Headlines

Covenant field hockey edges STAB in overtime

St. Anne’s-Belfield’s defense could not have done a better job defending short corner after short corner, from the start of the first all the way though overtime. But Covenant never stopped knocking. With just over four minutes to go in overtime and the daylight dwindling, the Eagles broke through when Lizzy Shim took a shot from outside the arc to lead the way to a 3-2 win on the road.

 

“In overtime I thought the girls were really impressive in accentuating our strengths,” said Covenant Coach Annie Gumbs. “We did a good job of possessing, passing and truly using our speed.”

 

With the Saints putting together a furious start to the second half, the Eagles had to fight to send things into overtime. And thanks to Maddy Fagan’s wrister from close in on a pass from Megan McGlothlin with 16:38 left in the second, Covenant got that opportunity.

 

“These girls want to play in overtime, to prove what they have,” Gumbs said. “I think they did such a good job with possession and earning corner after corner. They proved what they are made of.”

 

The Eagles put the Saints into a 1-0 hole to start when Wynston Archer put together an impressive rush and dangled through a pair of STAB defenders before burying a shot with 8:16 to go in the first.

 

St. Anne’s responded after the break in force. The Saints got on board and tied things up just over eight minutes into the second when Cat Paphites followed through on a rebound to make it 1-1. Just under four minutes later it was Cat Carden who cleaned up a scrum in front of the cage to put STAB up 2-1 with 21:47 on the clock.

 

“The biggest thing wasn’t just about pressure but us playing our game,” said Saints coach Annie Zinkavich. “I mean that’s such a great team over there with three Division I athletes so a lot of teams just go into default and start playing what I’d call ‘youth soccer defense’ where you just pack it in and play defense. We didn’t do that and we did us and it worked there.”

 

After Fagan’s goal tied things up in the second, the Eagles applied heavy pressure on STAB’s defense late but could not get the go ahead goal. But when things went into overtime and the field opened up thanks to 6-on-6 play, Covenant’s prowess on offense took over. The Saints endured a handful of corners and goalkeeper Izzi Nataro stood on her head to make things difficult for 10 minutes as she finished with eight saves.

 

“The big thing for us is was we’ve been practicing defensive corners so much,” Zinkavich said. “A lot of coaches shy away from that because they can be dangerous and nobody wants to get hurt in practice. But we had a few good days of it and our players figuring out how to take away passing lanes and those things. It was cool to see that happen in the game.”

 

Finally, with the ball at the top of the arc in overtime after two straight corners, Shim broke through and ended the game.

 

“We really dug deep and pulled it out as a team,” Shim said. “Honestly, that goal was just training. You look at that goal and there’s countless hours of practicing what it looks like when your head is down, even in the game. This was a good experience because we’ve only practiced overtime.”

 

Covenant (9-1-2) hosts Carlisle on Wednesday while STAB (6-6) travels to St. Gertrude on Thursday.

 

Comments

comments