October 11, 2007 Issue
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Classified Chestnut Hill Local Don't Miss an Issue, Tell us what you see or Winner of Two |
OT goal gets Mount past Villa in hockey rematch
Mount St. Joseph Academy, the leader in the Catholic Academies field hockey sweepstakes, laid a 5-0 defeat on second-place Villa Maria out in Malvern last month, but anyone who knows much about the spirited rivalry between these two programs had a feeling that the October 1 rematch between the Magic and the Hurricanes would be a much closer game. This turned out to be the case in last week’s meeting at the Mount, when the visitors gave as good as they got, and occasionally better, as the standard 60 minutes played out without either team scoring a goal. Three-and-a-half minutes into seven-on-seven sudden-victory overtime, MSJ junior Jen Sabia scored off an assist from sophomore Nicole Schuster to give the host Magic a 1-0 victory. Going in, the Mount was ranked first and Villa Maria seventh in Southeastern PA. Senior goalie Kieran Sweeney booked eight saves in the game to register her 52nd career shutout as the Mount improved to 12-0 in the AACA and 13-1 overall. Villa sophomore Anna Zackoski, a first-year varsity starter who had gained experience since the first Mount encounter, came up with 13 stops for the ‘Canes (7-2 AACA, 10-2 overall). It was certainly a hard-fought bout, but what many observers felt was an excessive number of foul calls robbed the contest of any sense of rhythm. “It was hard for us to get any flow or a lot of movement in the game,” remarked Mount co-coach Lois Weber. “To Villa’s credit, they moved well to the ball and did a good job of getting ball down in our circle a lot.” Maurene Polley, the Hurricanes’ longtime leader, agreed “We moved well today and it was a huge improvement over the last game with them. We stayed with our people better, and we supported one another.” Mount St. Joe co-coach Tina Reinprecht pointed out, “Villa did a good job of putting pressure on the ball. If you fumbled it, they were there to pick up the fumble.” In the first ten minutes, each team saw its initial penalty corner fail to produce a shot. Next, periods of Villa control in the Mount half were punctuated by quick rushes down the field by the Magic. On one of these dashes, Sabia crossed the ball to Schuster, whose tip went wide right. MSJ defender Shannon Mahoney foiled a two-on-one breakaway by the Canes, and soon after that a Villa shot was stopped at the right post by Sweeney. On a corner for the Magic, VMA’s Zackoski used her glove to knock down a lifted ball from Laura Iacovetti, and on the Mount’s third and final corner of the half, the Canes’ keeper saved an initial shot and a follow-up attempt by MSJ’s Katie Reinprecht. Coach Weber said later, “We had some good opportunities and we weren’t there to finish. That’s going to be important as we progress in the playoffs; we have to finish when the ball’s inside the stroke line.” Through the first 20 minutes of the second half the defenses held firm through five corner plays for Villa Maria and four for the Magic. With about eight-and-a-half minutes left in regulation, some not-so-incidental contact between two players led to the Villa Maria party leaving the field with an injury. No yellow cards were handed out, but the officials sternly lectured the team captains and the match proceeded without any further disturbance. When play resumed, Julie Reinprecht brought the ball down the right wing and sent it in front of the cage to Sabia. A pack of players flailed away at the ball, but the Hurricanes kept it out. Each team took two corners in the last five minutes, and on one of Villa’s attempts a drive by Molly Murphy was deflected up in the air near the cage by M.E. Bolles, but the ball missed the upper right corner. Overtime ensued, and the Magic’s seven-on-seven crew consisted of the two Reinprecht sisters, Sabia, Schuster, Carolyn Cabrey, Brit Gavin and Sweeney in the cage. Around 90 seconds in, Villa earned a corner (which reduced the Magic’s final margin in this area to one, 10-9) but Katie Reinprecht picked the ball off the Hurricanes’ sticks. Zackoski made a kicksave on an MSJ shot at the other end, and the Magic kept the ball around the Villa circle. Schuster dribbled up the middle, spotted Sabia near the left post, and dispatched a ball which hopped up a little bit but reached its destination. Sabia recounted, “I was watching the ball, and I thought at first I should go to the stroke line, but then I saw Nicole coming so I just went back to the post. I tried to stop the ball and then hit it in.” Her gamewinning shot went into the books three minutes and 22 seconds into overtime play.
|
