The Academy of Holy Cross Tartans and St. John's College High School Cadets varsity soccer teams played to a scoreless 0-0 draw at Quinn Field in WCAC action on Tuesday, October 26th.
(Photos taken by Ken White from the match are available here - be sure to use the password "StJohn2010" to access the images.)
Under overcast, mild conditions held at the D.C. school, the match kicked at 3:40 PM off with Holy Cross in a traditional 4-4-2 formation while St. John's opened in a 4-5-1 system of play. SJC was looking to establish tempo and possession early on, particularly since Holy Cross was able score an early goal against the Cadets in their first meeting on September 24th, and held on to win 1-0 at the Rockville school.
The Tartans attacked the SJC defense from minute one and nearly scored the game's first goal in the 14th minute when Pilar McCarthy slipped in behind SJC's Lis P. and pushed a trickling shot under an oncoming Kirsten G. It rolled wide left of the home team's goal and out for a re-start.
St. John's countered many of the Tartans' direct services forward with strong, individual defending that allowed the Cadets to find wing backs Kat C. and Shannon C. with space to attack. Both players contributed on both sides of the ball throughout the match as Kat delivered long, arching diagonal balls to the weak side midfielder, and Shannon sliced her way through the Tartan midfield before unleashing a team-high five strikes on goal.
While Holy Cross' Mary Glynn was up to the task to keep St. John's out of her goal for the majority of the match, she was fooled by a long-range effort that Shannon struck from 30 yards in the 62nd minute. After the Cadets regained possession at midfield, Shannon exchanged a series of combination passes with Carli, Najla and Lizzy D., who started her first varsity match of the season. With a sea of Tartan defenders in front of her, Shannon weaved to the left of Holy Cross' Shannon Spellacy before uncorking a screamer that was headed for the upper 90 corner of Glynn's goal. If it were not for the cross bar, SJC would have recorded the game's first goal.
Holy Cross would not be undone by the Cadets' attacking effort and won two fouls in the waning minutes of the contest - first a direct kick in the 64th minute from 19 yards out that occurred when SJC's Mary M. was whistled for a handball. Unfettered by the call, the Cadets set a five-person wall with Kirsten directing the defense. Holy Cross struck a pacy shot directly into the wall that junior defender Alison S. blocked and played into the feet of Sidi G., who entered the match in the second half after a four-game layoff due to problems that ensued with her international medical insurance coverage.
Sidi battled for loose balls and long punts that Kirsten launched towards the Tartans back line, and nearly broke through when a Tartan defender misjudged the punt and let it bounce on the artificial surface. The Jamaican international tried to muscle her opponent off the ball but lost possession in the process. This type of soccer would continue for SJC in the second half as Lizzy C. and Mary took turns with Sidi as St. Johns' target forward.
With the match destined for a scoreless draw, Holy Cross earned one final attempt at the St. John's goal when the referee whistled SJC's Mimi R. for obstruction 21 yards from the net. Having practiced defending set pieces, the Cadets formed an unbreakable five-person wall and kept close watch on all ten Tartan players who were positioned at the top of the penalty area. The ensuing shot was blocked by Kat and Alison prior to being cleared as the official blew for time.
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| Photography courtesy of Ken White |
"We gave Holy Cross a run today", said Colin Lennon, SJC's third-year skipper. "They're a much improved team and it could have gone down as a win for either team, but the defensive efforts were the difference for both teams."
With three regular season matches remaining, St. John's currently sits in 6th place and needs to take a minimum of 6 points to assure itself a top four finish in the league table.
"Ideally, I'd like to see us attain a top four finish so we can host a first-round playoff game", Lennon stated of his team's late-season efforts. "We're close to being 100 percent healthy again - I'm delighted to have Carli and Nia back although we're sad to see Kayla out for the remainder of the season. We know that she'll be back next year and ready to go for it all. Let's make a run out of this and push for a return to the final."
St. John's will host Elizabeth Seton on October 29th at 3:30 PM. The junior varsity match is scheduled to begin at 5:00 PM.
GO CADETS!
MATCH STATS
SJC AHC
Goals 0 0
Shots 8 6
Saves 6 5
Fouls 9 8
CK 1 3
FK 2 3
Offside 0 3
