Mount St. Joseph scores in bunches, blanks Kennett in District 1-2A 2nd round
CONSHOHOCKEN >> When the Mount Saint Joseph Academy field hockey team scored against Kennett Wednesday afternoon, it quickly added a second goal.
Scoring in bunches — combined with a dominant defensive effort — led the No. 2 seeded Magic to a 5-0 win over the No. 15 Blue Demons in the second round of the District 1 Class-2A playoffs at the Proving Grounds in Conshohocken.
The Mount will face the winner of No. 7 WC Rustin and No. 10 Phoenixville in the quarterfinals Friday at the Proving Grounds.
Grace Wallis got the Magic on the board 11 minutes into the game. After a corner bounced around in front of the cage, MK Stefanowicz passed to Wallis, who carried to the right side of the cage and ripped a slapshot to make it a 1-0 game.
“This year in particular we’ve been really strong on our corners and have a pretty good percentage of success rate on those,” Wallis said. “We’re very confident.”
Sixty-seven seconds later, the Mount doubled its lead. On another corner, Wallis found Ellie Maransky to the left of the goalie and Maransky deflected the ball into the back of the cage.
“We’ve been struggling this season with our offense,” Mount coach Mary Beth Stefanowicz said. “We have a young offense — a lot of freshman have been playing on the offense. It’s all coming together towards the end, which is what you want. This was a really good game for us.
“We’ve had some really tough competition. Last week we had three games — CB South, Council Rock North and a Merion game. We were able to pull all three out. Confidence has been building. I think they worked really well together, they’re covering for each other, backing each other up. We have defensive players that will break through and midfield will come back and cover. They’re working really well together. It’s all coming together at the end of the season.”
The lead was extended to 3-0 with 7:32 left in the first half. MK Stefanowicz took a penalty shot and beat Kennett’s keeper with a shot elevated to the left side.
In the second half, Maransky scored her second goal to make it 4-0.
Thirty-three seconds later, Wallis scored her second goal to put the finishing touches on a 5-0 win. Wallis raced down the left side of the field with the ball, cut to the middle and shot it home.
While the offense was scoring, goalkeeper Maeve McCarthy wasn’t getting much action. Almost the entire game was played in Kennett’s end and the Blue Demons were never able to put a shot on net.
“Our midfield did a really good job of keeping the ball up in our attacking 50,” Wallis said. “They really made sure to keep pushing up.”
“(Mount’s) solid pressure (made it difficult to get the offense going),” Kennett coach Meghan Shumway said. “Their aggressive nature. They step to the ball and we let it get off our sticks just a little bit and they were able to snatch it up right away.”
Kennett’s goalie Claire Borman made 16 saves in the game.
The loss brings an end to Kennett’s season. The Blue Demons finished the regular season with a 6-11-1 record and won their first-round playoff game.
“It was the first time in well over a decade we’ve gone this far,” Shumway said. “That was exciting. There was definitely improvement throughout the season and that makes it a success for sure.”
Mount St. Joseph 5, Kennett 0
Kennett 0 0 — 0
Mount St. Joseph 3 2 — 5
Goals: M: Grace Wallis 2, Ellie Maransky 2, MK Stefanowicz.
Assists: M: MK Stefanowicz, Grace Wallis.
Saves: K: Claire Borman 16. M: Maeve McCarthy 0.
