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ILLINOIS WATER POLO |
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Saturday - March 28, 2004 GAME RECAPS
Fenwick Beats McAuley In Overtime 10-7 By Aaron Brown
Oak Park, IL -- Fenwick and Mother McAuley met for the third time this season in the championship game of the Fenwick Tournament on Saturday night. And for the third time, the Friars emerged victorious by outscoring the Mighty Macs 3-0 in the extra session to win the tournament championship 10-7.
In a seesaw battle, Mother McAuley tied the score with 0:57 left in regulation when Sandra Perez got loose on a breakaway to tie the game at 7-7 and send it into overtime. In the first overtime period, Fenwick senior Liz Perry drew an ejection and immediately fed Mary McCarthy who was wide open in front of the net for a goal to make it 8-7. In the final minute, Perry got a pass from Alison Pavlik at two meters, switched the ball from her right to her left hand, and beat McAuley's goalie Erin Delaney to the left side of the net to make it 9-7. In the second overtime, Farren Rixter sealed the Fenwick victory with a powerplay goal with just 0:52 left in the second overtime to give the Friars a 10-7 win.
In what was expected to be a low-scoring and closely contested game, the top two girls teams in the state of Illinois rewarded anyone who stayed at Fenwick High School until 11:00pm with one of the best games of the 2004 season. Emily Bonk got Fenwick on the board first with a lob shot from the left wing with 4:26 to go in the first quarter. The Friars extended their lead to 2-0 on a powerplay give-and-go from Liz Perry to Farren Rixter with 2:38 left. McCauley responded quickly as freshman Maggie Wood came open around a screen and scored from four meters out to cut Fenwick's lead to 2-1. Wood scored her second straight goal from the left wing on a powerplay right before the end of the first period to tie the score at 2-2.
The Friars regained the advantage when Pavlik drew an ejection in the first minute, made a quick pass to Bonk, then got the ball back and put her lefty shot into the left corner to make it 3-2. McCauley had multiple opportunities to tie the score before the half, but Megan O'Connell missed a shot from seven meters, Perez had her sweep shot from two meters saved, and a lead pass for a potential breakaway for O'Connell was stolen by Fenwick goalie Erin Foley. Finally, Maggie Coghlan tied the score with a shot from the point with only 0:07 remaining in the first half to tie the score at 3-3.
Rixter put Fenwick on top 4-3 just fifteen seconds after halftime, but Bianca Cabrera scored thirty seconds later on a powerplay to tie the score once again at 5-5. The Mighty Macs took their first lead with 4:30 in the third quarter on a four meter shot from Coghlan to make the score 5-4. Rixter tied it at 5-5 after recovering a loose ball in front of the net and beating Delaney to the left side of the net. Emily Ginger gave Mother McCauley a 6-5 lead at the end of the third quarter with a rebound goal during a powerplay and the Mighty Macs were one quarter away from a tournament championship.
That is when Fenwick's Liz Perry took over. After quietly playing solid defense all throughout the tournament, she drew a four meter penalty with 4:08 left in the game, and Rixter made the shot to tie the game at 6-6. Perry then assisted Keely Baldwin on a powerplay goal just thirty seconds later to put Fenwick back on top 7-6. Each team had a chance to win the game in the closing minute, but Delaney saved Perry's lob and Foley denied Wood with a lunging save to her right to send the game into overtime.
Fenwick dominated the overtime period thanks to Perry, who recorded a goal, an assist, and two steals in the last six minutes to give Fenwick the win. Rixter led all scorers with five goals, while Bonk, Pavlik, Perry, Baldwin, and McCarthy all added one goal for the Friars. McAuley was led by Coghlan and Wood, who each scored two goals, while Perez, Ginger, and Cabrera each had one.
This marked the second overtime win for Fenwick over Mother McAuley this season, as Fenwick won that meeting 11-8.
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