Lady J's Honor Seniors, Defeat Siena
Liz Palusevic
Issue date: 4/22/09 Section: Sports
|
Senior co-captains Julie Wilson and Heidi Sheffer were honored for their impressive four years of play. Wilson has been noticeably absent from the lineup, as she is recovering from an injured knee. The Lady J's are anxious to have her resume play for the remaining games of the season. Sheffer had a great game in goal, posting three big saves in the first half of play.
The Lady Jaspers defeated the Saints 16-12, improving their record to 10-4 overall and 4-2 in the MAAC. This victory secured the Lady Jaspers a third seed in the upcoming MAAC championships.
Junior Helen Kerrisk and sophomore Phelicia VanOverbeke both scored four goals and led the Lady J's offense. Not far behind were junior Caralyn Hickey and freshman Chrissy Gutenberger who both posted hat tricks of their own. Sophomores Liz Dugan and Julia Lavelle netted one goal a piece to top off MC's four-goal win over the Saints.
The team's defense was led by a spectacular performance by freshman Breana Leonard who caused four turnovers and picked up four ground balls. Gutenberger also collected four ground balls. Junior Keri Morrison held down the midfield with aggressive play, tallying two caused turnovers and two ground balls.
The Lady Jaspers outshot the Saints 38-34. Sheffer and junior goalkeeper Aly Brown both played well in goal. Sheffer and Brown each played a half and came up with a combined eleven saves in the net.
The first half saw equal play from both teams, and the game was tied at three with eleven minutes remaining in the first half. The Lady J's then went on a run, scoring three unanswered goals from Kerrisk, Gutenberger and VanOverbeke.
Siena was forced to call a time out, trying to put a halt to MC's streak. It seemed to have worked as Siena posted three consecutive goals coming off the timeout, tying it up once again, 6-6.
Gutenberger then netted her second goal of the game with thirty seconds left in the half and MC went into the locker room with a 7-6 lead.
The second half proved to be a nail-biter, as each team went on scoring streaks, and answered each others' goals with goals of their own. VanOverbeke scored first, bringing the Lady J's ahead by two. Siena quickly retaliated with back to back goals, tying the game once again at eight a piece. Dugan netted one more goal, but Siena would not let up.
The Lady J's knew that they needed to put together a rally, and they did just that. Five unanswered goals were posted, two from Kerrisk, and one each from Hickey, Gutenberger and VanOverbeke. Kerrisk scored again, her fourth of the game, as did Hickey to complete her hat trick.
Siena would only score three more times as the Jaspers came out victorious over the Saints.
The Lady Jaspers look to clinch the MAAC title during a big weekend which begins this coming Friday with the MAAC semi-finals in New Rochelle, NY, followed by the MAAC finals on Sunday.