COLLEGEVILLE — Faced with a split-second decision over how much to commit, Reese Czajkowski chose to dive in.
It’s a decision that Czajkowski, teammate Saylor Milone and the rest of the Academy of Notre Dame will forever be grateful for.
Czajkowski’s diving tip-in of Milone’s heat-seeking low cross early in the fourth quarter was the deciding moment of Wednesday’s Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association field hockey championship game, a 1-0 victory over defending champion The Hill School that capped a charmed season for Notre Dame.
Notre Dame, ranked No. 1 in Max Field Hockey’s national top 25 rankings, put the finishing touches on a 20-1 season that included an Inter-Ac championship and the program’s first PAISAA championship since 2017 and fourth overall (2011, 2016, 2017).
Final: Academy of Notre Dame 1, Hill School 0, PAISAA field hockey championship 🏆
Irish are state champions on a goal from Reese Czajkowski pic.twitter.com/qt4A88iHHc
— Austin Hertzog (@AustinHertzog) November 15, 2023
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Scoring chances were few and far between in a matchup of the teams ranked No. 1 and No. 4 nationally, which meant any goal would require quick play and quicker thinking.
It came on a restart 25 yards out from senior Maeve Seeger, who passed quickly to a back-tracking Milone, Notre Dame’s record scorer and the reigning Inter-Ac and Daily Times Player of the Year.
“I received it, took a look over my shoulder to see that it was open so I turned to my reverse, which I’m pretty comfortable with, and centered it across the goal just in time,” Milone said.
The timing couldn’t have been more perfect for Czajkowski to sell out, her full stretch tipping the ball into the cage at the 13:25 mark.
“If I didn’t dive, I don’t think I would have gotten the ball,” Czajkowski said. “It was a perfect ball. I was hoping that it wasn’t going to go up a little bit. It was perfect. It worked out great.”
The Irish put their own spin on 4-for-4 this fall.
“We started out the season by setting our goals, and that was a top 10 national ranking, top 5 ranking in Pennsylvania, a PAISAA championship and an Inter-Ac championship, and I couldn’t be prouder to say that we accomplished all four,” Milone said. “Setting those goals at the beginning of the season was especially helpful for us just to look at the big picture and be able to see the challenges that we would have to face to achieve those goals that require hard work, passion, dedication every single day throughout the season.”
The level of play in the final was extremely high. Hill, which got standout performances from sophomores Abigail Gerdeman and Sofia Ferri, narrowly led the contest in shots. ND goalies Mia McCloskey (4) and Alex Duff (5) combined for nine saves.
Michigan-bound Milone gave the game the ultimate seal of approval.
“This was by far the highest level high school game that I have ever played,” she said. “We played them earlier in the season, which was again extremely high level. But I think everything at stake during this game really pushed the intensity over the edge and I think that my team rose to the occasion and really fought until the end, allowing us to get the win.”
Hill can take solace in the fact it achieved such a level in its followup to last year’s first PAISAA championship. The Blues were tasked with replacing 12 seniors while Gabby Gomez stepped up from assistant to head coach, replacing longtime coach Jen Weissbach.
They came through with a return to the PAISAA final and another Mid-Atlantic Prep League championship, their fifth straight and 13th overall.
“I’m extremely proud of this team,” Gomez said. “Every year we have a very challenging schedule the entire season, so we did a great job throughout the season. We gave it our best tonight but eventually came up short. Notre Dame played a great game.
“We are HFHF, Hill Field Hockey Family, and the players make the team, the players make HFHF what it is. I was very confident that we’re going to pick up where we left off. This is my sixth year with the program so it is very personal. It’s kind of like watching your kids grow.”
Hill will be primed to be back in title-winning position a year from now with only two seniors, Jaedyn Scarlatos and Anna Cowan, graduating.
The Irish, under head coach Brandi Ritz, reveled in a return to the top fueled by its seven seniors, including Bucknell commit Czajkowski, Milone, Boston College-bound Seeger, Celeste Giangiulio, Siena Hobson and goalies McCloskey (Holy Cross) and Duff (Georgetown).
The ups and downs that come with the territory for nearly every team didn’t come knocking at Notre Dame this fall.
“I’m not even going to lie, preseason came and we were all ready to go and made connections with the team,” Czajkowksi said. “As a senior, the freshmen are like my sisters, I love them so much. We just connected so well. And after all those connections were made, we were just solid on the field. We didn’t really have any crazy challenges. We came to every game hoping to work our hardest and that we would have a good outcome and it paid off well.”
