HIGH SCHOOL FIELD HOCKEY
AUGUST 28, 2007
Bruins get the better of Assumption for rare victory
By
NATHAN CHAMBERS
BeyondTheDerby.com
Not many goalies see Assumption senior Lauren Schmeing’s stick so clearly, so often, and then smile so much after the experience.
Of course, not many teams smile so much after playing the Rockets, either.
But that’s the kind of night Ballard junior Lara Williams and the rest of the Bruins had on Tuesday.
Williams made 15 saves, warded off two Schmeing breakaways in sudden-death overtime, and kept the Rockets out of the cage during a flick-off to back Ballard’s 2-1 win at Assumption’s Sports Recreation Training Center on Champions Trace Lane.
Williams (pictured, at left) clinched the victory - Ballard’s first over Assumption since 2002 - when she stopped Schmeing (pictured, at right) on the final stroke.
“This gives us the confidence that we can do whatever we set our minds to do,” Williams said.
And the Bruins (6-1) - who already had beaten two other traditional powers, Kentucky Country Day and Collegiate, in the Apple Tournament - have set their minds to do no less than win their first state championship.
“This shows that we can compete with the best,” coach Kelly Logsdon said. “We’re really trying to build a tradition at Ballard, and this is how we’re doing it: one win at a time.”
Williams wasn’t the only player who made this one possible. The Bruins needed to score at least once during the flick-off to win, and little-used senior Katie Rothberg did the job.
“It’s quite amazing that I had a part in this game,” said Rothberg, whose twin sister, Kelsey, is one of Ballard’s best players and a University of Louisville recruit. “I‘m really just a supporter on the sidelines.”
Not in this game. Rothberg volunteered to take one of Ballard’s five strokes and made the most of a rare opportunity. She lifted a high shot toward the left side of the cage, and Assumption senior goalie Jennifer McGill - who appeared to lean in the other direction - got a stick on the ball but could not stop it.
“It was a little nerve-wracking, but I had faith that I could do it,” Rothberg said.
McGill (3 saves) did thwart junior Hannah Walter and seniors Amanda Seeley and Ali Pulliam on each of their strokes, and senior Ali Sanders missed the cage wide on hers.
“Katie’s not the strongest player on the team,” Logsdon said. “But it has to come from everyone, not just the starters. Every player, no matter who is on the field, is part of the game.”
Williams stopped the strokes from junior Liz Nunnelley and from Schmeing, another University of Louisville recruit and a 2006 Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association High School All-Region Team selection. Two other players, seniors Lauren Noe and Sam Hayden, hit a post, and junior Brittany Rebalsky missed wide.
“I thought we were hitting more dangerous strokes,” Assumption coach Debbie Judd said, “but we were hitting the daggone posts.”
Judd also was impressed with Williams, who was busy - particularly during the 10-minute, seven-on-seven sudden-death overtime period, which the Rockets (2-2) dominated. They forced Williams to make four saves, including one on a Schmeing blast off a penalty corner, while Ballard failed to put a shot on goal.
There also were three instances when the Rockets got behind Ballard’s defense for one-on-one opportunities, but none of those breakaways produced a direct shot on Williams. She successfully challenged Schmeing twice, and junior Molly Dean recovered in time to block Quill’s shot.
“Their goalie’s good,” Judd said. “We made the mistake of going right at her.”
Ballard actually played a man down for the last 3:29 of the second half and the first 1:31 of overtime, after Seeley received a yellow card for pushing, and escaped unscathed.
Assumption had taken a 1-0 lead when Quill scored in the middle of the first half. She corralled a deflected shot off Schmeing’s stick and, as she fell to the ground, punched the ball into an open corner of the cage. Pulliam tied it with her ninth goal of the season near the end of the half, converting on one of Ballard’s few scoring chances.
The Rockets had a 16-5 advantage on shots on goal and a 6-3 advantage on penalty corners, numbers that reflected what Judd saw on the field. That encouraged her despite the loss.
“That was more like Rocket hockey,” said Judd, who had been disappointed after a 3-1 loss to Sacred Heart in the Apple Tournament semifinals on Aug. 17. “I’m much happier.”
She also noted that junior Rachael Walz is out with mononucleosis and that Nunnelley and junior Marissa Higgins both unknowingly played with the illness during the tournament. All three are starters.
