Hayes, Banes help O’Hara take down Carroll

CONSHOHOCKEN >> Cardinal O’Hara juniors Sara Hayes and Annemarie Banes were CYO teammates at St. Dorothy School.
“I learned the game from our St. Dot’s coach, Mrs. (Jill) Camuti,” Banes said. “She really got me into the sport. I played club softball, and then I learned about field hockey.”
Hayes, who wears uniform No. 2, and Banes, who is No. 3, made sure Cardinal O’Hara would be No. 1 in the Catholic League’s regular-season standings, helping the Lions (13-3, 9-0) to a 3-1 victory over Archbishop Carroll (8-1 league) at The Proving Ground complex Wednesday afternoon.
Hayes scored two goals in the second half and Banes, a midfielder, helped O’Hara keep Carroll off the scoreboard until 3.6 seconds remained in the second half, when Sam Swart connected.
Molly Grady opened the scoring for the visiting Lions after 48 seconds of play.
“That’s one of the things we work on a lot at practice, getting the ball up the field,” Banes said.
O’Hara got off eight shots — five on goal — in the opening half and had four penalty corners to Carroll’s one.
Hayes finished a play started by junior Hannah Nihill in the eighth minute of the second half, then got a pass from junior Emily Quintus 2:24 before the end of the half, giving her 14 goals this season.
“I’m just happy to help the team,” said Hayes, who also is a member of the O’Hara cross country team. “We know it always will be a good game when we play Carroll.
“It’s good to be in first place.”
Lions head coach Marie Murphy tried to play down the talk of being top-seeded in the playoffs, which begin Oct. 30.
“This is a big win for us,” Murphy said. “But there’s a long way to go, and we have quite a playoff history with Archbishop Carroll. We’re playing at Notre Dame Friday, and they’re a very good team, then we’ll have a bye until Nov. 2, when the playoff semifinals will be held.
“Our defense did a good job today, and I’m happy with the leadership we’re getting from our juniors.”
Hayes spends several hours on the hockey practice field most afternoons, then heads home to do some training for the cross country team as well as completing her homework. She is looking at Villanova University, where her mother, Lynn, earned a nursing degree, but hasn’t decided whether she will major in nursing or education.
“There are days when my legs get a little tired,” Hayes said.
Her coach and her teammates will never get tired of her scoring goals.
In other Catholic League action:
Bonner-Prendergast 6, Little Flower 0>> The Pandas couldn’t have asked for a better result to reach double-digit wins for the season. Allison Martin’s hat trick led the six-goal outburst, while Casey Rafferty added a score and an assist. Maggie Baldini’s 11 saves preserved the shutout for visiting Bonner-Prendie (10-6, 7-2).
In a Catholic Academies game:
Sacred Heart 5, St. Basil 0>> One half sufficed for the Lions, who scored all five of their goals before the break. Julia Flood and Brigid Gliwa each found the back of the cage twice. The win brought Sacred Heart’s regular season to a close with a 6-10-2 record, 2-8-2 in the league.
In nonleague play:
Springfield 1, Interboro 0>> Sarah Brennan’s first-half goal was all that separated the Cougars and the Del Val League champion Bucs. Jess Hinchey stopped the other three shots that came her way as the Bucs closed a winning-season (9-8, 5-1).
Notre Dame 11, Hill School 1 >> The attacking duo of Quinn Maguire and Tina D’Anjollel proved too strong for the visitors to handle. In an eight-goal first half, Maguire scored four times. D’Anjollel contributed three to go with two assists. Cami Osborne assisted on two of D’Anjollel’s markers to aid the Irish (9-2, 4-1).