Notre Dame hockey splits against Springside, Mount

by TOM UTESCHER

PHOTO CAPTIONS: Juniors Jess Mulhern and Casey Pollock provided all of the goals for Mount St. Joseph in wins over Gwynedd Mercy and Notre Dame (photos by Tom Utescher)            

In back-to-back field hockey games last week, one goal separated the Irish of Notre Dame Academy from a pair of local teams. On Friday, Notre Dame played host to Girls Inter-Ac League rival Springside, scoring with less than three minutes remaining to turn back the Lions, 1-0. The following morning NDA traveled to Mount St. Joseph Academy, where the Irish scored immediately and the Magic went on to tie the bout and then win it in overtime, 2-1.

Notre Dame came into Friday's game at 3-0 in the Inter-Ac and with an overall record of 14-1, the only blemish being a loss to the Mount's colleague in the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies, Merion Mercy. The Irish were on the attack much of the time against Springside, as accurately reflected in the corner hit totals (15-6 in favor of Notre Dame).

The Lions (1-2-1, 7-3-2) did have several good scoring opportunities, though. Midway through the first half, a shot by Emery Maine was saved at the left post, and a few minutes later there was a good left-right cross that found no shooters in front of the goal. Late in the half Sofia Zmurkewycz drove through the circle on a fast break, but her shot was not on-net.

There were numerous close shaves at the other end as Melissa Labiff, Shannon McKenna and others came close to getting the Irish on the board. NDA's Gina Shannon had one strong shot saved by Springside's Sara Heinze, and had another strike the right post.

The pair of goose eggs stayed on the scoreboard well into the second half. On a Springside corner with just under five minutes left the initial shot by Maine was blocked by a back, and her follow-up stroke was wide to the left. Notre Dame came back down on attack and crowded into the circle. From near the top of the loop Andrea Muth sent the ball down low to fellow junior Caitlin Watson, who deposited the only goal of the match with 2:40 to go.

Despite the NDA victory, the Lions' Heinze gave the standout performance of the day, playing through pain from a dislocated shoulder. She racked up 18 saves, and as one of the assistant coaches for the Irish was heard to say "She kept them in it."

Two days earlier, Mount St. Joe had finished in first place for the AACA regular season. Two goals by Casey Pollock and one by Jess Mulhern carried the Magic past Gwynedd Mercy, 3-1, yielding a league mark of 11-1. Christina Mastropaolo put in the lone goal for the Monarchs. During the league campaign the Mount had split in its two tilts with archrival Villa Maria, but Villa tied in one of its matches with Merion Mercy, and thus finished second at 10-1-1.

Both the Mount and Notre Dame are teams on a mission, chiefly because in 2003 the Magic and the Irish each lost on penalty strokes in the finals of their respective league tournaments. In Saturday's square-off Notre Dame struck just 80 seconds into the contest on a corner play. Shannon received the hit out, then passed the ball laterally in the circle to set up a scoring blast by McKenna.

Although the Mount (17-1 overall) was missing one of its best players (co-captain Nina Ferrier was away on a college visit), the Magic had the better of the play for the remainder of the half. Notre Dame only enjoyed one more corner while the Mount had five, and the Magic's time of possession was enough of a concern that the Irish called time-out with 11 minutes remaining in the half. NDA keeper Domenica Gufrida (five saves total) used a leg pad to repulse a shot by Mount's Jacky Beebie and the Irish moved up on offense near the end of the period, but the score was still 1-0 at the interlude.

The hosts tied the game seven minutes and 44 seconds into the second half. On a corner, Sarah Reinprecht drilled a shot that was stopped near the right post by Gufrida, but Mount's Mulhern was on hand to bang in the loose ball. After that there were near misses by Mulhern and Megan Maginnis of the Magic, then Notre Dame attacked for a spell and the Mount called time-out for a peptalk with 13-and-a-half minutes to go in regulation.

During the last nine minutes Mount St. Joe came very close to securing the go-ahead goal on two occasions, but NDA's Muth stopped a threatening rush by the Magic's Maginnis deep in the circle, and later McKenna swooped in along the Irish goal line to clear away a ball that got behind Gufrida.

With the score still knotted at 1-all, the teams embarked upon a 15-minute, sudden-victory overtime, but the extra session only lasted for a minute and 20 seconds. Magic freshman Katie Reinprecht dribbled the ball straight through the circle, then dodged to her right to pull Gufrida out off the post. In the scuffle the ball rolled loose to the right of the cage, and Mulhern was once again Jessie-on-the-spot to knock it in for Mount St. Joe.

Keiran Sweeney, MSJ's freshman netminder, made three saves in the victory, and the Magic had the edge in both corners (9-5) and shots (11-5) for the game.