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MSC, Ponaganset girls play to scoreless tie |
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Tuesday, 20 October 2009 |
By STEVE MAZZONE
Sports writer
WOONSOCKET – Opportunity knocked … and knocked … and knocked.
The Lady Mounties never let it in.
Mount St. Charles Academy remained unbeaten in Division II-North, but couldn’t snare a victory against a pesky Ponaganset High squad and played the Chieftains to a scoreless tie on Tuesday afternoon at home.
Particularly in the second half, the Mounties didn’t help to their cause, squandering more than their share of chances to find the back of the net.
“We had plenty of opportunities, but we didn’t capitalize on any of them,” said MSC head coach Marek Wolny. “We got beat to the ball a majority of the game. They just weren’t clicking today. It happens. Unfortunately, it happens. Ponaganset and their coach did a great job. They pressured constantly, which threw our game off a little bit. Normally we respond very well, but today they just couldn’t get it going.”
The non-win by the Mounties, who are now 11-0-4 in the league, prevented them from clinching the II-North crown in the Senior Day affair. But that could come soon. With just an away contest with Bay View on the slate, the Mounties need just a tie or a loss by second-place Smithfield (10-1-4) or a win on their own to earn the title.
“I was hoping to clinch it today,” Wolney said. “With a win, we would have clinched the North division. Unfortunately, the tie didn’t really hurt us but it didn’t really help. That’s just the way it goes.”
For Ponaganset, the 0-0 outcome proved to be somewhat of a moral victory. With injuries to some key seniors late last month, the Chieftains have struggled the past few weeks and have not won since a 5-1 decision over Johnston in a non-leaguer back on Sept. 19.
“This was huge; a tie, I’ll take it against them,” said PHS head coach Jill Rousseau, whose squad is 4-6-5 in the division. “I had to shake things up. My sweeper was playing halfback, my best defender was playing forward because we had two (major) injuries on the team that hurt us. We have been struggling for a month.”
As time was winding down in the contest, the Chieftains had a prime opportunity to pull out a mammoth upset of the Mounties. That chance, however, was denied on a clutch save by MSC keeper Dana Wozniak.
With less than two minutes left on the clock, Ponaganset freshman Madison Shea got hold of the ball and booted a perfect floater from about 30 yards out. As the ball descended fast to the top of the cage, Wozniak made a leaping stop, deflecting Shea’s shot just over the crossbar.
“That was a beautiful shot,” Wolny said. “It was just dipping right underneath the crossbar and Dana Wozniak just came up with the save of the game. That was it. It could have been 1-0 easily right there. She tipped it right over the crossbar and that pretty much saved us. It was an unbelievable save.”
That shot turned out to be the Chieftains best opportunity to score. On the other hand, the Mounties repeatedly pressured Ponaganset’s defense, but produced nothing for their efforts.
In a short, five-minute span that began around the 50th minute, Mount couldn’t capitalize on at least four of those chances. On a well-placed throw-in from Michaela Connors, Brianne Mastaj kicked a close-ranger that Ponaganset goalie Ashley Brackett easily caught. Just two minutes later, senior Caitlyn Wolny appeared to be right on target with her shot only 10 yards to the left of the cage, but it went wide to the right by only a few feet. Junior Jaclyn Bates almost cashed in on a long-range shot from 40 yards that just went above the net with 26 minutes left in the game. Shortly after, she appeared to get a breakaway attempt, but just as she was about to uncork the shot a hustling Laurissa Galipeau got her foot on the ball and booted it away.
“Teams always play Mount hard,” Marek Wolny said. “That’s just a normal for us – today especially. I believe Ponaganset is fighting for a playoff spot. The girls came out with a mission to go all out, and they did. That’s exactly what they did. They did a fantastic job. I have to commend them. They came to somebody else’s house, played the first-place team in the division and walked off with a tie. I think that’s pretty good. If I was their coach I would be very happy.”
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 08 November 2009 )
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