BETHEL — Adversity can help define the character of a team, and, with plenty to prove, the Telstar field hockey team showed that it is still one of the top Class C squads in the MVC on Wednesday.

Katie Sumner continued a hot streak with a pair of goals and the Rebels maintained control with superb teamwork in a 6-0 win over previously unbeaten Winthrop.

Telstar (4-1) went on the offensive early with strong drives, and produced several shots on goal fueled by a strong passing game that had the Ramblers’ defense scrambling.

“They can do it,” Telstar coach Gail Wight said. “It’s all about trusting your teammates. We had been getting to many stick infractions because players were holding on to the ball to long or trying to dribble. But, now they are passing the ball.”

The Rebels opened things up when Sumner and Kallie Brown scored in the final 10 minutes of the first half. Sumner blasted a shot past Winthrop goalie Lorin Bryant, and Brown used a bull rush 3:17 later and pushed the ball past Bryant as both players fell to the ground. Sumner added a one-timer smash for a 3-0 halftime lead.

“I couldn’t do it without my teammates,” Sumner said. “We talked to each other as we (advanced) the ball down the field.”

Sumner, a senior wing, is still sporting black and blue lower lip from being hit by a ball in the mouth twice in the past two weeks.

Winthrop (4-1) was unable to generate any offense, even from with leading scorers Nikki Scott and Rachel Ingram, who encountered resistance in front of the Rebels’ freshman goalie Hali Barton (five saves).

Telstar halfbacks Sarah Averill, Gail Lavorgna and Emma Davis stopped the ball and fed the forwards. If a ball did slip through, fullback Hunter Verrill stepped up.

“We started slow,” said Winthrop coach Sharon Coulton, whose team pulled a Jeckell-and-Hyde act after shutting out Mountain Valley on Monday. “We tried a new defense out there and it obviously didn’t work because (Telstar) found holes in it.”

Telstar scored three more times the second half by spreading the field and opening up passing lanes. A blast from Kayla Merrill on a penalty corner at 2:34 in put a nail inn the coffin. Naomi Ellsworth, and Victoria Forkus completed the scoring.

“We came in knowing this would be a tough game,” Merrill said. “Our communication was excellent and we put a lot of trust in where everyone would be on the field.”

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