November 13, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Mount hockey season ends in state tourney
by TOM UTESCHER

Jen Sabia, left, controls the ball.

When Mount St. Joseph Academy lost 2-1 in the 2006 PIAA state championship game in field hockey, the Magic were considered underdogs to a seasoned tournament team, undefeated Lower Dauphin High School of Hummelstown, Pa.

Meeting the Falcons again last week, this time in the first round of the 2008 Class AAA state tourney, the Mount found even less favor in the eyes of the oddsmakers, entering the playoffs as the lowest-seeded franchise from District 1, while 21-2-1 Lower Dauphin was the top team in a talent-rich District 3 field in south central Pennsylvania.

As in 2006, Mount St. Joe suffered a one-goal setback at the hands of the Falcons in Tuesday’s match at the Milton S. Hershey School, but the lone goal in the 1-0 affair didn’t go up on the board until just four minutes and 10 seconds remained in regulation time. The Mount’s season ended with an overall record of 16-8.

In the opening round of the PIAA tournament, the Magic actually fared better than other teams from this region against opponents from District 3. In a contest at Hershey that immediately preceded the Mount game, the District 1 No. 3 seed, Downingtown West, fell to District 3 runner-up Central Dauphin, 3-1. District 1 champion Neshaminy was also bounced out in the first round, succumbing 4-1 to Wilson High School, the third seed from District 3.

Meanwhile, Strath Haven High School, which had beaten the Mount a week earlier in the fifth/sixth playoff game in District 1, was eliminated by Emmaus High School, 5-0, in another first-round PIAA match. Emmaus, the perpetual District 11 champ (Lehigh Valley and environs), is the defending state champion.

Jen Sabia, right, challenges her Lower Dauphin opponent for possession of the ball during Mount St. Joseph’s Class  AAA state tournament field hockey game in Hershey.

“I think it helped that a number of us had that experience of playing in States before, but even the ones who didn’t were ready for the occasion,” said Princeton-bound MSJ co-captain Julie Reinprecht. “We played one of our best games.”

The heart of the Lower Dauphin squad is senior midfielder Carrie Diamond, who will be joining Reinprecht at Princeton.

“They have a great center mid who’s able to control the ball very well, and they have some fast forwards that work well together,” noted the Mount’s Lois Weber, who coaches the team along with Tina Reinprecht, Julie’s mother.

“They’re able to play different styles,” the elder Reinprecht noted. “They pressure and pressure, and then bury you in that corner. We don’t really play anyone else comparable to them.”

Mount St. Joe held its own in the first half; although Lower Dauphin gained a 5-4 edge in penalty corners, the Magic outshot the Falcons in the period, 6-2. Reinprecht made a perfect stop on one of the Magic’s corner insertions, but her subsequent shot hopped on the turf and was turned aside. Later a reverse stick shot by Jen Sabia, the other MSJ co-captain, was blocked by a Falcon defender.

On a Lower Dauphin corner with a dozen minutes left in the half, Mount senior Nicole Franzen knocked the ball away from the goal line to keep the scoreboard blank. The 0-0 count held up until halftime, and through much of the second period as well.

Despite the Mount’s low seeding, Lower Dauphin was warned against complacency by longtime coach Linda Kreiser, who’s now in her 31st season with the Falcons and who’s likely to reach the 600-win mark during the 2009 season.

“We have a lot of respect for both of their coaches, and they have a great way of playing,” Kreiser said. “They have a lot of movement off the ball, they have excellent stick skills, and they’re such competitors. We knew this would be a battle, and it was.”

The tide seemed to turn in the Falcons’ favor in the second half, if not on the scoreboard, then certainly in terms of ball control. Lower Dauphin had nine corners to the Mount’s three and also had an 8-2 edge in shots. With Reinprecht flying toward the receivers on LD corners and with a staunch defense behind her, the Magic somehow kept the ball out of the cage. Sophomore goalie Kat Matchett would finish with five saves, and other shots were either blocked by MSJ backs or strayed wide of the goal. Even when the Mount pushed up to attack, senior defender Laura Thistle hung back and helped defuse the threat of quick counters by the Falcons.

“Our defense was outstanding,” Sabia said afterwards. “They fought tooth and nail for every ball, and [senior back] Shannon Mahoney had some great on-the-line saves.”

Coach Kreiser helped her forwards cope with their frustration, and she observed, “It’s a matter of having patience and belief when you’re in that situation. You just have to keep trying and trying, and eventually one will go in.”

One finally did. In a scrap following a penalty corner with a little over four minutes remaining, a short pass across the goalmouth by junior Christy Starsinic set up a tip-in by sophomore Taylor Alwine. Alwine’s older sister Lauren had been one of the stars on the Lower Dauphin squad that beat Mount St. Joe in the 2006 state championship game.

After a Mount time-out with 3:43 left to play, it was Lower Dauphin that had the next chance on a penalty corner, launching three shots in rapid succession. Two were saved by Matchett and one by Mahoney, and the Magic brought the ball to the other end to earn their final corner with under a minute to go. The ball was put in play to senior Shannon Bridges, who drove it from the top of the circle, but Falcons keeper Lisa Shaffer made the stop with a leg pad, thwarting what would be the Magic’s last shot on goal.

Considering how much time the Falcons spent in the Mount circle in the second half, Julie Reinprecht remarked, “Just being able to hold them off and limit them to one goal was an accomplishment in itself. I was proud of the way everyone played.”

“We played hard and the game could’ve gone either way,” Sabia said. “We’ve ended a lot of games this season angry at ourselves for not playing like the team we know we can be, but today I felt we played our game, and it just didn’t go our way.”