Noorvir Kaur hurdles heart irregularity at Quince Orchard; Youth strengthens St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes
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Version 0 of 1. In the second week of September, Noorvir Kaur broke into a sprint on a treadmill inside the office of her electrophysiologist. Kaur’s parents looked on with concern while their daughter’s effort climbed. Electrodes attached to her body transmitted the changes in her heartbeat, which was already determined to be irregular. After seeing three doctors while missing three weeks of Quince Orchard field hockey, the senior midfielder heard what she wanted to hear. She passed the stress test. The doctor cleared her to play again. Kaur texted Coach Alicia Vincenty as the Cougars reached the cool down period of their practice, and the coach shared the good news with her players. “Everyone just started screaming and cheering,” Vincenty said. “It was really cute.” After missing all of the preseason and Quince Orchard’s season opener, Kaur has returned as the Cougars steadying presence on the right side. In her preseason physical, her primary care physician found an irregular heartbeat and told her to cease all athletic activity. Kaur saw a cardiologist for further testing and was referred to a third doctor for the stress test. The irregularity in Kaur’s heart was not serious enough to halt her final year of field hockey, and the senior was overjoyed. “It’s kind of hard to adjust to that, going through all these tests,” Kaur said. “Seeing everyone playing made me want to get on the field too, so that was a big driving force.” Upon her return, both Kaur and Vincenty were tentative. Although she couldn’t feel her heartbeat, Kaur said she “was a little too aware” of it in the back of her mind. She was under orders to halt activity if she felt faint or light-headed. Vincenty was cautious, inserting Kaur into games for five minutes at a time. “It’s really nerve wracking to know she has a problem that you can’t necessarily see. It’s based all on her feelings,” Vincenty said. “She’s one of the seniors that I’ve been coaching all four years. I started on JV with her and we came up together. I’m definitely really protective of her.” Kaur’s presence is critical to the Cougars because of her speed and stick skills. She won’t compile eye-popping statistics, but Kaur calms the team with her control of the ball and her reliability in transition. For Kaur, it was heartwarming to hear the Cougars welcomed her return with cheers. “It made me feel really good that they think I’m an integral part of the team,” she said. “And I wanted to be back, too.” From an outside perspective, it might seem like Ellie Carson and Katie Wood are facing a daunting task. But for the lone seniors on the St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes field hockey team, captaining a young squad with a first-year coach has been far from challenging. “It’s easy,” said Carson, who played a key role on last season’s Independent School League championship team. “All the underclassmen are so talented, and they’ve been with the program, so there’s not much we have to do, you know? They already know what they’re doing.” That’s left Coach Dionna Jordan, who took the helm this fall after spending several years as an assistant, with a young and deep roster. Juniors Olivia Gilliam and Olivia Pugh, a first-team All-Met last season, have led the Saints’ offense as center midfielders during the team’s 5-2 start. Taylor Henriksen has asserted herself as a strong goalkeeper during her sophomore season. And freshmen forwards Bailee Register and Mikaela Discenza have made an immediate impact. “Obviously, we’re a young team, but that’s not a bad thing,” Jordan said. “It adds depth. It’s not like we have a bunch of seniors who play and no one else who goes in. We have 18 girls who can play, and everyone, even the freshmen, have confidence and the ability to step in there.” The Saints had a tournament cancelled due to do weather over the weekend, but they’ll pick up play Thursday against Holton-Arms and swing quickly into the thick of ISL competition. And league play is when Jordan expects her team dynamic to be most beneficial. She’ll have more options to use off the bench than most opponents, and the Saints can mix-and-match their on-field personnel, making it more difficult to gameplan against them. “Plus,” Wood added. “The younger players give us a whole new energy.” After losing their first game of the season in double-overtime Monday night at Mount Hebron, Atholton’s girls were exhausted before the start of Tuesday’s contest against undefeated Glenelg. But the prospect of completing a season-long goal provided all the pep the Raiders needed as Atholton built a three-goal lead in the first half and held on for a 3-2 win. “Today is the first time Atholton has ever beaten Glenelg,” Raiders Coach Martie Dyer said by phone Tuesday night. “We took them to strokes last year. It was our goal this year to beat Glenelg.” Alyssa Berman, Tori Raulin and Julia Thometz accounted for Atholton’s scoring. Across Howard County, Marriotts Ridge beat Mount Hebron, 2-1, in the Vikings’ second straight overtime game. Lily Kennedy came up with the clutch goal as the Mustangs became the last remaining undefeated team in the county. Erin Shanahan had a hat trick and Madison Zehring added a goal and two assists in Spalding’s 6-1 win over Notre Dame Prep. . . . Westfield beat Robinson, 1-0, Tuesday night behind a goal from Claire Eller. . . . Wootton has scored total 29 goals in four-straight shutouts. . . . After a double-overtime win over Mount Hebron, Marriotts Ridge is the last undefeated team in Howard County. . . . Broadneck began a four-game win streak with a 4-0 win over South River. . . . Madison earned a 2-0 win over Fairfax on Monday to extend its winning streak to six games. 1. Spalding (10-0-1) Last week:1 2. Westfield (10-2) LW: 3 3. Wootton (9-1) LW: 6 4. Marriotts Ridge (8-0) LW: NR 5. Broadneck (6-3) LW: 10 6. St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes (5-2) LW: 7 7. Springbrook (6-1) LW: 9 8. Robinson (12-2-1) LW: 4 9. South River (5-2-1) LW: NR 10. Madison (12-1) LW: NR Dropped out: No. 2 Glenelg (7-1), No. 5 Chesapeake (6-2-1), No. 8 Fairfax (9-3-2) On the bubble: Atholton (6-1), Glenelg (7-1), Centreville (9-4), Herndon (10-3) Records through Tuesday. |