October 5, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Mount field hockey rebounds from first loss
by TOM UTESCHER

Mount senior Carla Bryant drives the ball out of the defensive half.

After suffering its first field hockey loss of the 2006 season at the start of last week, Mount St. Joseph Academy bounced back with a pair of victories.

On Monday Villa Maria, the Mount’s AACA archrival, avenged a 3-1 loss to the Magic on September 12 by handing the locals a 4-2 setback out in Malvern. Sacred Heart, not the dangerous hockey foe it’s been in the past, was no match for the agitated Mounties the following afternoon, when host MSJ rolled to a 7-2 win.

On Thursday, in another home match, Mount St. Joe dispatched Gwynedd Mercy, 5-0, to reach a record of 8-1 in the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies, and 11-1 overall. Although the Mount and Villa have split in their two regular-season meetings, the Magic are still the league leaders because the Hurricanes’ record includes a tie with Merion Mercy Academy.

At the beginning of Monday’s match at Villa, the Magic failed to cash in on two open shots in the Hurricanes’ circle, and that would cost the visitors dearly. It was Villa, instead, which held a 2-0 lead at halftime, and the Mount never caught up.

A few minutes after play resumed, Katie Reinprecht’s icebreaker for the Magic was answered immediately by the host team. In the middle of the second period, Mount St. Joe again pulled within one goal, 3-2, when Mollie Flynn scored off an assist from Julie Reinprecht, but with a little over three minutes remaining the Hurricanes secured an insurance goal.

Hosting Sacred Heart the next day, the Magic moved out to a 3-1 halftime lead, and didn’t let up after the intermission. Fueling the five-point victory were two goals apiece from Katie Reinprecht (two assists), Julie Reinprecht, and Nicole Schuster.

Jenny Sabia chalked up one goal and one assist, and other assists went to Flynn, Laura Iacovetti, and Colleen McGowan. Meghan Longacre spearheaded a solid MSJ defense, and goalkeeper Kieran Sweeney needed to make just one save in the contest.

The stat-starved Sweeney didn’t have a chance to record any saves at all in Thursday’s shutout against Gwynedd. A goal by Sabia (assist: Katie Reinprecht) less than two minutes into the bout held up as the gamewinner.

Then it was time for the Iacovetti show, as the Mount junior fired in back-to-back goals for a 3-0 halftime score, then assisted Nicole Schuster on the first marker of the second half. Schuster, a freshman who adapted almost instantly to high school-level hockey, scored the Mount’s fifth goal, as well, putting in a rebound with 11 minutes to go. Carla Bryant and Julie Reinprecht assisted on Iacovetti’s first-half goals.

Under assault for much of the afternoon, Monarchs goalkeeper Susan Merlini finished up with 17 saves.