McDonogh Dominates In First Round Victory

By: Dan Greenbaum

When the first whistle sounded of the first round of the IAAM B Conference field hockey playoffs, Glenelg had the ball. However, that was one of the only moments of the first half that they were in control. The McDonogh ladies quickly stole the ball and charged down field. Glenelg senior Sarah Goldstien played great in goal, making incredible saves with her feet and shutting down the rush of McDonogh shots in the beginning of the game.

Finally, after 17 minutes and 59 seconds had passed, and more then ten of their shots had failed to hit the back of the goal, McDonogh junior Christi Heart scored. The dominant first-half push by the lady eagles wasn’t over yet. With 4:53 left in the first half senior Alissa Polino put a nice shot past the Glenelg goalkeeper to put her team up 2-0. In the final minute of the half, junior Katelyn Miller scored the third goal for McDonogh and gave them a commanding lead going into halftime.

McDonogh opened the second half just as strong as they did the first, not even letting the Glenelg ladies on the offensive side of the field. Every time Glenelg brought the ball up field, McDonogh defenders, senior Tori Klein, junior Lauren Friedman and freshman Corrine Etchison played lock down defense, allowing very few shots to be taken. McDonogh goalie junior Caitlin Cromwell stopped any shots that made it to her and handed in a shutout performance. Junior Hannah Deoul added one more goal for her team with 17:55 left in the game. The final attempt by Glenelg to get back in the game was ended by senior Amanda Kimbers who continued to take back the ball for her team and played a great all around game.

In the end, the McDonogh Eagles proved they were really for the next round, beating Glenelg 4 to 0.