by TOM UTESCHER

It was a Friday Smack-Down in Girls Inter-Ac League field hockey. Near the end of last week, Germantown Academy, Penn Charter and Notre Dame had each secured a place in the league's first-ever championship tournament, but the fourth and final playoff berth was still up for grabs between Springside School, Agnes Irwin and Episcopal Academy.

The odds were longest for the Springside Lions, who needed three different games to go their way. They had to win their own Friday bout at Agnes Irwin while, just a few miles away at Shipley, the winless Gators would have to upset visiting Episcopal. To seal their playoff deal, the Lions would also need to have Irwin lose in its meeting with Notre Dame on October 28.

Unexpectedly, Shipley cooperated by notching a 1-0 overtime victory over the Episcopal Churchmen, who finished their league campaign with a record of 2-3-2. Over at Agnes Irwin, the host Owls scored immediately and the Lions' Lucy Ross answered less than two minutes later. Through 56 more minutes of regulation play and ten minutes of overtime, neither squad could score again, and the resulting 1-1 tie dropped Springside out of playoff contention. With a final record of 2-4-1, the Lions should finish sixth in the eight-team league.

If Irwin (2-2-2) beats or ties Notre Dame this week, it will take the fourth playoff spot over Episcopal. If the Owls lose, they'll have the same record as the Churchmen, and since the teams tied in their head-to-head match, a coin toss could determine which club keeps on playing.

Also last Friday, a big league bout at Penn Charter (5-1) ended in a 1-0 victory for the host Quakers over visiting Notre Dame (4-1-1). Off of a corner play with about 18 minutes left in the second half, Charter junior Margaretha Ehret dodged a defender and let fly a shot so hard that her school account will be charged to replace the fractured backboard.

Notre Dame thus slipped into a tie for second place with Germantown Academy, which won 3-2 over Baldwin School in Friday's fourth Inter-Ac contest. After a Caitlyn McGovern goal gave GA a 1-0 halftime lead, Baldwin forged ahead 2-1 early in the second period. Patriot co-captain Christina Harris tied it up and then scored again to win it for GA, cashing in on a penalty stroke with 17 minutes remaining in the game.

In another 3-2 contest earlier last week, Springside's dramatic victory over visiting Shipley had set up the Lions for a possible playoff run. Springside struck right at the outset in the Tuesday tilt, going ahead with just 1:38 elapsed as the ball ping-ponged around a bit in front of the visitors' goal before Lucy Ross whacked it in.

The Gators squared the score at 1-1 with 19:49 left in the period, when the Springside defense seemed to doze off momentarily. A fairly soft shot by Vicky Kinzig from the left side of the circle dribbled past several players and across the goal line.

Emery Maine and Rachel Estepa joined up to give the Lions a 2-1 lead 11 minutes into the second period. Estepa drove the ball out on a corner, and Maine dodged the defense and fired her shot on-target. The lead didn't last even two minutes, as Kinzig set up Shipley teammate Sam Powell to make it 2-2 with 17:20 to go in the game.

With just 42 seconds remaining, a sequence following a Springside corner netted the game winner for the Lions. Estepa's hit from the endline went first to Maine and then to Ross, who directed the ball back to Estepa for the decisive shot. Springside keeper Lili Sharpless collected six saves in the victory.

At Agnes Irwin on Friday, the host team showed a lot of class in a pre-game ceremony by recognizing not only its own departing seniors, but also Springside's 12th-graders; Ross, Sharpless, Nikki Allen, Carolyn Kiss and Rachel Staff. The Owls then donned their game faces, rushed up the field and went up 1-0 on a goal by Hadley Schroll (assist: Toby Eyre) just two minutes and four seconds into the match.

Springside came right back down into the Irwin circle was awarded back-to-back corner hits. On the second one, the initial shot was blocked in the middle of the circle, but the ball rolled a little ways to the right and Ross banged it into the cage. With 26:06 remaining in the first half, the game's final score was already on the board.

Both teams had numerous chances to break the deadlock, but all for naught. Springside's closest miss came with seven minutes left in the first period, when Maine's shot off of a corner struck the left goalpost. Play flowed fairly evenly up and down the pitch, but the scoreboard stood pat and the game eventually went into overtime. Early in the 10-minute, sudden death segment Maine carried the ball past several defenders along the right endline, but was stopped just short of the cage. Later, with just over three minutes left, Allen saved the tie for the Lions by blocking a shot by Irwin's Eli Hill. Sharpless posted eight saves for the afternoon.

Combined with the Episcopal loss, the stalemate at Irwin kept the Owls' hopes alive, but not the Lions'. They will be spectators instead of participants at the Inter-Ac tourney this year.