Winning handily at the PIAA’s Eastern Regional Championships last Tuesday, the Mount St. Joseph Academy golf team earned its fourth consecutive trip to the two-day state championship tournament. Meanwhile, the Magic’s field hockey and soccer teams, still involved in the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies playoffs, each lost a semifinal contest last week.

The Mount’s four scorers in the golf event combined for a tally of 354, allowing the team to advance to the state championships along with runner-up Scranton Prep, which scored a 387. In addition, Emily Gimpel, the senior captain for the Magic, qualified to play for the individual title at the state championships, which takes place this week in York, Pa.

In field hockey, the Mount and Merion Mercy each finished the regular season tied for second place in the AACA with identical records of 11-3. Merion won a coin toss to earn the second seed and home field advantage for Tuesday’s semifinal match, and the Golden Bears defeated the Magic in overtime, 1-0. Merion went on to shock previously unbeaten Villa Maria, winning the championship game, 2-0.

The Mount had not made the AACA playoffs in soccer in many years, but this season the Magic finished fourth in the regular season to snap up the last playoff spot. This set them up against formidable Villa Joseph Marie, which dispatched visiting Mount St. Joe, 5-0, on Wednesday evening. The Jems went on to defeat Villa Maria, 2-1, in the AACA finals.

In the golf regionals, Gimpel led the Magic with a four-over 76 at Golden Oaks Golf Club in Fleetwood, Pa. In the individual standings, this placed her in a five-way tie for third place, while Chichester High School junior Aurora Kan led the field with a one-under 71, and Radnor High senior Jackie Calamaro became runner-up with a 73.

The other MSJ player who was competing for individual honors was junior Samm Arena, whose uncharacteristic round (an 84) did not allow her to join the 13 individuals from the East Region who will play at States. However, Gimpel and Arena’s scores, combined with a 92 from junior Alise McNutt and a 102 from freshman Nicole Mischler, powered the Magic to a comfortable victory in the team competition.

Mount St. Joe’s and Scranton Prep (the District 2 champion) will face the top two teams from the West Region at the state tourney. The other teams in the eastern tournament were Ephrata High School from District 3 (which scored a 441), Marion Catholic from District 11 (519), and District 12 champ Little Flower (663).

Back in AACA competition, the Magic soccer squad had gotten a tough draw for the semifinals, playing on the road against Villa Joe, a perpetual state playoff team.

“We put some speed in the back and we kept them in check for about 20 minutes,” said first-year MSJ coach John McGlade. “Then there was a penalty kick and the wheels sort of fell off right after that.”

Still, the Mount’s final league record of 6-6-1 (7-6-2 overall) included season sweeps of Gwynedd Mercy and Nazareth Academy, teams the Magic has struggled against over the years.

“I think the girls were happy with the way the season turned out,” McGlade concluded. “Of course, the other night they were a little upset that it didn’t go another game.”

In field hockey, Mount St. Joe and semifinals foe Merion Mercy had split their two regular-season tilts. In round three last Tuesday, MSJ coach Lois Weber said, “We kind of dominated the first half and they dominated the second.”

Mount goalie Celia Vinciguerra, a senior, made 12 of her 16 total saves during the second half to help send the contest into overtime, but Merion would score the game’s only goal a little over six minutes into the extra session. Overall, the Golden Bears outshot the Magic, 25-10.

“We would get the ball down there,” Weber related, “but we couldn’t get a lot of penetration into the circle.”