Mount field hockey leads Villa by two, then falls in OT

Posted 10/15/18

Senior Julianna Kratz makes contact with the ball on the shot that gave Mount St. Joseph a 3-2 halftime lead over Villa Maria. (Photo by Tom Utescher) by Tom Utescher On the field hockey pitch, Mount …

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Mount field hockey leads Villa by two, then falls in OT

Posted

Senior Julianna Kratz makes contact with the ball on the shot that gave Mount St. Joseph a 3-2 halftime lead over Villa Maria. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

On the field hockey pitch, Mount St. Joseph has been closing in on Catholic Academies rival Villa Maria. After suffering losses by scores of 6-3 and 4-2 in last year’s home/away series with the Hurricanes, this year’s Mount Magic dropped a squeaker at Villa on October 5, succumbing 3-2 when an apparent tying goal for the Mount was disallowed.

Four days later, it looked like the Mounties were finally going to get over the hump. Rallying from an early 2-0 deficit, the host Magic led 3-2 at halftime on the strength of an opening goal by junior Haley Kliggett and two markers by senior Julianna Kratz.

In the second period, the Magic received an insurance goal from sophomore Erin McGinley to go up 4-2 with 13 minutes left to play.

Villa pulled back within one point on Adele Iacobucci‘s bullet with six minutes remaining, but in the final seconds it looked as through the Mount was going to survive a series of Hurricane corners and pull out the victory. However, with no time remaining, one last penalty corner by the visitors produced a marker by Meghan Dillon tied the match, and Villa Maria went on to win in the last minute of overtime thanks to a golden goal by senior Hannah Miller.

With the 5-4 victory, the Hurricanes remained undefeated in the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies and improved to 12-1 overall, their only loss coming in overtime against Downingtown West High School. Mount St. Joe’s came away with a 9-2 mark in the AACA and a 12-2 record against all opponents. The Magic’s lone non-league setback came against 2016 Class 2A state champ Donegal High School (Villa was the 2017 champion).

After Tuesday’s battle, first-year Mount head coach Sue Wentzel said “The girls did everything we asked them to do. We’re at a place where we can dwell on this could’ve happened or that should have happened, but then you’ve got to move on.”

Villa Maria skipper Katie Evans, also a first-year coach, was well aware of the longstanding Mount-Villa rivalry. She is a 2003 Villa graduate who went on to play for the University of Delaware and Team USA.

“The Mount is a very talented team that’s physical and intense, but not dirty,” she remarked after Tuesday’s clash. “I was proud of the way my girls were able to fight back from 4-2 down and take it into overtime. This game definitely had a playoff type of atmosphere.”

The sky was overcast, but the day was warm and quite muggy. Although the contest was being played on an artificial surface, specially-adapted turf gnats nipped at everyone’s legs. In the opening minutes, the Mount’s Kratz began a series of assaults down the right wing that would continue throughout regulation play.

“No one can keep up with her,” the Mount’s Wentzel said of the Fairfield University recruit. “She knows when to release the ball, and she knows where to put it.”

Just under three minutes in, the home crowd thought their team had gotten on the scoreboard, but what looked like an MSJ goal was negated by a foul. Villa attacked briefly, but didn’t launch any shots. With seven minutes elapsed, Coach Evans called a time-out for the Hurricanes.

“We just needed to get into our game and pick up our intensity to match the Mount’s intensity,” she commented. “They’re an incredible team and they came out so hungry for this game. They kind of put us on our back foot at the beginning.”

Evans’ peptalk had a tangible effect, with Miller scoring the game’s opening goal with 15:40 to go in the first half, and with a Hurricane freshman, Annie Shaw, making it 2-0 about five minutes later.

Out along the left sideline, sophomore Kennedy Cliggett takes a free hit in front of the Mount bench. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

While the Magic were always looking to turn Kratz loose on the right flank, Evans explained that a lot of the visitors’ transition sequences began with senior Mary Harkins in the back and then continued through the midfield with Iacobucci often serving as the catalyst. The last step was to get the ball through to a forward, particularly Miller.

Harkins and Miller will sign with Duke University, while Iacobucci will head to the University of Virginia, joining 2018 Mount grad Grace Wallis.

Going down by two goals, the Mounties had to try and recapture their early momentum. They began immediately after the ‘Canes second strike, with a feed from McGinley setting up junior Haley Cliggett for the Magic’s icebreaker just 10 seconds after Villa went up 2-0.

Wentzel related that when she began to learn about her personnel early in the season, she decided to move Cliggett up from the defense to become a forward, while sophomore Katie McCallum filled the vacancy in the back.

“They’ve been shining stars in the way that they adjusted to different positions,” the Magic’s mentor said.

Cliggett’s sophomore sister Kennedy, who made an impact on the Mount program as a feisty freshman last fall, assisted on the tying goal for the Magic, which Kratz put away with 4:40 left in the first period. Kratz then made a solo dash down the wing and into the circle, outracing the defense and banging in a go-ahead goal with 3:30 on the clock.

Villa tried to answer in the final minutes, but the home team still led 3-2 at the break. Although she did not turn up in the scoring stats, MSJ senior Mari Kniezewski (a Colgate University recruit) had her stick on the ball frequently in the defensive end and in the midfield.

Wentzel observed, “Mari is just a very solid player who gives everything she has. She’s like the Energizer® bunny.”

As usual, the Mount toggled between their senior goalies in Tuesday’s game. Maeve McCarthy (who’ll head to Catholic University) recorded a total of six saves in the first half of regulation and in the overtime period, and Claire Maguire made two stops in the second half. Rory Williamson, a junior who has made a verbal commitment to Dartmouth, was credited with a defensive save, as was senior Maddie Niekelski.

“Maddie has such a good eye for the ball in the back,” Wentzel observed.

Villa attacked early in the second half, striking the Mount backboard with four minutes elapsed on a shot that came from just outside the circle. A little later, the Hurricanes killed off a penalty by continuing to press up on offense.

At the other end, Haley Cliggett sent a long drive into the Villa circle and Kratz couldn’t quite get to the ball for the redirect. About 10 minutes later, the ball was driven from right to left across the mouth of the Villa goal, but no MSJ stick could reach it.

The flow of play switched back to the Hurricanes, who came close to tying things up several times. After a missed tip-in with just over 14 minutes left in the half, Villa called a time-out, the last one for both teams.

It was the Magic that made the first assault when play resumed, and from a melee in front of the Hurricanes’ cage, senior Elle Maranksy (who’ll sign with Georgetown) prodded the ball toward McGinley, who slapped it home to give her squad a 4-2 lead with 13:09 on the clock.

Seven minutes later it was a one-goal affair once more. On a penalty corner, Iacobucci received the insertion just inside the top of the circle and smashed the ball back down into the Mount cage. The VMA senior launched another rocket just a minute later, but the Magic keeper, Maguire, turned it aside.

Mount St. Joseph’s best chance to regain a two-point advantage came on a ball sent from right to left across the face of the goal by Meghan McGinley (Erin’s twin sister). Haley Cliggett was closing in at the left the post, but was not able to get solid wood on the ball.

Regulation time dwindled down during a series of Villa Maria assaults. The final seconds were running out as the Hurricanes set up for their third consecutive corner. The ball was struck high in the circle and then popped way up over the Mount goal as time expired.

Mount’s Wentzel said that from the sideline, “We saw the ball going out off their stick, which would be a long hit for us and the game is over.”

That’s not what one of the officials witnessed, though.

“He saw it deflecting off our stick and putting the ball in a dangerous space, so it was a corner for Villa,” Wentzel explained.

The rules state that a match cannot end on a corner call against the winning team in a one-goal game – the play must proceed. On the restart, Villa’s Dillon scored the miracle goal to tie it at 4-4.

With 11 seniors on her roster as well as seasoned juniors, Villa’s Evans noted, “I have very experienced players who are able to rise to meet the pressure of that kind of moment.”

The game proceeded into a 15-minute overtime that would end as soon as someone scored. It followed the standard seven-a-side format, with the Mount represented by McCarthy, Kniezewski, Kratz, Niekelski, Williamson, Kennedy Cliggett, and sophomore Megan Maransky.

When the Mount answered an initial charge by Villa, VMA freshman keeper Abbie Zarkoski slipped down while fending off an MSJ shot, but one of her defenders cleared the ball out of danger. Zarkoski, whose mother was a collegiate goalie at Notre Dame, finished with eight saves.

The ball went back up the field, then back down again with the Magic’s Kratz transporting it. She passed to Cliggett, who shot from a sharp angle on the right and couldn’t find the cage.

After the Mount subbed in Meghan McGinley for Maransky, Villa spent a few minutes on offense. A little later, neither team was able to cash in on corner plays, and when the Magic missed another opportunity for a tip-in off an outside drive, it looked as through the 4-4 tie might survive the overtime as the final minute approached.

Villa’s Miller would fashion a different outcome, carrying the ball into the circle on the right, dribbling into the middle to come parallel with the goal line, and then scoring on a clinical Tomahawk reverse stick shot. Only 50 seconds were remaining in the OT period.

“We learned we can dig ourselves out of a hole,” concluded Evans, “but we want to avoid putting ourselves there to begin with.”

The two league rivals may well face one another again in the Class 2A District One tournament bracket, and the Mount’s Wentzel remarked, “I have a feeling that when it counts even more, we’re going to beat them.”

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