DOWN EARLY, WOOTTON'S KLATZKIN TAKES OVER IN SECOND HALF

By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com

It’s not often that Wootton senior Julie Klatzkin needs to turn to her teammates for too much help – that is unless she’s angry.

That was the case after a tough first half that left Klatzkin walking into halftime a bit steamed. Klatzkin was the one who got a pep talk from her teammates, who told her to just keep her head up and keep going for the net.

And in no time the Cornell-bound attacker was the one once again leading her team, scoring four of her five goals in the second half to lead Wootton to a comeback 10-8 win over East division champion Blake Wednesday at Wootton in the 4A/3A West regional finals.

“I was feeling the pressure a little bit today, but my teammates really helped me,” Klatzkin said. “I was kind of losing it in the first half and they kept my head in it.”

With the win, Wootton captured its first 4A/3A West regional title in program history and kept its undefeated season of 13-0 alive heading into its state semifinal game against the winner of Dulaney and Catonsville of the 4A/3A South.

“I’ve never been to a regional final before; I’ve never been to states before,” Klatzkin said. “It’s a big step for our program.”

Wootton had beaten Blake 18-8 during the regular season and as Berman said, some on the team felt they could come out and dominate the Bengals again. But Blake took a 4-2 lead to start the game on two goals by Darin Murray and one by Justine Allen and Ashley Martin, respectively.

The Patriots charged back with three straight goals, two by Berman and one by Klatzkin. But just when it looked like Wootton was finally back on track and ready to pull away, Blake mounted a three-goal run of its own behind goals from Kerry Irion, Allen and Martin to take a 7-5 lead into halftime.

Klatzkin was frustrated because she said she couldn’t move through Blake’s defense as easily as she normally does and that the Bengals were sliding to her early and marking the Patriots’ top scoring threats closely. Klatzkin also said she couldn’t find a good place to shoot on Blake junior goalie Molly Donaghue, who made nine saves in the first half alone.

Wootton Coach Anne-Marie Ritzell sensed her players’ nerves and told the team they couldn’t rely just on Klatzkin in the second half.

“I think the whole team had a rough first half,” Ritzell said. “I was really looking for anybody. [Klatzkin] tends to be that person.”

Blake’s Nicky Wannen opened the second half with a goal to give the Bengals an 8-5 lead with 21 minutes, 27 seconds to work with. Klatzkin scored less than a minute later and Caroline Stapleton notched a goal to bring the Patriots to behind one goal.

Wootton tied the game about four minutes later and the Patriots took a 9-8 lead when a Blake defender accidentally knocked in a goal meant to be a pass to her goalie. Klatzkin, who was closest on the play, got credit for the goal.

“That kind of changed the momentum of the game,” Klatzkin said. “We just got pumped and we knew then it was our game. We’ll take whatever we can get. A win is a win.”

Klatzkin put an exclamation point on the day, scoring her final goal by sharply driving to the net and running over her defender in the process before joining her teammates to celebrate. On this day, Klatzkin got a boost from her teammates, then took the load herself.

“When we need her she’ll always be there,” senior Liza Kaplan said. “But we don’t just rely on her.”