Kratz’s hat trick helps Mount St. Joseph top Gwynedd Mercy

LOWER GWYNEDD >> It seemed like every good spell of play by the Gwynedd Mercy field hockey team Tuesday afternoon only resulted in a goal for Mount Saint Joseph.

“It is excruciating to be so close to scoring and then have the very instant that they enter our circle be a goal time and time again,” Monarchs coach Alex McMahan said. “Even though we had the ball and the opportunities, those quick turnarounds are like a punch to the gut.”

GMA controlled the early potion of the Catholic Academies contest, but it was the visiting Magic holding a 2-0 lead midway through the first half after striking twice in a 64-second span. Julianna Kratz extended the lead to 3-0 and Mount stayed a step ahead of the Monarchs the rest of the way to pick up a 6-4 victory at the Larry Wilson Track and Multi-Sport Complex.

“We just came out really strong in the beginning and the forwards especially we all work together really nicely and had like beautiful passes to each other and that’s what basically caused the goals,” Kratz said. “And especially all of our goals started with the defense and just working it through the midfield to the forward and the we just had really good passes and we could just finish it.”

Kratz, a Fairfield commit, collected three goals and two assists while Georgetown-bound Ellie Maransky had two goals and three assists as Mount Saint Joseph (13-4, 10-2 AACA) scored all six times off the run of play to end a three-game skid and sweep the regular-season series with GMA.

“Today was a turning point for us because we been solid all season we had a little bit of a good run for losses that we faced and then a bad loss (against Notre Dame) I would consider,” Magic coach Susan Wentzel said. “So today was really huge for us.”

Alden Boccella scored twice for Gwynedd Mercy (11-6, 8-4), which tallied all four of its goals off penalty corners.

“This was the best corner performance we’ve had all season,” McMahan said. “Most of our goals are scoring in play so being able to capitalize on corners finally was a big achievement for us.”

The Monarchs pulled within 4-2 a set of passes around the circle find Boccella, who put a shot into the back of the cage with 1:51 left in the first half. Gwynedd Mercy pressured for a goal shortly after the break — hitting the left post then forcing a save by Mount keeper Maeve McCarthy in earning three consecutive corners.

But after the Monarchs came up empty, the Magic quickly pushed their advantage to 5-2 when Maransky scoring off an Erin McGinley assist at 27:14.

“A big thing for us is getting the first goal because that just gets your stamina up – you’re all so excited,” Kratz said. “But right after they score, we know that we need to give it all so we can get more goals after that.”

Mount’s three-goal edge remained until 5:12 left in the contest when Boccella struck for her second of the afternoon but Kratz capped her hat trick at 2:53 with all of her goals assisted by Maransky.

“Me and Ellie, we’ve been playing together on varsity since freshman year and we’re both always right in center,” Kratz said. “So we’ve been working together really well all four years.”

GMA’s Alaina McVeigh ended the game’s scoring, blasting a shot in on a corner with no time remaining.

Both teams have one non-league games remaining in the regular season before the District 1-2A tournament. Gwynedd Mercy — fifth in the 2A power rankings — hosts Neshaminy 4 p.m. Wednesday. Mount Saint Joseph — third in 2A behind first-place Radnor and Villa Maria — visits Unionville 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

“I think we feel very prepared because we always face the toughest competition during the season multiple times,” McMahan said. “So we’ve seen the best of the best, we’ve played with them and kept up with them and I think in a few when we see them again in districts, we could beat them. So I think the girls are excited because they’re gaining momentum and they feel confident they’ll be able to compete.”

Maransky gave the Magic a 1-0 lead at 23:37 in the first half with Kratz picking up the assist with the Mount doubling the lead at 22:33 on a McGinley goal assisted by Kratz. It became 3-0 Magic when Kratz scored thanks to Maransky’s assist at 16:08.

“It’s a tribute to my team because they know they were slow for a little a bit and they know that that’s not acceptable and that they need to turn it around and not just turn it around but be kind of like I hate to say it but jam it down your throat,” Wentzel said. “It’s kind of like we’re going to show you that that’s not acceptable behavior so we’re going to step it up.”

The Monarchs made it 3-1 at 13:48 as Charlotte Gilmore knocked in a Boccella shot on a corner. Kratz’s scored her second goal at 9:46 while Boccella’s tally at 1:51 has GMA down 4-2 at the break.