 thrashing in their last game but the championship was already out of reach. Venom White won the first then lost the second two by only one goal, then rebounded by getting a tie in their last game. Fantastic progress for the youngsters of the club!

This has been our best tournament overall from all 8 of our teams! We only have one more month of the regular Indoor season with culminating in our last Spooky Nook tournament on Feb 1st!

Results

U-19

Venom Blue (1 - 0) Viper White

Venom Blue (3 - 1) DE Shore

Venom Blue (3 - 1) RAM

Final - Venom Blue (1 - 0) RAM *CHAMPIONS

Venom White (1 -1) Ballyhoo 3

Venom White (1 - 0) Hammers Silver

Venom White (0 -3) Blue Fusion

Venom White (1 - 3) Ballyhoo 2

Venom Gold (0 - 7) Blue Fusion

Venom Gold (0 - 1) Ballyhoo 2

Venom Gold (3 - 2) Omega Yellow

Venom Gold (0 - 5) Ballyhoo 3

U-16

Venom Blue (4 - 0) Viper Black

Venom Blue (1 - 3) Shore Byrds

Venom Blue (2 - 0) Ballyhoo 1

Venom Blue (3 - 1) Omega Yellow

Venom White (1 - 7) Blue Fusion Blue

Venom White (2 - 6) Richmond Elite

Venom White (1 - 7) Hammers Silver

Venom White (0 - 4) Ballyhoo 2

Venom Gold (1 - 1) Ballyhoo 3

Venom Gold (2 - 2) Omega Orange

Venom Gold (0 - 6) RAM

Venom Gold (0 - 4) Blue Fusion White

U-14

Venom Blue (4 - 0) Omega Orange

Venom Blue (2 - 1) Blue Fusion

Venom Blue (0 - 3) PowerHouse Hurricanes

Venom Blue (5 - 0) High Styx

Venom White (3 - 2) High Styx 2

Venom White (0 - 1) Ballyhoo

Venom White (0 - 1) RAM

Venom White (1 - 1) Powerhouse Lightning

We had a fantastic weekend & still cannot believe how many dedicated athletes & parents we have! Looking forward to the very bright future ahead of us!

Good luck to all our teams going to the National Indoor Qualifiers this weekend!

U-16 Boomslang - Ithaca, NY

U-19 Python - Louisville, KY

U-19 King Cobra - Lock Haven, PA

LET'S GO VENOM!

1st Spooky Nook Winter Indoor Tournament Re-Cap

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:23 GMT

A re-cap of the 1st 2019/20 Winter Indoor Spooky Nook Tournament.

We had our first Winter Indoor Tournament this weekend and we had a fantastic showing in Lancaster, PA! From the coaches perspective, this was an awesome tournament. We haven't looked so structured & determined at the first tournament of any season before. We didn't come away with any hardware but we also placed our teams in tougher pools compared to previous years. To put it in perspective, we travelled just 4 years ago to tournaments and the goal differential was in the '20s. This weekend, in only our first tournament of the season we were winning and tying games with a few losses. The fact that we have these kinds of results is awesome. We can see that as the tournament went along every single team developed, became stronger & it was reflected in the scorelines. Each team grew together as the day progressed. You should all feel proud as you took on the advice given by our coaches and implemented that on the court. We are so excited to get back out there! We are looking stronger, more competitive & with more structure for the second tournament in January, we will be ready to show what Western PA hockey has to offer. Thank you for your commitment & determination to make us the best club in the region! See you at the next practice!

RESULTS

U-14

Venom Blue (0 - 2) High Styx Wolfpack

Venom Blue (2 - 1) High Styx Purple

Venom Blue (1 -1) Alley Cats Blue

Venom Blue (3 - 0) Majestyx FHC White

Venom White (0 - 1) SPark Silver

Venom White (1 - 1) High Styx Wolfpack

Venom White (0 - 6) Reach FHC

Venom White (0 - 7) NOVA Elite

U-16

Venom Blue (0 - 1) CPFH Lilac

Venom Blue (3 - 1) Alley Cats Blue

Venom Blue (5 - 1) PA Elite Black

Venom Blue (4 - 2) MJK White

Venom White (0 - 6) CPFH Wisteria

Venom White (0 - 10) Lion

Venom White (0 - 0) United FHC

Venom White (3 - 1) MJK Gold

Venom Gold (0 - 0) Kennard Dale

Venom Gold (0 - 7) CPFH Periwinkle

Venom Gold (1 - 3) NOVA Elite

Venom Gold (1 - 6) MJK Platinum

U-19

Venom Blue (2 - 0) MJK Silver

Venom Blue (0 - 4) CPFH Orchid

Venom Blue (3 - 1) PA Elite

Venom Blue (1 - 1) PLAYOFF

Venom White (1 - 0) MJK Gold

Venom White (3 - 0) CPFH Lilac

Venom White (0 - 6) Alley Cats Orange

Venom White (1 -1) PLAYOFFS

Venom Gold (0 -3) MJK White

Venom Gold (0 - 5) CPFH lilac

Venom Gold (0 - 6) Souderton Strikers

Venom Gold (0 - 2) PLAYOFFS

LET'S GO VENOM!

USA Men's National Team Head Coach Clinic this Black Friday

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:22 GMT

USA Men's National Team Head Coach Clinic this Black Friday

Teamusa.com

USAMNT Head Coach & Venom Founder Rutger Wiese will be coming to Pittsburgh this Black Friday to coach an indoor clinic!

USAMNT Head Coach & Venom Founder Rutger Wiese will be coming to Pittsburgh this Black Friday, Nov 29th to coach an indoor clinic.

From 10 am to 12:30 pm at Bridgeville Rollerplex the cost is $50/athlete. Register now by clicking the link below!

2019/20 Winter Registration Open!

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:21 GMT

2019/20 Winter Registration Open!

Hello Venom Family!

With fall right around the corner and the school season well underway, its time to think about winter indoor. The information for this year's Winter Indoor season here:

This year we're starting earlier than ever. Most of the east coast teams start this early and some have already had try-outs. Were starting November 3rd with the first Sunday Full club practice. The Monday skills & scrimmage starts on November 18th. Starting in November gives us two full months of practice & two Spooky Nook tournaments before the National Indoor Tournament Qualifiers which we're hoping will be January 11th weekend (Pending USAFH selection). We're entering 1 U-16 team & 2 U-19 teams. Selections for the teams will be made from practices & tournaments out of all players willing to be selected. If you're selected you are required to be available to play at the National Indoor Qualifiers & Nationals. Additional payment required for the Nationals Program. U-14's are already qualified & defending National Champions!

This year we are back playing in the NFHCA Winter Escape in Florida on the January 17th weekend. This tournament is a showcase for all NCAA prospects looking to get recruited. There are 18 spots on the roster if more than 18 inquire we will have try-outs. More information to follow.

Registration opens tomorrow at Noon!

Good Luck in your upcoming HS games! Don't forget to send us you playing this season, especially if your playing against other Venom teammates. A prize goes to the most creative picture sent to us & posted on Instagram.

LET'S GO VENOM!

Venom Members at National & International Events!

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:20 GMT

Hersberger Sisters / Coach Ben / Founder Rutger Wiese

Venom Members at National & International Events!

National Futures Championships

The U-14 & U-16 National Futures Championships were this past weekend at the Home of Hockey, Spooky Nook Sports in Lancaster, PA. Two of our own were selected to play for the Region 9 - Great Lakes team in their age groups. Ava Hersberger (U-14) & Gewn Hersberger (U-16) both had stellar performances. Special congratulations to Gwen who put up multiple shutout half's getting Rome (R9) into the Bronze medal match. They took the Bronze in another shutout 3-0 victory over Oslo (R6 New Jersey).

You can watch the broadcast on demand on the USAFH website by clicking this link:

2019 USAFH National Futures U-16 Live Stream

FIH Series Finals

Also the past two weeks Coach Ben was in France for the FIH Series Finals in Le Touquet-Paris-Plague, France. This world level event was taking place in several locations across the globe. Malaysia, India & France for the Men & Ireland, Japan & Spain for the women. This event has been the culmination for all of the countries that haven't been taking place in the FIH Pro League. They have been playing qualifying events across the world for two years & the top 2 teams that finish in the Finals all earn spots in the Olympic qualifiers to be played up to the 2020 Olympics in Japan.

You can also watch these games on at the official FIH streaming website FIH.Live

Coach Ben officiated the following games:

France - Ukraine , Egypt - Ireland , Ukraine - Korea , 5th/6th Place Chile - Egypt

Club Founder Rutger Wiese leading the USA Men's National team to a record 4th at the FIH Series Finals in India!

If you would like to watch the games for this event you can subscribe for $20 to unlock all the FIH Pro League, World Cup & FIH Series Finals for both Men & Women's Competitions.

Games in the following recap:

Pool B:

USA Pool Game 1: #25 USA - #16 South Africa

USA Pool Game 2: #25 USA - #39 Mexico

USA Pool Game 3: #25 USA - #18 Japan

USA Semi-Final: #25 USA - #16 South Africa

USA 3rd/4th Place: #25 USA - #18 Japan

SPOILERS for the above games.

Rutger Wiese founder Venom in 2010 with Olivia Netzler. They both ran NCAA programs in the area Rutger was at IUP & Olivia coached RMU. Rutger took his coaching knowledge to Boston at Harvard University. While there he got involved with the USA National Men's team program eventually getting the U-21 job. After building a growing boy's development program in both California & the East coast, Rutger was offered the job at the Senior Men's USA National team. This being his first test of a 2-year tournament ending in their bracket FIH Men's Series Finals the #25 USA stunned the world by defeating the second highest ranked team in the tournament #16 South Africa in a shutout 2-0 victory! It didn't end there. The USA showed that they were the ones to be beaten in Pool B defeating #39 Mexico in another shutout 9-0. The real test came in the final pool game in a winner gets a bye into the Semi-Finals. In a back and forth game between the USA & #18 Japan. The USA Men took the lead and were able to hold a flurry of attacks to keep the score level at 2-2 to clinch top place in Pool B. After a lengthy rest the USA knew they had to beat South Africa again to secure their place in the 2020 Olympic Qualifiers & into the Final. The game started according to plan for the USA controlling the game with a goal at the end of the 1st quarter everything looked up for the USA but in the second half, South Africa's attacks found purchase in the USA defence. In the 42nd minute, a SA Short Corner found the back of the goal to tie the game. After conceding the goal the USA defence strengthened. The game looked like it was headed to a Shoot Out but a clever passing play with 24 seconds to spare, a South African deflection made its way pas the USA keeper to put South Africa into the Final & the Olympic Qualifiers in a heartbreaking loss. The tournament wasn't over as valuable world ranking points are still up for grabs. They faced Pool B rivals Japan on the final day of play & were unable to mount the same play against Asian Champions & Olympic hosts Japan. With a 4-2 loss, the USA Men took 4th place in India which has been their highest placement at a world level event for decades. Congratulations to the USA Men's team & club founder Rutger Wiese for bringing the future of our sport roaring back. The world has stood up and taken notice at the integrated USA Men's Team!

2019 USAFH U-14 National Indoor Champions!

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:18 GMT

2019 USAFH U-14 National Indoor Champions!

2019 U-14 Undefeated National Champions!

U-14's won the first USAFH Indoor National Championship in Western PA history.

On February 16th 2019 our U-14 Indoor team participated in the USA Field Hockey National Indoor Tournament. This was our second year at Nationals after 5th place in 2018, we were ready for the battle this year. With a confident opening 3-0 win with goals from Callie Rautenbauch, Savannah Koschko & assistant captain Ava Hersberger against Texas Pride, the U-14's ended day 1 on top of the table tied with Field Hockey Life (Ohio).

Day 2 had more of the same excitement as they dispatched Spirit of the USA (New Jersey) with another 3-0 Shutout from GK Jordan Ashbaugh, Captain Julia Defoggia got on the scoreboard with another 2 goal performance from Ava Hersberger. Lanco Premier (PA) gave us a tougher game but another 2 goal effort by Ava and Short Corner specialist Abby Hersberger scoring we held them to one goal and got the 3 points in a 3-1 victory. With that, we ended Day 2 alone atop the table with our destiny in our hands.

FHL put up a fight but our defence stayed strong and the system worked as the Captains Julia & Ava scored one apiece and Ashbaugh shut out another team to get us the 2-0 win. Headed into the 5th and final game of the tournament we were confident and showed it conceding only the second goal of the tournament and getting a Hat-Trick from Ava Hersberger as we wrapped up 2019 Nationals with a 5-1 victory over Mystx Bombers to secure the National Championship!

A dominating 5-0-0 ,16 GF, 2 GA, undefeated run to win the 2019 USAFH Pool DD National Championship which is a historic first for not only Venom but the entire western PA region. Defensive standouts Goalkeeper Jordan Ashbaugh had 3 shutouts and only 2 Goals Against & Danielle Deer who earned player of the tournament for her leadership in the backfield was crucial to our Championship as well as top goalscorer with one hat-trick Ava Hersberger (9).

9. Julia DeFoggia (C) 92. Jordan Ashbaugh (GK) 12. Ava Hersberger (A) 10. Kaylee Gryboski 81. Danielle Deer 83. Abby Hershberger 32. Savannah Koscho 21. Callie Rautenbach1 14. Sophia Hersberger 15. Mia Brinkley 33. Liliana Rose

2017 NFHCA Spring Fling

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:17 GMT

2017 NFHCA Spring Fling

VENOM DOMINATES IN RICHMOND!

This spring we have been training to compete at the 2017 NFHCA Top Recruit Spring Fling Showcase. Our Showcase team has been getting together on Tuesday afternoons to train together to prepare for the Spring Fling in Richmond, VA where hundreds of College Coaches attend to recruit uncommitted athletes to play at the NCAA level.

The weekend started off under severe thunderstorms as there was the Shot Stoppers Goalkeeping Showcase as well as grade-specific Showcase games made of top recruits from all the clubs attending.

The weather broke overnight and Tournament play started on Saturday morning. Our first game was against Mid-Jersey Knights, we came bursting out of the gates scoring early and taking control of the ball in the offensive zone. After 50 minutes of great play and a goal line save from the Defense we ended with 5 goals to 0 starting off the first game with a win. The second game of the day played out as strong as the first. With some great defensive plays to send us on counter attacks, we put 4 goals past Focus whilst keeping our Shutout streak going. The last game of the day was against the other unbeaten team in our pool, Coastal FHC. The game started off fast and competitive. With the ball travelling from end to end as we shared blows with each team hitting the post to send the ball wide. After an unlucky injury to Defensemen Emily Anderson, which sidelined her for the rest of the game with a stick to the back of the hand, the team rallied and pushed the play harder down towards their end. As we upped the tempo Coastal fought back forcing Goalkeeper Emma Jorgensen to step-up and make some crucial diving saves. The game ended scoreless giving us our first Tie to end play on Saturday.

Sunday started early as we had the first game of the day. With a much needed nights rest we got ready to keep up the momentum. Undertow was our first game of the day and everyone came together on the field to show the Scouts what talent we have in pittsburgh. Forward Sarah Metzmaier acheiving one of her multiples Hat-Tricks of the tournament we scored 7 goals on the way to our 4th Shutout of the weekend. Rebels rounded out our pool play on Sunday. As a perfect gift for all the Mothers of Venom we ended the tournament perfect. Another strong 5 goals from our attacking corps. The entire team came together this weekend to show the country what Pittsburgh is made of! We ended the weekend with the best record on our pool 4W-0L-1T with 21 Goals For. a complete Tournament Shutout 0 Goals against to win Venom's first Tournament. Once all play ended on Sunday we had the 2nd best record of all participating teams at the Showcase.

A big Thank You to Honorary Venom Club Members Vivian Cavanaugh, Claire Flannery, Kelly Rose, April Kim and Ashley Kim (Yale) for joining us this weekend and making this the best tournament possible, we hope to see you join us in the future either on the sideline with us or on the field competing.

After another successful Spring Fling we are looking forward to the future and our next Showcase, we will be registering for NFHCA Winter Escape in Sanford, FL January 12-14th 2018. If you would like to join us please join our Mailing list and we will announce when registration will begin.

LETS GO VENOM!

Coach Ben

2017 Lock Haven Tournament

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:16 GMT

2017 Lock Haven Tournament

Rain rain go away Venom was here to stay! This past weekend Pittsburgh venom field hockey club traveled to Lockhaven university. Although were challenged in more ways than one out U 19 team came out on top placing fifth overall. Despite the weather conditions we were faced with venom rose to the occasion and had six shut out games and three players with hat tricks. U19 team was able to have strong ball control, possession and a strong finish to the tournament which made them successful. Our U16 and U14 teams were right behind them with off ball movement and looking for the pockets of space and finishing with the ball in the net. Although across-the-board we need to work on team communication that's a small improvement to be made compared to the great feats that were accomplished this past weekend. A big thank you goes out to the great parents who battled the rain set up tents, fed our troops, and once again showed true" venom family".

2017 National Indoor Tournament

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 18:56:15 GMT

2017 National Indoor Tournament

2017 NIT

This weekend the U-19's traveled to Virginia to compete at USAFH 2017 National Indoor Tournament. This is the first time that our U-19's have ever qualified for Nationals, this is a great landmark for our young club. The weekend started off with a good win against Boston HC 5-2. After two hard fought games with goals being conceded in the last 2 mins we lost both games on Saturday 3-2 and 6-4. Coming into Sunday we played well and leading both games couldn't hold on for the win and tied ending the tournament in 4th place with a 1-2-2 (W-L-T) record. Going into the weekend we had high hopes of coming back to Pittsburgh National Champions but we came back heads held high looking to come back stronger next season.

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EAP Summer Academy July 2&3 - Venom Exclusive Registration - Public Registration Starts Friday!

Venom Summer Scrimmages 2026

April 06, 2026 | Introducing Bridges Adaptive Field Hockey (Pittsburgh)

Hello Venom Family!

Longstreth Official Equipment Partnership

We are excited to partner with the leading Field Hockey Supplier in the USA! Join The club to get access to our club discount!

NFHCA Recruits Club Membership Access

Join the top NCAA Recruiting platform in the USA for Field Hockey!

HELLO VENOM FAMILY!

2026 Spring Season Info & Registration Details

Register today to join our Spring season & new ELITE for OUTDOOR!

Hello Venom Family!

Winter 2025/26 Registration is LIVE!

Register today to secure your spot this season!

Hello Venom Family!

2025 Spring Season Is LIVE!

Hello Venom Family!

NEW WEBSITE & WINTER INDOOR 2024/25 REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

NEW WEBSITE & WINTER INDOOR 2024/25 REGISTRATION IS OPEN! ﻿

Venom Summer / Fall Clinics REGISTRATION OPEN NOW!

VENOM HOCSOCX!! First Order Run | Spots still open on the Shooting Star Jamboree roster!

VENOM HOCSOCX!! First Order Run | Spots still open on the Shooting Star Jamboree roster!

Hello Venom Family!

LET'S GO VENOM!

Club Statement - Rebrand

Club Statement - Rebrand

Venom Hockey Store - SOLD OUT EQUIPMENT

Venom Hockey Store - SOLD OUT EQUIPMENT

Hello Venom Hockey Family!

LETS GO VENOM!

Winter Indoor Season '23/'23 Registration Open Now!

Register for this years edition of Venom Winter Indoor Season!

2023 Shooting Star Thanksgiving Showcase Nov 24-26th - Reply to register

We are looking for athletes for this years NCAA Shooting Star Thanksgiving Showcase.

2023 Summer Shoot 'n Save Clinics - Register Today!

This summer's Shoot 'n Save clinics are open to registration!

Pittsburgh Pirates to host Venom & Field Hockey Night!

Pittsburgh Pirates to host Venom & Field Hockey Night! ﻿

Hello Venom Family!

USAFH 2022 Awards Popular Vote

VOTE NOW: People's Choice Voting

Now Open for USA Field Hockey's 2022 Annual Awards

Statement from Club Owner Benjamin Peters

Statement from Club Owner Benjamin Peters

Hello Venom Family!

LET'S GO VENOM!

2022 National Indoor Tournament Recap - U19 Blue Pool S National Champions!

2022 National Indoor Tournament Recap - U19 Blue Pool S National Champions!

U14 NIT 2/19-21

U14 Blue - Pool BB | 2W-2L-1T | 4th Place

U19 NIT 2/25-27

U19 White - Pool P | 1-2-2 | 5th Place

U19 Blue - Pool S | 4W-0L-1T | Champions

2021/22 2nd Winter Indoor Tournament Recap

2021/22 2nd Winter Indoor Tournament Recap

Hello Venom Family!

LET'S GO VENOM!

2021/22 1st Winter Indoor Tournament Recap

2021/22 1st Winter Indoor Tournament Recap

Hello Venom Family!

LET'S GO VENOM!

2021 Spring Tournament Re-Cap

2021 Spring Tournament Re-Cap

2021 National Indoor Tournament Club Re-Cap

First Ever U16 & U19 National Indoor Champions! ﻿

U16 Blue

U19 White

U-16 White

2021 U14 NIT Re-Cap

A recap of the 2021 USAFH National Indoor Tournament and our teams performance.

Hello Venom Family!

2020 U-16 USAFH National Indoor Tournament Re-Cap

LET'S GO VENOM!

2020 U-19 USAFH National Indoor tournament Re-Cap

Our U-19 King Cobras travelled to Richmond, VA to participate in the 2020 USAFH National Indoor Tournament!

LET'S GO VENOM!

2020 U-14 USAFH National Indoor Tournament Champions

A re-cap of the 2020 USA National Indoor Tournament Championship.

2020 National Indoor Tournament Qualifiers Re-Cap

NEW WEBSITE & WINTER INDOOR 2024/25 REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

Pittsburgh Pirates to host Venom & Field Hockey Night!

First Ever U16 & U19 National Indoor Champions!