Connect with us

Fall Sports

Villa Maria falls in state semi-finals

EMMAUS—The clock struck midnight on Villa Maria’s Cinderella run through the field hockey post season. On a bitter cold night at Emmaus, the Hurricanes (15-10) fell 3-1 to Wyoming Valley West in the PIAA, Class AA semi-finals.

Villa’s Gia Whalen blows past WVW’s Rina Tsioles (BILL RUDICK for MediaNews Group)

“I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” said Villa coach Katie Evans. “I’m sure quite a few people didn’t think we were getting out of districts, yet here we are, just one game shy of state finals.”

In reaching the semi-finals, Villa Maria was the last area team standing in field hockey. Any other year, such news would be met with a hearty “ho-hum, so what else is new?” After all, the Hurricanes have set the standard in the area for success in the sport.

But this year was a bit different. With a slew of freshmen and sophomores playing key roles, Villa plowed through a schedule about as tough as could be, with seemingly every team they played ranked nationally, or at least regionally. By the end of the regular season, the Hurricanes had an unsightly nine losses, and for the first time in a long, long time, they didn’t even host a district game, pulling down the No 9 seed.

As the season progressed, this team simply kept improving every time out. With the seniors acting as perfect mentors, the younger players were no longer kids with excellent potential, but began to ease into their roles.  After falling in overtime in District semi-finals to Merion Mercy, the third time this season they fell to the Golden Bears, Villa came back for a third-place finish to punch their ticket to states, where they won two straight, including avenging the lost to Merion Mercy, to advance to semis.  

Villa’s Maura O’Hare battles with Georgia Tsioles (BILL RUDICK for MediaNews Group)

“The schedule we played allowed us to learn a lot of valuable lessons we were able to apply during the post season,” said Evans. “After all the great seniors we lost to graduation last year, this could’ve been a rebuilding year. But the whole team looked at it as simply advancing our team towards the future, and that confidence, along with the lessons learned, helped us navigate the post season. Just came up a little bit short.”

With temperatures in the high 20s at game time, the two teams took a little bit to warm up and get going, though both teams had opportunities throughout the first half. At one point, the Spartans had forced four penalty corners in quick succession, but Villa, thanks in no small part to a diving defensive save by back Adriana Yacovelli, kept the ball out of the cage.

Villa’s Colby Dobra sends a pass towards the circle as WVW’s Rory Evans defends (BILL RUDICK for MediaNews Group)

Yacovelli’s save seemed to light a fire under the Hurricanes, and the remainder of the half saw the momentum shift towards their side, ending with a couple of penalty corners after time expired in the half. This time around, it was the Spartans defense coming up big, and the game went to the break at halftime still scoreless.

That changed three minutes into the second half when the Spartans’ Cameryn Forgash sent one across the front of the goal and into the cage netting on the far side for a 1-0 Wyoming Valley West lead.

Villa tied the game ten minutes later. With the Hurricanes getting solid pressure inside the circle, sophomore Annie Shaw grabbed a ball in a crowd out near the top of the circle, and blasted a shot past the drawn out Spartan goalie for the equalizer with 19:10 to play. 

Villa celebrates Annie Shaw’s game-tying goal BILL RUDICK for MediaNews Group)

Unfortunately, that was the last gasp for the Hurricanes, as Wyoming Valley West tacked on another couple of goals for the 3-1 final score.

“To finish the season as strong as we did says all you need about this team and how hard they work,” said Evans. “The future is very bright for the team coming back next year.”

For the outgoing seniors, it is the end of a great four year run that included district and state championships, and deep post season runs every year.

“You don’t have enough room in the paper for all the things I can say about this senior class,” said Evans. “They were always so welcoming and inclusive, making it very easy on our transfer students and underclassmen, helping ease the transition for everyone. That and the work ethic they displayed made them perfect role models.”

That is Villa hockey—each group helping groom the next group of Villa stars. Maybe no one knows that better than Evans, who played her high school hockey at Villa before going on to success in college and on USA National Teams.

“When I came into high school as a freshman, I knew absolutely no one,” said senior back Kate Perretta. “But by the end of preseason, I knew I had met all my best friends. Katie and all of the coaches taught us so many important lessons, both for field hockey and life, that I’ll never be able to thank them enough.”

Though the future remains unclear—Perretta has not decided on college yet—her time at Villa will be etched in her memory.

“So many great things happened while I was here,” said Perretta. “This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, and we got even further than we did last year. It was always exciting. We won districts last year and we won states when I was a sophomore and those were amazing times, but I’m not sure that means as much as the way we came together as a team and finished the year the way we did.”

Wyoming Valley West 0 3 –3
Villa Maria Academy 0 1 –1

Goals:
WVW—Forgash, Tsioles, Rupnik
VMA—Shaw

Goalie Saves: Rusnock (WVW) 4, Kimmel (VMA) 9

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in Fall Sports

situs slot gacor provider terbaik agen toto slot terpercaya 2023 agen toto togel terpercaya 2023 situs toto togel pasaran resmi terbaik bandar toto macau pasaran resmi toto togel bandar toto slot gacor 4d 2023 bo togel online pasaran terlengkap sepanjang masa bo toto slot terlengkap sepanjang masa situs toto togel 2023 bet 100 perak daftar toto slot dan toto togel 2023 bermain toto togel dengan bet hanya 100 perak daftar toto slot bonus new member terpercaya bermain toto slot pelayanan 24 jam nonstop situs toto togel terpercaya situs toto togel online terbaik winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto unsurtoto unsurtoto unsurtoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto rasa4d rasa4d rasa4d gampangtoto gampangtoto gampangtoto winsortoto unsurtoto gampangtoto rasa4d bungtoto bandar toto togel terbesar hadiah 4d 10 juta daftar winsortoto situs toto terbaik winsortoto situs toto slot gacor dengan toto togel terbaik winsortoto situs toto terpercaya bet 100 perak winsortoto agen toto togel dan situs toto slot 4d winsortoto situs toto togel online deposit 10rb winsortoto situs toto togel online resmi hadiah 4d 10 juta winsortoto agen toto togel online terpercaya winsortoto agen toto slot dan situs toto togel resmi winsortoto situs toto togel 4d terpercaya winsortoto bandar toto togel dan toto slot winsortoto situs toto togel online resmi terbesar winsortoto situs toto togel dan agen toto slot terpercaya winsortoto situs toto terpercaya beragam bonus winsortoto situs toto terpercaya toto togel dan toto slot gacor winsortoto situs togel online dan slot online terpercaya winsortoto situs togel online hadiah terbesar winsortoto agen toto togel bonus harian terbesar winsortoto agen togel online terlengkap bet 100 perak winsortoto situs toto togel 4d dan toto slot 4d terbaik winsortoto situs toto togel dan toto slot terpercaya winsortoto bandar toto togel online terpercaya 2023 winsortoto agen toto togel 4d dan toto slot 4d winsortoto agen toto togel online banyak bonus terbesar winsortoto situs toto terpercaya bonus new member winsortoto situs togel online resmi terpercaya pasaran terlengkap winsortoto situs toto togel online 4d terpercaya situs toto togel deposit pulsa tanpa potongan winsortoto situs toto slot pasti slot gacor winsortoto situs toto slot dan toto togel hadiah terbaik winsortoto situs toto terpercaya permainan resmi dan terpercaya winsortoto situs toto resmi bonus new member 100rb tanpa potongan winsortoto toto slot gacor dan togel online resmi terpercaya winsortoto situs toto toge online terpercaya di Indonesia winsortoto toto togel online bonus new member terbesar winsortoto agen toto togel resmi hadiah 4d 10 juta terpercaya winsortoto toto togel online hadiah 4d 10 juta bet 100 winsortoto situs togel online terlengkap dan terpercaya winsortoto situs togel online resmi dan toto slot gacor winsortoto situs toto togel dan agen toto slot gacor winsortoto situs toto togel permainan toto togel dan toto slot winsortoto situs toto terpercaya bonus menarik winsortoto situs toto togel online terpercaya winsortoto bandar toto togel dan toto slot terpercaya winsortoto situs toto togel online terlengkap dan terpercaya winsortoto situs toto togel online winsortoto situs toto terpercaya togel online dan slot online resmi winsortoto situs toto dengan permainan togel 4d dan slot 4d winsortoto situs toto terpercaya permainan togel online terlengkap winsortoto situs toto togel terpercaya permainan resmi winsortoto situs toto togel resmi bet 100 perak tanpa potongan winsortoto agen toto togel dan situs toto resmi winsortoto toto togel dan toto slot terpercaya dan terbaik winsortoto unsurtoto gampangtoto bungtoto rasa4d titi4d ltdtoto bobatoto bobatoto situs toto togel slot situs bandar toto togel slot terpercaya titi4d titi4d login titi4d daftar titi4d slot titi4d togel situs titi4d titi4d login titi4d daftar titi4d titi4d togel titi4d slot situs titi4d agen titi4d bandar titi4d