November 23, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Mount hockey ends season in state championship game
by TOM UTESCHER

Meghan Longacre

For the third consecutive year, Mount St. Joseph Academy’s field hockey season ended at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown, but this time there was a big difference. In 2004 and 2005, the Magic took their final bow at Birney Crum in a first-round PIAA state tournament game, losing both times to eventual state champion Emmaus High School.

Last Saturday, the Mount appeared at the Lehigh Valley venue in the role of the District One champion and a finalist in the 2006 Class AAA tournament. Trailing District Three champ Lower Dauphin High School, 2-0, midway through the opening period, Mount St. Joe got on the board four minutes before halftime.

Neither squad scored in the second half, but the outcome was in doubt until the very end of the match. The Magic took a final penalty corner with no time on the clock, and after the initial shot was saved and a follow-up was lifted just over the crossbar, the Lower Dauphin Falcons emerged with a 2-1 victory, capturing their first state championship since 1998.

“I thought our kids hung in there and stood up to their offensive pressure, and we came back at the end,” said Mount co-coach Lois Weber. “Lower Dauphin had a great combination of athleticism, skill and speed, and they had a good field awareness of where they wanted to put the ball. They kept the ball on their right side [the stick, or strong side] the majority of the time, especially in the second half, and it’s really hard to transition off of that.”

The Mount, which had never gotten past the quarterfinals of the state tourney before this year, secured a spot in the championship game last Tuesday, tabbing a 3-2 semifinal win over the second seed from District Three, Warwick High School. This was the first bout in a doubleheader played at Exeter Township Senior High School near Reading; in the second game Lower Dauphin triumphed, 2-1, over two-time defending state champion Emmaus High School, the top team from District 11. In that encounter, the Falcons erased a 1-0 halftime deficit by whipping in two goals over a three-minute span early in the second period.

The Magic’s semifinal foe, Warwick, hails from Lititz, Pa., and in the first two rounds of the state tourney, the Warriors had beaten a pair of District One teams, dispatching third-seeded Wissahickon High School, 2-1, and number four Neshaminy, 1-0. Now up against the District One champion, Warwick came into the semi’s with an overall record of 24-2-2.

The Magic were the aggressors at the outset, with Julia Reinprecht leading several charges, and with Jen Sabia just missing a tip at the left post of the Warriors’ cage. Mount St. Joe kept up the assault, and when Warwick goalie Jess Miller ended up sprawled on the ground trying to fend off a series of MSJ shots, Nicole Schuster reached for a rebound off the keeper’s pads and got the Mount on the scoreboard with 4:32 elapsed.

“It was exciting – I can’t really describe it,” said the freshman, whose older sisters Katie and Amy played hockey and soccer, respectively, at the Mount.

Schuster, who plays for the Mystyx club program like many of her teammates, has made the adjustment from grade school hockey to top-level high school competition with surprising ease.

“Everyone at the Mount has been very supportive,” she pointed out. “All of the players encouraged me and helped guide me along. I learned not to freak out if I mess up, because everyone’s there to back you up.”

Later on in the first half, the Warriors enjoyed three straight corners, and one could almost sense the ball cringing as Warwick’s big center mid, Michigan signee Meredith Way, wound up to deliver her powerful drives. The Mount came away unscathed, though; on the third attempt an intrepid Julia Reinprecht laid her stick down to block one of Way’s wallops from about a dozen feet away.

Two late corners for the Mount evened the first-half totals at 3-3 in that category, and the score was still 1-0 at the break. In the second half, the Magic would enjoy a 6-1 advantage in corner plays, but it was the Warriors who fired the first two goals of the period. Warwick balanced the scoreboard at 1-1 just 94 seconds into the nether half, with Way assisting on Becca Keener’s drive from high in the circle.

Midway through the period, the Warriors rushed the right side, and were inside the MSJ circle for close to a minute before Becca Spengler tapped the ball in from near the left post. Down 2-1 with 15:18 to go, the Magic would have to come from behind to win the contest, something they hadn’t done all season.

Handling the ball brilliantly, Katie Reinprecht repeatedly sped down the field, often outdistancing her teammates, but forcing three or four Warwick players to chase her for 50 or 60 yards. Sabia also got loose for a couple solo romps, and the Warriors had to expend a lot of energy running down these breaks.

Neither player scored on these excursions, but both would net a goal before the game was done. In a scenario similar to the one that produced the Mount’s first marker, a pack of players milled around in front of the Warwick cage, and Sabia prodded the ball into the box with 9:52 on the clock.

With seven minutes left, Brittany Gavin sent a nice drive across the Warriors’ goal, but nobody got wood on the ball in front of the cage. Two minutes later, the Mount took its fifth corner of the half, and Warwick’s Miller got a leg pad on Julia Reinprecht’s shot to deflect the ball wide.

Just as it seemed that overtime was in the offing, the Magic scored on their last penalty corner of the game, running the play that they usually try on their very first attempt. This was a straightforward insertion by Carolyn Cabrey to the top of the circle, where Katie Reinprecht whacked the ball through a crowd of players and into the backboard with just 59 seconds remaining in regulation time.

Despite the setback, Warwick’s Miller had turned in an heroic effort in goal, booking 14 saves in the encounter. MSJ’s Kieran Sweeney recorded three saves to help her team move into the state championship game for the first time in school history.

“They were definitely the better team,” admitted longtime Warwick coach Bob Derr, who piloted the Warriors to state championships in 1987, 1999 and 2000. “They outplayed us pretty much the full first half. They did a nice job on counterattacking, and they did a nice job on penalty corners, too. I was impressed.”

The Magic went up against an even more experienced mentor in the state finals on Saturday. Going into the game, Lower Dauphin coach Linda Kreiser had complied an overall record of 530-82-32 in her 29 years as coach of the Falcons. Last weekend, Lower Dauphin arrived in Allentown with a season mark of 28-0 that included a 3-0 victory over Warwick in the District Three championship game.

“It was a really good match-up for both teams because we have similar playing styles,” said Katie Reinprecht, noting that both clubs thrive on relatively short, controlled passes rather than a hit-and-chase game. “We knew they were fast, so I was focusing on always getting back if there was a break for them.”

Although MSJ’s Schuster made an early run into the Falcons’ circle and Sabia almost got a tip near the left post, Lower Dauphin was on the attack much of the time in the first 15 minutes. On two shots towards the left post, one went wide and the other was stopped by the Magic’s Sweeney, and the Mount also escaped harm on a dangerous left-to-right crossing pass.

As in the semifinal against Emmaus, the Falcons’ two goals came close together, with 17:26 and 15:16 remaining in the first period. After Lower Dauphin charged through the middle of the circle and Sweeney went down to the turf to stop a shot by Lauren Alwine, the ball rolled out a few feet past the right post. Alwine’s junior classmate, Sami Young, fired from there to cage the first goal of the afternoon.

The District Three champs upped their lead to 2-0 on a basic corner scheme. Young made the insertion and Julie Barton belted the ball home from high in the circle, as MSJ’s Sweeney appeared to be screened on the play. Barton, a senior mid, is a strong shooter who posed a threat to the Magic defense all day.

After these back-to-back markers, the Mount called time-out. Playing in the top half of the state tourney bracket, the Magic hadn’t had to play any other district champions en route to the finals. It was generally thought that the bottom half was the tougher draw, with Lower Dauphin, Emmaus and a Hatboro-Horsham squad that had taken the Mount to overtime in the District One championship game. Was the team that emerged from this half of the bracket destined to roll over Mount St. Joe’s?

“I think we were sort of psyched out a little bit by the whole idea of being in the state finals,” Katie Reinprecht explained. “But [the first time-out] was a turning point for us, because after those two goals we came out and started playing a lot better.”

Her mother, MSJ co-coach Tina Reinprecht, added, “We didn’t make any tactical changes; we just told the girls ‘Take a deep breath, be patient, and work the ball, because there’s a ton of time left.’ ”

The Falcons had gained a 3-0 advantage in penalty corners up to that point; over the last nine minutes of the period the count was 4-0 in the Mount’s favor. The first two produced a shot wide to the left by Julia Reinprecht and a topped ball on the second attempt by the Magic. In between, no one was able to reach a nice right-left cross by Laura Iacovetti. A little later, LD keeper Lindsey Shaffer (seven saves total) stopped an MSJ rush along the left endline, and though the ball rolled loose out near the right post for a second or two, none of the forwards could get to it.

On the third Mount corner, a swat by Julia Reinprecht was saved, but the Falcons couldn’t clear the ball up the field. The Magic nudged the nugget back into the right side of the circle for Meghan Longacre (a stalwart defender and one of just two senior starters), and she put a shot on Shaffer. The Falcons’ keeper foiled this attempt, but Longacre smacked in her own rebound with 3:58 to go in the first half.

“Since districts started, I’ve been coming up more on corners,” noted the Mount co-captain, whose only other goal this year came in a lop-sided regular-season win. “I like it; it’s exciting to play a little offense.”

A save by Shaffer ended a fourth MSJ corner play, and the half concluded with Lower Dauphin leading 2-1.

The Falcons guarded their lead by going on the offensive for the first 20 minutes of the second half, piling up five corners during this stretch. The Hummelstown horde was unable to increase its lead, though, thanks to fabulous saves by Sweeney (nine saves) in the cage, and to stops made in the circle by Katie Reinprecht and Colleen McGowan.

“We told the girls that we couldn’t allow them to score again and go down 3-1,” related Weber. “We had to keep it close.”

“Their defense was strong in the second half,” LD’s Kreiser said. “At least two times I thought we had sure goals, but they kept it out.

“They were a team of momentum; they counterattack better than any team I’ve seen all year,” the Falcons’ coach continued. “Their stickwork skills and their passing game are just really pretty to watch. We tried to simulate it in practice, playing against Katie Reinprecht and so on, but it was tough until we actually got out on the field with them.”

As in the first half, Mount St. Joe returned to the attack later in the period. With nine minutes to go, Schuster dribbled the ball past the top of the circle and passed to Julia Reinprecht on the right side. She, in turn, sent a diagonal pass down low, and Sabia came within inches of tapping the ball in at the far post. Just after that, the Falcons’ Young left the field with an injury, but she returned shortly.

A Schuster shot towards the middle of the cage was saved by Shaffer’s outstretched foot, and with seven minutes left, the Magic were unable to stop the ball at the top of the circle on their first corner of the half. After time-out with three minutes remaining, the locals continued to press for the equalizer, and got their last best chance as time ran out while they were setting up for a penalty corner. Corner plays must be completed in these circumstances, and with zeroes across the clock, a shot from up top by Katie Reinprecht was blocked by Shaffer, who had advanced out of the goalmouth. The ball rolled back out towards Reinprecht, who stepped up to meet the rebound lifted a shot into the air. After a tense interval, the ball carried just over the cage, and the crowd exhaled. As a sigh of disappointment drained out of Mount supporters, Falcon fans sucked in their next breath and bellowed in celebration.

Lower Dauphin’s seniors had been around when their squad suffered an overtime loss in the 2003 state finals, and two of them had even played in that game as freshmen.

“That’s enough to get the other kids focused,” Kreiser pointed out. “I think we had more seniors than they did, and the senior leadership is so important when you get to this level.”

Although the Magic’s weekend at Birney’s did not turn out exactly as they’d hoped, the relatively young MSJ squad had become the most successful hockey franchise in school history, and had gained valuable experience from appearing at the PIAA’s “Big Dance.” With nine starters returning, Mount St. Joe’s will be justified in setting lofty goals for 2007.

As Katie Reinprecht summed up, “We learned a lot from this whole process.”