September 21, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Mount sticksters prevail in first Villa Maria match
by TOM UTESCHER

Mount freshman Nicole Schuster, who scored the winning goal.

Although Mount St. Joseph graduated six talented players from its 2005 field hockey team, the two-time defending champions in the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies don’t seem to have missed a step in the early days of the 2006 campaign.

The Magic’s opponent in the 2005 league finals, the always-dangerous Villa Maria Hurricanes, blew into town last Tuesday afternoon, but were becalmed by the host Magic, 3-1. Both clubs came into the contest with 2-0 records, so with the victory the Mount climbed to 3-0 in the AACA, having outscored its three opponents, 13-1.

One key to the team’s ability to take graduation losses in stride has been the emergence of young talent; two of Tuesday’s goals were scored by sophomore Jenny Sabia and freshman Nicole Schuster. The third marker, actually the first of the game, came from Carolyn Cabrey, whose junior classmate, Kieran Sweeney, made four saves in goal for the winners.

“The kids played well; they knew we had to step up our play today,” remarked MSJ’s Lois Weber, who coaches the squad along with Tina Reinprecht. “Villa is strong and skilled, and we made sure the girls knew that everybody had to stay focused and had to be in the flow of the game at all times.”

Although the play ranged up and down the field evenly during the first half, the Hurricanes earned six penalty corners to the Magic’s one during the period. The Mount defended well, as Carla Bryant, Julie Reinprecht, and Meghan Longacre each blocked a Villa shot on a corner play. Longtime Hurricanes coach Maurene Polley was frustrated by her team’s inability to capitalize on the set plays.

“We had opportunities,” she said, “and against a good team you have to make the best of them. You can’t sit back on your hands. The Mount was poised out there and they did what they needed to do. We didn’t do as good a job of that.”

Although Villa lost just two athletes from its 2005 roster, Polley said that one of them, current Wake Forest player Kim Romansky, was the lynchpin of the ‘Canes’ transition game.

“We just don’t have anybody who can get the ball down the field the way she did,” the Villa mentor noted. “She made everybody look good.”

Mount St. Joe, which never trailed in Tuesday’s match, got on the board on a penalty corner with just under ten minutes gone. Cabrey made the insertion from the left endline, then Katie Reinprecht received the ball near the top of the circle and sent it back down towards the left post, where Cabrey was waiting for the tip-in.

After maintaining their slim lead through a succession of Villa corners, the Magic added their second goal with 1:59 to go in the first half. Sabia got the ball up to Laura Iaccovetti a few yards outside the left post, and she shot it over towards the right side of the Hurricanes’ cage. The ball snuggled up against the right goalpost, and Schuster pulled it away from the upright and tapped it across the line.

Villa enjoyed a bit of momentum going into halftime, though, converting its final corner hit of the period with just 57 seconds remaining. Maria Malonoski made the insertion to Meghan Ryan high in the circle and Ryan, in line with the left goalpost of the Mount cage, pounded the ball straight back down into the goal.

MSJ’s Weber pointed out, “In the first half Villa was much more aggressive and got lower and went stronger to the ball. At halftme, we told the kids to step to the ball and use their bodies the way Villa was.”

In the second stanza, the Magic enjoyed three corners to Villa’s two, and on the third of these attempts, near the middle of the period, the hosts harvested an insurance goal. The ball was received high in the circle by Katie Reinprecht, who dodged an approaching Hurricane and pushed a pass down low to Sabia. She settled the ball and shot it in, slapping the 3-1 final score on the board.

Villa called time-out with a little under 14 minutes remaining, but later the visitors saw their best chance come to naught when MSJ’s Sweeney made a kicksave on an open shot from the right side by Molly Murphy.

Weber said afterwards, “Two of the things we wanted to do against Villa were to slow them down to eliminate the fast breaks, and to take away the crossing pass. I think we were pretty successful in doing that today.”