Saints defend girls field hockey title
Edge Crestwood Mustangs 2-1 in all-Peterborough COSSA final
The St. Peter Saints are returning to OFSAA in Burlington late next week after successfully defending the girls field hockey COSSA title Tuesday in an allPeterborough final at the Fleming College Sports Complex.
Tara Padgett scored the game winner, deflecting in a shot with about two minutes left in the second half as the Saints edged the Crestwood Mustangs 2-1.
Team captain Kari Lynde, a four-year veteran of the squad, couldn’t be happier with the performance and the outcome.
“It’s amazing … I feel like our whole team made a big contribution,” she said, pointing out how the team was aware the final was going to be difficult.
“We knew coming into the game that it was going to be a tough battle.”
Fellow Grade 12 student Hannah Van Brenk said the Saints dusted themselves off and placed their faith in their own skills and those of their teammates. “It was point to point. It could have gone either way.”
The Saints were seeded number 15 of 16 in last year’s OFSAA competition and lost all three of their games, so they are hoping to be seeded higher this time around, Lynde added.
Coach Helen Lynett said the team’s fate next week will be decided by how well they can keep the ball moving with short, crisp passes.
To reach the final, St. Peter defeated Holy Cross 2-1 earlier in the day while Crestwood edged North Hastings (Bancroft) 1-0 in a 1.5 hour marathon game that was decided with sudden victory strokes after extra time and two rounds of penalty strokes decided nothing.
The scoreless first half of the COSSA final saw both Saints and Mustangs exchange quality chances all stopped by their goaltenders. They did the same early in the second half, when the Mustangs also missed a penalty flick.
St. Peter got on the scoreboard first when Lynde wristed home a shot from the right of the net on a play that began with a short corner. Crestwood responded soonafter, however, when Grace Earl banged in a rebound to tie the game.
The teams exchanged several more chances before Padgett’s winning goal. The Saints also narrowly missed an insurance marker and short corner opportunity as time expired.
Coaches Cathy Symons and Janet Blair were proud of the Mustangs’ effort, including how they never gave up and continuously drove the net.
“They can all be very proud of themselves. They left it all out on the field,” Symons said, pointing out how Blair had encouraged the team to play like they were going for the only remaining lifeboat left on the Titanic.
The team is young, which bodes well for the coming years, she added.
OFSAA competition takes place Nov. 1 to 3.