Stories

Kent’s goal lifts STAB past Covenant

By Price Thomas / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor

In the opening round of the LIS conference tournament, a wonder goal from freshman Haley Kent with three minutes remaining was enough to give St. Anne’s a hard fought 1-0 win over a determined Covenant squad.

It was the second meeting in four days for the crosstown rivals. On Thursday the Saints routed the Eagles 5-1, however Eagles coach Pat Campbell made a few key tactical adjustments in order to ensure his team was more successful on Monday.

“We tried to utilize the outsides and were successful at doing that,” Campbell said. “They played a really smart tactical game and packed it in, so we went outside and had our chances.”

The Eagles dominated posession most of the game, keeping Saints goalkeeper Lauren Gampper busy between the pipes. Covenant nearly took the lead eight minutes into the second half when Alyse Marotta collected a ball in the midfield and drove towards goal. About 20 yards out, the senior unleashed a low shot which looked bound for the back of the net, only to be thwarted by a diving Gampper, pushing the ball out of bounds, keeping the game tied at zero.

“It was neat to see our girls get so much pressure and really play a strong game,” said Campbell. “Quite honestly St. Anne’s took us right out of the game last week so it’s really nice to see us turn it around.”

As it looked like the game was destined for overtime, freshman Haley Kent produced an individual goal that can only be described as remarkable. After chasing down a Covenant attacker at midfield, Kent proceeded to not only steal the ball, but go on a winding 60 yard run leaving multiple Eagles defenders in her wake, before calmly slotting the ball into the back of the net.

“I kept asking the ref how much time was left and the numbers kept getting smaller,” joked Kent. “I really didn’t want to go into penalties, so there’s a point where you just have to take it upon yourself to do what needs to be done.”

The celebration for the Saints is short lived, as their grueling schedule continues with a game on the road Tuesday versus state powerhouse Collegiate.

“We had three games last week on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday so I told the girls to get a lot of rest and ice what you need to ice,” said Saints’ coach Mark O’Donnell. “If we have to rest our legs and pack it in for the first 25-30 minutes then we’ll do that. Collegiate is one of the top teams in the conference as well as in the state so we need to release today and refocus on the job ahead.”

The Saints look to re-energize and go for their second LIS conference tournament win in as many days when they travel to Richmond Tuesday.

Comments

comments