Mount booters bow to Basil’s in OT
by Tom Utescher
A goal in the 11th minute of sudden-death overtime carried visiting St. Basil’s to a 2-1 soccer victory at Mount St. Joseph Academy last Tuesday afternoon.
Jen Fedyna scored for the hosts in the first half, then the Panthers tied the match ten minutes into the second period of regulation play. It was the Catholic Academies opener for both squads and the 2004 home debut for the Mount, which had split a pair of games at the Upper Perkiomen tournament four days earlier.
Through most of the first period last Tuesday the Magic took the play to Basil’s. In front of the cage Teresa Fulton just missed getting a foot on a fine cross by Aubrey Barrett from the right wing, and a shot by Fedyna from the middle of the box went wide to the left. A long ball by Caitlin Sullivan was saved by visiting goalie Chrissy Powell, and later Mary Fannon’s hard outside shot struck the crossbar of the Panthers’ cage.
Mount St. Joe broke the ice with 11:20 remaining in the opening half, when Fedyna made a solo rush, dribbling the ball over the 18 and between a pair of Panther backs before firing into the left side of the net.
St. Basil’s seized the momentum at the start of the second half, and for the most part the visitors kept it for the rest of the afternoon. Back on their heels much of the time, the Magic eventually gave up a goal with 29:41 in regulation, when the Panthers’ Lindsay Teuber scored on a short header from in front of the cage. Teuber’s name was known to Mount fans because her older sister, Jordan, was an Academies League all-star who graduated from Nazareth Academy last spring.
Mount goalie Rebecca Naab, who chalked up nine saves for the day, plucked two dangerous served balls out of the air, and near the end of regulation play, a worrisome Panther shot rose just over the crossbar. Midway through the half, a good cross from the right wing gave the Mount a chance to add a second goal, but in front of the cage Laura DiDomenico could not quite reach the ball to get off a shot.
The overtime consisted of two ten-minute sudden-death periods. Basil’s continued to pressure the Magic in the first OT session, but the tie remained unbroken. That changed quickly in the second stint, as the Panthers drove down into the MSJ box on the right side, and with just 29 seconds elapsed Rachel Peachey popped a bouncing ball into the Mount goal from a few yards in front of the near post.