Resurrection simply won’t lose
KITCHENER — The St. David Celtics were less than three minutes away from celebrating a breakthrough achievement.
And then Grace Davis changed everything.
The Resurrection Phoenix standout capped a gutsy secondhalf comeback Wednesday as the District 8 rivals played to a 2-2 tie in field hockey action at Woodside Park.
Davis’s late marker prevented the Celtics from handing the Phoenix their first District 8 loss since the 2009 championship final.
Resurrection has gone 62-0-2 in regular-season play since then, with the two ties coming last year against St. David.
“Even though we were down, we never gave up and we were determined to come back,” said Davis.
“That was one of the best goals I’ve ever scored but it was a team effort. We have a great program and we all want to win.”
The Celtics came out flying in the early season showdown and took a 1-0 lead just two minutes after the start when Chloe Davidson beat Phoenix goalkeeper Janelle Ward from close range.
Mackenzie Denomme came close to stretching that lead two minutes later but the speedster’s shot at goal was just off the mark.
Denomme, a member of St. David’s 4x100-metre relay team that won silver at the OFSAA track and field championship in June, tried her luck again and made it 2-0 before halftime. She picked up the ball at midfield, sprinted past a pair of Resurrection defenders, and then whacked home a rebound after Ward had made the original save.
The Phoenix, who are led by the likes of Rachel Buttinger, Hannah Cook, Chloe Hillier and Davis, were the better team for much of the second half.
Celtics goalkeeper Marley Dowling made a nice pad save on Buttinger blast but was beaten a few minutes later when Justine Bisonette took a great feed from Davis and scored from just in front of the net.
The Phoenix kept coming and were finally rewarded when Davis hit the mark.
“We let up at the end but we showed we can get Rez and we hope to do that this season,” said Denomme.
“It’s everyone’s goal to get them this year and we’re coming close.”
Jenna Berger, Dowling and Denomme are the three players that must come up big for St. David to finally get over the hump. Sarah Bestic is a Grade 9 player that has made an immediate impact for the Celtics.
The Phoenix are aiming for their ninth consecutive District 8 championship and opened the season last week with a 3-0 win over the St. Mary’s Eagles. The Celtics opened the season with a 7-0 win over the Monsignor Doyle Mustangs and are attempting to reach their fourth consecutive District 8 final.
In a later game, the Eagles improved to 1-1 with a 5-0 win over the winless Mustangs.
Lane Yuke and Taylor O’Kane both scored twice in the win and Madison Schroeder added a single. Rachel Zmigrodski recorded the shutout.
Because of the ongoing heat wave, Monday’s games were shortened to two 20-minute halves and players stopped midway through the periods for water breaks.