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Saturday - April 3, 2004 GAME RECAPS
Loyola Beats St Ignatius 5-3 To Win Tournament By Aaron Brown
Chicago, IL -- Loyola avenged an early season loss to St Ignatius with a 5-3 win to claim the St Ignatius Tournament on Saturday afternoon. Jesse Meller and Ann Janowksi each scored twice to lead the way for the #7 Ramblers, while goalie Liz Principe held the #10 Wolfpack to only three total goals.
The Ramblers had chances to score early, but Ignatius goalie Ann Carney made two saves on shots from seven minutes to keep the game scoreless for the first three minutes. Finally, Loyola took advantage of a sloughing defense by the Wolfpack as Ann Janowksi found the right corner of the net from seven meters to give the Ramblers a 1-0 lead. Ignatius had two solid chances to tie the score, but Nora Kennelly's shot from the right wing hit the post, and Meg Lenahan's breakaway chance was denied by Loyola goalie Liz Principe. Carney helped keep the Wolfpack within one for most of the quarter, making two more saves on outside shots, but Loyola senior Jesse Meller scored with 0:34 remaining in the opening period on a powerplay goal from the left flat to give the Ramblers a 2-0 lead.
St Ignatius was more active on offense in the early stages of the second quarter, but Principe made three saves in a span of five minutes to help keep the Wolfpack scoreless. Eventually, St Ignatius junior Meredith Messerle found a chink in Principe's armor, hoisting a shot from beyond halfcourt over the goalie's head after she had come out of the goal to make a pass. Loyola had a chance to respond on a powerplay opportunity, but Carney made a save on Meller's shot to keep the deficit at 2-1 as the teams entered halftime.
In the third quarter, Lenahan made a great move towards the goal with the ball, but was stonewalled by Principe. Carney then reacted with two seven meter saves from Loyola to keep the Wolfpack within one goal. However, another Loyola powerplay proved to be too much, as Meller scored her second goal of the game to put the Ramblers ahead 3-1. On St Ignatius' next possession, Lenahan's open look hit the crossbar, but Kennelly tapped the rebound in to make the score 3-2 with 2:27 left in the period. The excitement was short lived for the Wolfpack, as Janowski capitalized on a powerplay opportunity to score from the point near the end of the quarter to extend the Loyola lead to 4-2.
Ignatius got to within one early in the last quarter, as Kennelly made a steal from Principe and fought off the goalie and a defender to slam home her second goal of the game and trim the lead down to 4-3 with 5:07 remaining in regulation. Each team traded turnovers without a quality shot opportunity over the next few possessions until Loyola's Megan Douaire found herself open at the right wing and skipped a shot past Carney to put Loyola ahead 5-3 with 3:44 to go. That proved to be all the Ramblers would need, as Ignatius' next three opportunities to score were denied. Kennelly hit the post on the next possession, Yadi Leon missed wide right moments later, and Messerle's shot from the left wing was saved by Principe, and Loyola was able to run out the clock.
The win moved Loyola to 10-3 and gave them the outright tournament championship. They went 4-0 over the weekend, earning wins over Marian Catholic, Bradley, New Trier, and St Ignatius. Goalie Liz Principe, Katie Shehan, Meller, and Janowski were all named named to the all-tournament team for Loyola.
Meanwhile, St Ignatius went 3-1 over the weekend to improve to 12-6. They had beaten Glenbrook South, Lockport, and New Trier before their runner-up finish to the Ramblers. Kennelly, Lenahan, Carney, and Leon were also named to the all-tournament team.
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