The field hockey championship game was held at Goucher College in Towson on Sunday, Nov. 7 and JC was ready to play.
After winning 3-2 in double overtime on Nov. 4 in the semi-final game against Mount de Sales Academy, the women’s varsity field hockey team was prepared to play in the 2010 IAAM B Conference Championships against Glenelg Country School.
The game began with the ball heading toward JC’s goal. The teams battled back and forth Glenelg pushed the ball into the Patriots’ defensive territory and had an opportunity to score on the first of four penalty corners against JC in the first two minutes of the half. However, JC’s defense kept the game scoreless.
The Patriots’ offense continued to dominate the first half with help from senior captain and midfielder Allison Siegel and junior captain and forward Maria Edwards.
At the end of the first half, the score was tied at 0-0. Glenelg had nine penalty corners, three shots on goal, and one save by the goalie. JC had zero penalty corners, zero shots, and three saves by the goalie, junior Jessica Krolewski.
The second half of the game started out resembling the first half, with the teams sharing control of the ball and playing defensively. It wasn’t until the middle of the second half that this pattern was broken.
With 15:55 remaining in the second half, Glenelg junior Amy Keth scored on Krolewski with a pass from Glenelg senior Claire McAuliffe, making the score 1-0.
Throughout the remainder of the second half, the Patriots failed to score, even with the help of two penalty corners.
The game ended, and with a single goal, Glenelg took the 2010 championship title.
But after last year’s season final record of two wins and 13 losses, JC was pleasantly surprised to be playing in the championship game at all.
“Coach [Megan Deroba] had a lot of faith in us, there was tons of positive energy throughout the season, and our team just bonded,” Edwards said.
Despite the loss, Deroba was still extremely proud of her team for making it to the championships.
“After last season, it was a stretch to see us here [at the Championships] because of all the ’young blood’ on the team. But I knew we had some strong leaders on the team,” Deroba said.
After coming this far in just one year, Edwards hopes that the team will be able to make it to championships again next year. “[JC field hockey] is going to come out and play hard,” Edwards said.
Maggie Cassidy can be reached for comment at [email protected].