2008 Woodie Awards
Greyhound defense shuts down Mount
Pete Theis
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: Sports
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Staff Writer
The Loyola women's lacrosse team's defense asserted itself early and held on late to defeat Mount St. Mary's, 12-7, in a non-conference battle last Wednesday in Emmitsburg, Md.
"Our defense played great and Meg Steffe made some very good saves, especially in the second half," head coach Kerri O'Day said.
The defense, led by a pair of seniors, Kate Filippelli and Bridget Zingler, held Katelyn Catanese, the leading goal scorer in the nation with 54, to just one goal. In addition, freshman goalie Meg Steffe totaled 12 saves and almost matched her season-low of six goals allowed.
But the offense also clicked for the Hounds. Freshman Grace Gavin tallied six points, including four decisive second-half goals, while classmate Abby Rehfuss took a backseat on the scoring end and instead played the role of distributor (four assists).
Loyola, coming off a 21-goal effort against Louisville, picked up where it left off by scoring four straight goals to take the early lead eight minutes into the contest. Filippelli tallied the game's first goal, followed by a score from freshman Mary Heneberry just a minute later. She later dished a pass to senior Alicyn Brunnett, who scored with 25 minutes left to go in the first half.
After the Mount got on the board, Loyola answered with a goal from junior Elizabeth Weber, putting the Hounds back on top by four goals. Sophomore Bridget O'Keefe and Brunnett both added goals to increase the margin to six, 7-1.
Mount St. Mary's attempted to cut into Loyola's lead when they tallied three consecutive goals, including Catanese's lone goal.
"Kate Filippelli did a terrific job of limiting her to just one goal the whole game," O'Day said.
Freshman Cara Filippelli then added the last goal of the half for Loyola off of a Rehfuss assist. One more goal from the Mount set the halftime score at 8-5.
After an offensive slump to start the second half, Gavin took over the game, jumpstarting the Hounds. With 25 minutes to play she took another pass from Rehfuss and found the back of the cage; she added an unassisted goal just three minutes later.
The Mount answered to make it 10-6, but then the scoring stalled on both sides as the defenses stepped up.
But Gavin broke through again, scoring off of a well-placed high pass from Kate Filippelli, who was behind the net and found Gavin cutting down the alley. Gavin added her fourth goal when she connected with Rehfuss with just 44 second remaining in the game, doubling up the Mount, 12-6. Mount St. Mary's tacked on their final score with 22 seconds left.
After a week off, the Greyhounds travel to upstate New York next week, where they will face Cornell on April 16.
"One of the most important things right now is to give the girls some rest and recovery time," O'Day said. "We've played three games in less than a week."
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