Haley Kent’s last shot of her high school career came off a kickout. It looked more like a free kick from way out than anything else. If it was on net, it was in and during overtime of all situations. And so everyone on the field, including a helpless St. Catherine’s defense had to watch the squarely struck ball.
“I was just set up perfectly,” Kent said. “It was the perfect way for us to score.”
The free kick went in, top shelf in a place that no keeper could ever get to. And then the game within a game was on. St. Anne’s Belfield had a 2-1 lead on St. Catherines late in the second half only to watch the top-seed in the tournament score with three minutes left on a rebound to force overtime. After Kent’s goal in OT, the Saints changed things up defensively. They locked St. Catherines down by moving Kent and fellow senior Kylie Hegemier to defense. The next 13 minutes of play went by painfully slow for STAB coach Mark O’Donnel, but they went by smoothly and as such, the Saints won their second VISAA Division 1 title in three years with a 3-2 win in OT.
“Only one goal separated us in the regular season so this seemed about right,” said St. Anne’s coach Mark O’Donnell. “We had to get out of that first half at 1-0 and then adjust. We had to change things a bit because we weren’t getting behind their defense with Haley or Kylie. So the beginning of the second half we went with shorter passes and said we’ll wait for it, wait for it.”
It was a 52-minute wait, and well worth it as a big second half offensively and a timely opportunity paired with great defense afterwards gave STAB the come-from-behind victory.
Out of the gate in the first half, St. Catherine’s assumed control and got on the board quickly with Connor Haynes converting a corner kick from Erian Menges.
“I think the goal against us kind of settled us down,” Kent said. “We realized, ‘Okay, we’re still in this but we’re going to have to fight.’ And that’s how we play our game. We’re a gritty team and we don’t give up so I think that (goal) got us settled in.”
While STAB picked up it’s play from that point forward, the score remained 1-0 going into the second half with both teams getting off three shots each.
Twelve minutes into the second half, St. Anne’s tied up the game on a frantic play infront of the net. After Hegemeir just missed scoring from point blank range, eighth grader Gillian Borton saw the ball squirt out right at her and she was able to punch it home without contest.
“Once that happened, I thought the tide shifted,” O’Donnell said. “We had confidence.”
The momentum for STAB carried over and just six minutes later Hegemeir and TaylorAnne Barry made it 2-1.
“We got a corner and T.A. took it and it was a perfect kick, she got it right on my head and I was able to put it in in front of the goal,” Hegemeir said.
With the lead in hand, the rest of the game turned into St. Catherine’s doing everything it could to push past STAB’s vaunted defense which surrendered just two goals during the regular season. The Saints appeared poised to wrap things up in regulation but with three minutes to play, Cailin MacLean launched a shot that just slipped past McVey and an open Kristin Hill was at the post to knock it in.
“I think there was a little bit of panic but we did a good job of handing it,” Hegemeir said.
The extra 20 minutes of OT play should have probably looked more stressful given the way that St. Catherine’s seized the momentum at the end of the second half. However, after the Saints surrendered the tying goal to force overtime, a play amazingly similar to how STAB got on the board in the first place, senior leadership and coaching took over.
“It was an unfortunate goal, but we didn’t even mention it,” O’Donnell said. “We said ‘Okay, everybody in, hands up and let’s go, here’s what we have to do from here.’ It was off to overtime and that was that. At that point, there’s nothing you can do about it so you have to move forward.”
The Saints were without its senior starting goalkeeper Lauren Gampper who was in Spain to finish a senior project. STAB knew this might happen and so sophomore keeper Mariah McVey was tabbed to play in this game a long time ago, assuming the opportunity arrived. It did and McVey played with poise, making four saves while stepping out on multiple occasions in overtime to throw a blanket on any St. Catherine’s offensive opportunity.
“This game has been building on her all season long,” Kent said. “She handled it perfectly.”
After Kent’s blast three minutes into the first of two 10-minute non-sudden death overtimes (VISAA rules), O’Donnell shook things up to try and make sure his team could burn off the remaining 17 minutes of play.
“We moved Kylie and Haley back to defense to mark up (their top scorers),” O’Donnell said. “So we shifted a bit so that we wouldn’t get beat over the top. We wanted the ball in front of us. And then Maddy Mazzola, she had this terrific soccer IQ, she was able to get the ball down there and burn up time.”
The adjustments changed the tempo and attitude of the game. With the defense locking things down, the STAB offense, now led by Mazzola and Barry was able to get deep into St. Catherine’s territory and melt down the clock to wrap up the win.
In all, it was fairy tale ending for this senior class that was so instrumental in leading this program to a Division 1 crown just two years ago.
“I love this group of seniors so much,” O’Donnell said. “They’re kind, they’re spirited, they’re talented and they’re gritty.”
Now throw in two-time state champs.
