High School Field Hockey
STATE TOURNAMENT
Oct. 21, 2006
Quarterfinals were not all close calls
By NATHAN CHAMBERS
BeyondTheDerby.com
Kentucky high school field hockey’s new postseason structure, ushered into the sport this year with the explicit intent to make the state tournament more competitive, certainly made for two nail biters in the quarterfinals at the University of Louisville’s Trager Stadium on Saturday.
In the first game of the day, Kentucky Country Day and Mercy played through two scoreless halves, a scoreless 10-minute overtime period and a round of penalty strokes before the Bearcats finally prevailed in a second round of strokes. And in the last game of the day, Manual avenged an earlier overtime loss to Ballard with a 1-0 win over the Bruins.
In between, however, perennial powers Assumption and Sacred Heart did their best to bring us right back down to earth.
After the defending champion Rockets blasted Eastern 5-0 in the second quarterfinal, the unbeaten Valkyries even surprised themselves with an utterly dominant 8-0 rout of Collegiate.
KCD will play Assumption in one semifinal at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, and Sacred Heart will play Manual in the other semifinal at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The winners will meet in the final at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Kentucky Country Day 1, Mercy 0
Lucky shoes might have rescued the Bearcats in this one.
The Jaguars were in a position to win when Katie Norris stepped forward to take the final shot in the initial round of strokes, and she made a good bid for it when she fired the ball toward the lower left corner of the cage.
But KCD goalkeeper Sarah Anderson split right and kicked the ball safely away, leaving the teams tied at three goals apiece. Amy Wimsatt, Alli Flood, and Allison Burns had scored for Mercy, and Christena Burell, Anne Kash Dobbins, and Courtney Tobe had scored for KCD.
That forced another round of strokes, and the Bearcats outscored Mercy 3-1 to finally win the game. Gray Robinson, Alex Weber and Burrell each scored for KCD, and Anderson made two more saves.
While everyone in attendance saw Anderson make that critical kick save to keep the Bearcats alive, few likely knew that she was wearing a teammate’s shoes that were three sizes too small. She forgot her own pair of size 11s, and she borrowed Tobe’s size 8s.
“She was wearing lucky shoes,” Tobe said, interjecting during an interview with Anderson.
Actually, Anderson had little choice. She said she couldn’t find a pair any bigger than Tobe’s.
“I have big feet,” she said.
But they were handy on the turf, at least during the strokes; she only had to make one save through overtime as the Bearcats out-shot Mercy 14-2.
“The first couple strokes were really nerve-wracking,” she said. “But once I got into it, especially in the second round, it wasn’t bad at all. I realized that none of them were going to my left. So I got myself into a better position to split right to get over quicker, and that worked out well.”
KCD coach Amy Charasika noted that Anderson also made key saves on strokes in a 2-1 overtime win over Mercy on Aug. 31.
“That really gave her the confidence to be where she’s at now,” Charasika said.
Mercy goalkeeper Jennifer Vertrees, who attended KCD through eighth grade, made six saves as the Jaguars managed to hold the Bearcats scoreless for 70 minutes.
“Our defense kept us in the game,” Mercy coach Kelly Setser said. “That’s a tough attack to keep out of the goal, and as a unit overall we did a great job.”
Manual 1, Ballard 0
Hannah Boyer capitalized on one of the few scoring opportunities either team generated during a game contested mostly in the middle of the field, and that was enough for the Crimsons to knock last year’s runner-up out of the tournament.
In the middle of the first half, Manual turned its first penalty corner into a shot on Ballard goalkeeper Laura Williams. The ball was momentarily lost between Williams’ pads, and Boyer was ready when it reappeared.
“I waited behind the goalie for it to come out, and I just popped it in,” she said.
The Bruins, who beat Manual 2-1 in overtime earlier this season, didn’t put a shot on goalkeeper Evan Fowler.
“They got a good shot in the first half, and we couldn’t come back,” Ballard coach Kelly Logsdon said. “We’re very evenly matched teams. We got them the first time, and they got us today.”
Assumption 5, Eastern 0
Five different players scored for the Rockets, who looked fine-tuned for a run at their fourth title in five years.
Lauren Schmeing, Karah Nall, Rachael Walz, Sam Hayden and Christine Brightwell - who had three goals and an assist in the championship game last season - each scored.
Sacred Heart 8, Collegiate 0
Lauren Edelen scored three times for the Valkyries, who only beat Collegiate 3-0 on Oct. 5 but already had four goals at halftime on Saturday.
“I’m really pleased with the way the kids came out and played today,” Sacred Heart coach Liz Lewis said.
Jessica Lindner, Caroline Klein, Taylor Collins, Whitney Ising and Caroline Clarkson also scored for the Valkyries, who put 20 shots on goal.