SABA “SAVES” DAY AS INDIANS EDGE SAINTS FOR C TITLE

 

 

Lastner (BL) and Saba (IND) both excel in goal; Indians come up with 3-2 edge in shootout

 

By Mike Buchanan

They had to find some way to end it, or these two teams might still be playing.

Yesterday at Bryn Mawr, Baltimore Lutheran (13-1, 17-4) and Institute of Notre Dame (13-1, 16-2) hooked up for the third time this season and, after battling to a 1-1 tie through regulation and two overtimes, they settled it in the shootout phase.

Trailing 3-2, with one “shooter” left to go, Lutheran would either tie or lose. IND goalie Alexandra Saba(click here for game highlights) came up with the huge save to secure the 3-2 advantage in the shootout, giving IND the 2007 IAAM C-Conference field hockey title.

This was an even match coming in and an even match throughout, down to the final one-on-one. The two teams tied for first in the regular season, dominating the rest of the league and losing only to each other. The two in-season games were both decided by one goal and both times it was a 2-1 score and both teams won on their home field.

Both teams posted 6-0 wins in the quarter-finals (IND over Catholic, BL over Key) and both survived tough semi-final matches (IND 1-0 over Mercy, BL 3-1 over AACS).

It continued yesterday, as they battled to a 0-0 tie at the half.

Minutes into the second half (24:28), senior forward Alora Gullivan finally broke the ice, scoring off an assist from Sara Gast to give the Saints a 1-0 lead.

It was a short lead, however, as sophomore forward Alyssa Dondero answered with a goal (22:27) two minutes later. That was it for the scoring, as the teams finished regulation knotted at 1-1.

The two overtimes featured shot after shot. Either team could have scored on at least 10 occasions.

In the first seven-vs-seven, IND peppered the goal but could not put one away, either finishing just wide or being stopped by the goalie. Lutheran had the advantage in offensive opportunities in the second seven-vs-seven, but it too could not score.

With the setting sun glistening off of the colorful fall foliage, the match went to the one-vs-one shootout phase. Both teams can pick five different players to go one on one versus the goalie, with a 10-second time limit to score from the 25-yard line. Shooters from each team alternate.

A team sport now turns into an individual battle, one on one, mano a mano, like the Wild West Shootout at the OK Corral (google it, high school generation).

A pair of senior goalies, Alexandra Saba for IND and Megan Lastner for Lutheran, would be the ones to decide the match for their respective teams.

Wanting to get the early jump, IND Coach Stacey Bilenki selected the team’s leading scorer, Dondero, to go first, and the sophomore found the net, just as she had in regulation.  Taylor Allen was up for Lutheran, and nailed one to the high right corner to keep pace at 1-1.

IND had junior Michele Chmielewski shoot next, and she delivered with a quick score. Junior Sarah Bull shot next for BL, but her shot barely missed, hitting the left pipe. IND now had a 2-1 lead.

The next one-vs-one turned out to be the game-winner as freshman Ariella Hopp got a second chance and came through. Her first shot was saved by Lastner, but Hopp gathered in the deflection, had time for one quick move, and scored to beat the time limit for a 3-1 lead.

BL senior Rachael Keshishian was unable to one past Saba, keeping it at 3-1.

Now the pressure was on. Lutheran had no room for error, needing success on the next four possessions - two score and two stops - in order to force a tie and then sudden-death one-vs-ones.

Senior Jennifer Sykes went next for IND and came up short.  Then junior Megan Kutchey gave the Lutheran faithful a collective sigh of relief, as she scored to make it 3-2 and keep their faint hopes alive.

With tension mounting and darkness nearing, it was down to the final two shooters.

Senior Kelsey Farrish could win it with a score but Lastner, like Wyatt Earp picking off a rogue gunman, came up with a huge kick-save to keep her team in the hunt.

In complete silence, save for the gentle rustling of the leaves, Lutheran was down to its last shooter. Whereas Bilenki put her best shooter first, Lutheran Coach Katy Pfeffer saved her best shooter for last.

Alora Gullivan, who had the team’s regulation goal, stepped up the her ball at the 25-yard line, and with the weight of her teams on her shoulders, drove in for the tie.  She drove hard to her right and tried to angle one past Saba, but the IND goalie added one more kick-save to her total, giving the Indians 3-2 edge in the shootout – and the C-Conference championship.

“Basically, it’s intimidation, coming out strong on the shooter,” Saba remarked when asked how she mentally prepares for the shootout phase.  “On the last one, I read her body, she motioned to the right and I leaned that way to take away the angle. It was an amazing game.”

Ironically, because IND had far more scoring chances, Lastner had the better game of the two statistically speaking, as she came up huge for the Saints with a whopping 25 saves on the day, while Saba finished with 10.

Despite the disappointment of coming up just short in the shootout, Lastner and her teammates could hold their heads high, knowing that one inch here or there would have given either team the win, or the loss, in an otherwise evenly-played match.

It had to be an extra disappointing loss for Lutheran, however. The Saints made it to the finals last season, only to lose late in the second overtime to Mercy. They had a great season and returned to the finals, only to lose again.

But Pfeffer had a positive perspective, saying “My girls left it on the field, they played their hearts out and I’m so proud of every one of them. As for how it ended - heh, it’s gotta be someone, that’s part of sports. But they’re all winners to me.”

 

2007 IAAM C-Conference Championship

Institute of Notre Dame 1, Baltimore Lutheran 1
(IND wins shootout, 3-2)
Goals: BL-Gullivan; IND-Dondero. Assists: BL-Gast. Saves: BK-Lastner 25; IND-Saba 10.
Half: 0-0.