From the start, Western Albemarle’s Alora Henry marked Addi Bolin. Henry denied the ball to the St. Anne’s-Belfield star and made sure someone else was going to beat the Warriors if they were going to fall.
Kate McCullough did just that.
“Addi holds our attack together but lately she’s been getting faceguarded right away off the draw so other people have been stepping up,” McCullough said. “I felt like I needed to step up and go to goal more.”
In a 12-11 St. Anne’s-Belfield victory, McCullough poured in six goals for STAB, then with just over a minute left, corralled a ground ball on a Western turnover that allowed the Saints to melt the final minute off the clock. McCullough’s final goal also proved to be the game winner, as it put STAB up 12-10 with 3:49 to play.
“I said to my assistant (coach), Kate’s taking the team on her shoulders right now,” said STAB coach Mary Blake. “She’s our heart and soul — she’s not our flashy player, but she’s the one getting up and down the field the entire time.”
McCullough, a natural righthander, confounded Western with her ability with her left hand. The Warriors seemed caught off guard by her capacity to drive to goal with the left, which allowed her to score early and often before Western finally adjusted.
“I figured out early on that if you have a strong left hand you can’t be stopped basically,” McCullough said.
St. Anne’s built a 7-2 lead in the first half, only to watch it slip away in the second as Western found its footing offensively and strung together a few draw controls. Western’s Ellen Shaffrey’s seven goals, including three in a row that pulled Western to within one score at 9-8, highlighted the run. Shaffrey’s flashiest goal came in the game’s closing stages, when Western set up a play where the Warriors made a deep pass to Anna Liebowitz just past the goal line extended to the left of the cage. Liebowitz quickly reversed the ball back to a slashing Shaffrey who finished off the shot and pulled Western within one at 11-10, part of a seesaw final 10 minutes of the contest.
Bridgett Shaffrey also had two major second half goals, tying the game at 9-9 and then pulling Western within one at the 1:38 mark. She buried the last one while falling to the turf and finished with three total scores on the day. Western won the ensuing draw control, but STAB blanketed Western’s key offensive threats in both Shaffreys and Jeannette Fellows and forced a loose ball.
“I think they knew they had to make something happen so maybe you take a few more risks than they usually do,” said Western coach Nancy Haws.
After a scrum, McCullough slipped away with the ball, made a pass back and the Saints found a way to run down the rest of the time on the clock.
“It was just all heart going for that one — we just needed to win the game,” McCullough said.
Both keepers were solid throughout against dynamic offenses, with STAB’s Catherine Towers totaling seven saves on the night and Western’s Christine Fortner clocking in with 10 stops.
Despite the intense defensive focus on Bolin by Western, the STAB senior managed to score a pair of goals in the win. Lila Satterfield also had two goals to bolster STAB’s offensive effort.
The Saints host St. Catherine’s Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. while Western battles Monticello Friday night at 6:30 p.m..
