Keating and the Eagles’ defense lead Shanahan past Kennett
DOWNINGTOWN—When both teams are playing lights out defense, scoring opportunities are a rare commodity, so a team needs to be ready to capitalize when the moment arises. Monday night at Bishop Shanahan, both the Eagles and visiting Kennett defensive units were as stingy as could be, but the Eagles (2-0) scored on one of their two penalty corner chances on the night, then tacked on a goal on a penalty stroke in the final seconds to top the Blue Demons (1-2) by a score of 2-0.
“We have a lot of new kids out there but they are gelling and playing together really well,” said Eagles coach Nancy Roselli. “I love my defense. They gave up some corners but (Goalie) Emma (Leppert), even though she didn’t come into the season with a lot of playing time because of some incredibly stacked goalies ahead of her, really stepped up.”
The first half of the game was tight, though the Blue Demons did a nice job of controlling possessions. Kennett had the first three penalty corners of the half, with the Eagles not forcing one until the final minute of the half. But neither team was able to finish, and the game went to the break in a scoreless tie.
“Our intensity was up tonight and we moved the ball around better than we did our first two games,” said Kennett coach Meghan Shumway. “But we’re a young team and still finding our way, coming together to find a way to get to those finishes. But credit to Shanahan—they took advantage of their opportunities.”
Seven minutes into the second half, the Eagles were awarded their third—and final—penalty corner of the night. Katie Keating put the ball in play on the insert, then shifted over to the post, where she picked up a ball coming across the goal and deposited it in the back right netting of the cage for the only goal the Eagles would need.
“There was a lot of hard work in the circle trying to get a corner, and it finally came together,” said Keating. “We just had to get ourselves composed and do what we needed to get the goal. We have been doing a great job of lifting each other up and playing as a team.”
Kennett answered right back, forcing a corner on the other end not thirty seconds later, and got off a lifted shot, trying to arch it over Leppert. But Leppert would have none of it, reaching up and deflecting it harmlessly over the cage.
“I know that my defense always has my back, and I knew I needed to save it to keep us in the lead,” said Leppert. “We communicate really well on defense, and work the ball around as well as we can to keep the ball out of the circle, but when it does, we’ve been able to step to the ball and our marks.”
Kennett kept on attacking, and forced another three corners in the next 15-minutes of play. Over the course of the game, the Blue Demons had over double the number of corners, 8-3.
“Our defense, although they are really young with a freshman goalie and two other freshman on the back line, have great stick skills and are very poised, particularly for freshmen,” said Shumway. “I give them a ton of credit for the way they’ve stepped up already early in the season. I think we have a good shot to make a push for the top of our division. It just depends on whether we can continue to get better and learn how to finish. It will always be a tough battle in this league.”
Kennett 0 0 –0
Shanahan 0 2 –2
Goals: Keating, Carr
Goalie Saves: Sears (K) none, Leppert (BS) 6
