Mount hockey headed for state tournament
by TOM UTESCHER
After losing a District One field hockey quarterfinal match on October 29, Mount St. Joseph Academy took advantage of its last chance to snag a spot in the Class AAA state tournament, winning an overtime consolation game last Tuesday, 2-1, over Upper Perkiomen High School.
The Magic (23-2), the third seeded in the district tourney, fell behind the sixth-seeded Indians on a penalty stroke, but Sarah Reinprecht evened it up for the Mount in the second half and her younger sister Katie shot the gamewinner with 2:13 remaining in a 15-minute, sudden victory overtime session. For the Mount's juniors and seniors, the victory avenged a 2002 loss to Upper Perk, who had knocked off the Magic in a consolation contest to quash the locals' hopes for their first appearance in the state tourney.
Assured of one of the six spots reserved for District One teams at States, the Mount took the field again on Friday in a game to determine the fifth and sixth seeds. MSJ wound up number five thanks to a 1-0 win over Council Rock South.
Since Tuesday's contest against Upper Perk was played on newly-installed artificial turf at West Chester East High School, the Mount had arranged to practice on the turf field at St. Joseph University the day before. The session appeared to pay off in terms of ball possession in the first half of the consolation game, for although the Indians made a few threatening forays into the MSJ circle, the Magic controlled the ball more of the time, and took eight corners to the Perkies' one during the period.
The scoreboard told a different tale at halftime, though, displaying a 1-0 lead for Upper Perkiomen.
On a rush into the circle by the Indians with under five minutes remaining in the opening period, a shot was defected at the goal line by the body of a Mount defender, resulting in a penalty stroke. It seemed a bit strange when the Upper Perk scorekeeper put down her pencil, rose from the table at midfield, and went out to take the free shot. Not so strange, if you knew that the scorekeeper was named one of the top 32 players in the U.S. last year.
Second-Team All-American Candi Arner has been sidelined all season long with a torn ACL, and although she can't play the field, she can still employ her shooting skills from the stationary stroke position. Aiming the ball knee-high inside the left post, Arner gave the Indians their lone goal of the afternoon.
Fortunately for the Magic, they had Southeastern Pennsylvania's only 2003 First Team All-American on their roster. Sarah Reinprecht tied the bout five minutes and 34 seconds into the second half. On the first of five Mount corners during the period (UP had none), Reinprecht had her initial shot from the top of the circle blocked by the Indians' Loran Hatch, but she chased down the defection closer to the goal and swept a reverse-stick shot past keeper Chelsea Smith.
Smith would go on to repulse further shots by Reinprecht and by the Mount's Casey Pollack and Nina Ferrier. Upper Perkiomen's offense, on the other hand, could make little headway thanks to strong defensive efforts by MSJ players such as Katie Burke, Sydney Slater, and Megan Longacre. As regulation time ran down, the Magic swarmed around the Indians' goal. On one sequence, Megan McGinnis and Jess Mulhern hammered away at the ball almost on the goal line, getting off five shots that were either saved by Smith or blocked by defenders.
As the match proceeded into overtime the Magic continued to dominate. They earned four more corners, and Ferrier and Katie Reinprecht each had several scoring chances. Just when it was looking as if a second 15-minute OT was in the cards, Reinprecht dribbled the ball into the circle on the left side, crossed into the middle, and belted a ball that skipped off Smith's leg pads and into the cage. The Mount had punched its ticket to the state tournament.
Against Council Rock South three days later, Mount St. Joe got off to a slow start (nothing unusual here) but began to take the play to the Golden Hawks in the latter stages of the first half. The game's only goal came just 52 seconds before the halftime horn. Katie Reinprecht carried the ball into the circle, dodging most of the Rock defense, and delivered it to the goalmouth, where Mulhern poked it into the cage.
The Magic then protected their slim lead with aplomb, and goalie Kieran Sweeney only needed to make one save to record her 14th shutout of the season.
