by TOM UTESCHER

Each time Mount St. Joseph Academy played Villa Maria in field hockey this fall, the scores got closer. In the first regular-season meeting it was 4-0, in the second it was 1-0, and when the Magic and the Hurricanes met last Thursday, the game stretched through two overtime periods with a 1-1 score and was ultimately decided by penalty strokes. Unfortunately for the Mount, the one constant was that Villa emerged victorious each time, and the teams' most recent meeting occurred last Friday in the AACA championship game at Ursinus College.

Earlier in the week, second-seeded Mount St. Joe (10-4, 12-5-1) advanced to the finals with a 2-1 overtime victory over number three Sacred Heart, while top-ranked Villa Maria (14-0, 17-1) got by number four Merion Mercy through a penalty stroke, 1-0. In the finals, Mount's first-half goal by Sarah Reinprecht was answered by Villa's Ali Bean in the second period, and a pair of ten-minute overtime segments failed to break the 1-1 tie. In the subsequent stroke session, two of Villa's first four shooters deposited the ball in the cage, while none of the Mount's did. The Hurricanes, who won the league in 2001 and were runners-up last year, were again the champions.

"I'm really proud of the girls; they played so well," said Mount co-coach Lois Weber.

In their AACA semifinal game on Tuesday, the Magic fell behind Sacred Heart early, just as in both of the regular-season bouts between the teams. Junior Lauren McCaney made good off of a feed from senior Leagh Rogers with 12:16 remaining in the first period.

MSJ fans grew edgy as the Lions held that slim lead for more than 30 minutes. The Magic tied it up with 8:55 to go in the second period, following a disrupted corner play. Sarah Reinprecht gained control of the ball at the top of the circle and slipped it inside to Kara Bolger, who whacked it in from near the stroke mark.

Jackie Beebie, the Mount's designated "Lion" tamer, scored the winning goal in overtime, just as she'd done in the second regular-season game against Sacred Heart a week earlier. About 40 seconds into the sudden-death OT, a long MSJ drive from the left put the ball on the feet of Sacred Heart goalie Sam Dunn, who kicked it clear of the circle on the same side.

The Magic approached again from the left, and Reinprecht delivered the ball to the goalmouth, where Beebie fought off a Lion back and tapped in the goal.

On Friday afternoon it was off to Ursinus for the championship match, which got underway after a pre-game ceremony which featured an unintentional blend of vocal and instrumental versions of the Star Spangled Banner. Fortunately, the hockey teams themselves were in-sync, and fans were treated to an impressive display of athleticism and stickwork.

There were intense skirmishes inside the circles, deft midfield maneuvers, and scintillating end-to-end romps. Mount fans choked back a cheer when a high shot by Kara Bolger just missed the mark, and they nervously crumpled their game programs into tiny wads each time Villa's dangerous scorer, Andrea Rockey, got the ball on her stick near the Magic's circle. Mount keeper Liz Trinkle (14 saves total) charged out of the cage on premptive rushes to kick the ball out towards midfield, and when it got behind her a few times, defenders Sidney Slater and Alex Meis were there to clear it away. Katie Burke also made some goal-saving plays in the back, and at the other end of the field she set up the first goal of the day. It was a textbook corner, with Burke sending the ball towards the top of the circle to Reinprecht, who settled it and pounded it into the Villa backboard.

Through much of the second stanza, Villa attacked furiously in quest of the tying goal. As the clock cut under the 12-minute mark, however, MSJ supporters thought that their squad might be able to pull off the 1-0 upset.

That flame of hope flickered out with 11:05 to go in regulation. On a Villa corner, the Mount fouled at the top of the circle to give the 'Canes a free hit, and when the ball was fed back down into a mass of players in front of the cage, Bean got enough wood on it to send it across the goal line.

"We're a possession-type team, and we got away from that a little bit in the second half," Weber revealed. "We can't be just smacking the ball and running after it."

Neither team could capitalize on scoring chances in the remaining minutes. The Magic could not get off a shot on their final corner during regulation play, which came with 1:15 remaining. Likewise, the Magic and Hurricanes were unable to alter the 1-1 figure on the scoreboard during 20 minutes of seven-on-seven overtime play. For the OT the Mount had sent out Beebie, Burke, Meis, Reinprecht, Jamie Calahan, and Nina Ferrier, along with the goalie, Trinkle.

"We had a controlled passing game, and I thought we dominated in the overtime, even though they had some penetrating passes," noted the other MSJ coach, Tina Reinprecht. "They were still playing their long ball, and Katie Burke was in the back just eating up all those balls."

No matter what happened when five players from each team lined up for the penalty strokes, the Magic would know that on the full field of play, they'd battled the Hurricanes to a draw. Villa goalie Kelly Driscoll (six saves) stopped the first three MSJ strokes, two on the left side of the cage and one in the middle. The fourth effort was wide to the right.

"I have to hand it to their goalie," MSJ's Tina Reinprecht commented. "She really exploded off the mark and did a superb job."

One of Villa's first three strokes one made it into the cage, a knee-high shot to the left by Maura Kenny. The fourth Hurricane, Terry Mongan, aimed higher on the same side and found the net. With four of five strokes taken on each side, Villa had an insurmountable 2-0 lead, and the match, at long last, was over.