Kaila Cahoon can't recall exactly how she makes all of her saves.
Bernadette Gannon, her coach on the Suffern field hockey team, doesn't know either.
The multitude of standing blocks, tumbles and diving saves that Cahoon made -- 100 during her senior season -- weren't always pretty to watch.
They did, however, give Suffern a defensive edge it rode to its first Section 1 crown and all the way to the Class A regional final.
"Sometimes as a coach, you look and you swear the ball is going into the net and you kind of prepare yourself for, 'OK, they just scored,' " Gannon said. "Then you are still watching and you're like, 'Oh my ... she just made this amazing save.' It catches you off guard."
Cahoon, the Journal News Rockland field hockey player of the year, allowed nine goals in 21 games.
"During the summer, I was thinking that I just wanted to be the best that I can be and have as many shutouts as possible. I want to help my team win," Cahoon said. "I think that I helped my team accomplish its goals."
Cahoon's marquee performance came in a 2-1 double-overtime win in the Section 1 final against Mamaroneck, which had 22 corner chances.
"Kaila was a beast," said Toni Pjetri, a 2010 Suffern graduate and standout goalie for New Paltz. "I remember going up to her afterward and giving her the biggest hug. It's scary in (those situations) for the defense and for the goalie in the cage."
Cahoon was called up to the varsity during Pjetri's senior season and Pjetri was able to impart goaltending wisdom and techniques to her eventual successor.
"Ever since she came up as a freshman, I knew that she was going to do great because she has so much ambition," Pjetri said. "She was very aggressive and picked things up easily."
Gannon noted that a strength of Cahoon's, unlike other athletes her age, is the ability to effectively communicate defensive assignments to her teammates.
"The goalie has to be the leader defensively and has to be able to control the circle," Gannon said. "Kaila does that really well because she does it in a manner that's not bossy or domineering."
In two hotly contested draws against Nyack, Cahoon's awareness was on display as the Mounties were able to keep the exceptionally athletic Nyack forwards at bay.
"After so many games, I would tell (Cahoon), 'You saved us,' " teammate Sarah Adler said. "A lot of teams outshot us and had more corners than us."
Cahoon said she is still undecided about her future plans but is considering playing her college field hockey at Scranton and pursuing a degree in communication.
For now, Cahoon can relish the fact that her team's section championship wasn't just the first for Suffern, but the first for any Rockland program.
"I hope people can recognize the potential that (Rockland field hockey) has," Cahoon said. "Next year, everyone will have faith that we can go a little further, from section champs to maybe regional champs. We brought a lot of recognition to Rockland field hockey."
