Pax lax falters in second half

Raiders girls rally to win SMAC championship

Friday, May 9, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by REID SILVERMAN Patuxent’s Celeste Jourdanais, right, scores late in the second half but the Panthers fell 15-8 to Leonardtown on Tuesday. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story   Leonardtown 15, Patuxent 8 Leonardtown 3 12 Patuxent 6 2 Goals: Leonardtown (Tippett 3, Blondino 2, Errington 2, Reabe 2, Williams 2, Bennett, Bonnel, Holmes, Lynch); Patuxent (Denny 3, Capuano 2, Jourdanais, Mooney, Smith) Saves: Leonardtown (Hammerer 12), Patuxent (Fleegle 6)

After a shaky first half where Patuxent (7-5, 6-4 SMAC) appeared ready to pull an upset, Leonardtown (13-1, 10-0) played a near perfect second half to win the match, 15-8.

‘‘All compliments to Patuxent,” said Leonardtown head coach Mike Denny. ‘‘They really controlled the match in the first half. They outhustled us.”

The win secured the first-ever perfect conference record for the Raiders, something Denny said was a goal for his team after one-loss conference seasons the past two years. It’s the third consecutive SMAC championship for the Raiders, who shared the title with Chopticon last season.

‘‘The bottom line was, the girls realized they were playing for an undefeated season,” said Denny of Leonardtown’s second half comeback. ‘‘I think it was important to them. At halftime, I could sense a sense of urgency from them. They knew what was happening to them.”

Denny said the win not only meant a lot to his current team, but also his program in general. He added that it was important for him as a coach to win this game and to make sure his program continues to improve year to year.

‘‘This is where we want to be,” said Denny, who noted Leonardtown’s undefeated junior varsity squad as a key to feeding his team with talented players every year. ‘‘We don’t want to take a step backwards – that’s the key. We feel the program is moving in the right direction.”

Leonardtown junior Krista Tippett scored the first goal of the match with 19 minutes 46 seconds left in the first half and the Raiders appeared ready to take control of the match from the beginning, like it has done so many times in the past. But a surprising performance from Patuxent instead took over and became the first half story.

The Panthers scored their first goal of the night when junior Erin Mooney scored.

Three minutes later, Michelle Denny scored the first of her three goals, followed by Nina Capuano’s first goal of the night three minutes after that. The latter goal caused a tense Coach Denny to call his first timeout of the game.

‘‘[Patuxent] really played well,” Denny said. ‘‘They played as a complete unit, and our girls weren’t playing with the same intensity.”

Patuxent scored three more goals in the next seven minutes to push its lead to 6-1. It was the biggest lead Patuxent held all night.

The Panthers led 6-3 at the half.

‘‘I would’ve been happy if we were up by one at the half, or even if we were tied,” said Patuxent head coach Anthony Barone. ‘‘It was a great surprise and the girls played, I mean that was the best we’ve played all season.”

Leonardtown continued its comeback in the second half, coming out strong and scoring six consecutive goals before the Panthers scored their first of the half.

After Patuxent junior Celeste Jourdanais scored her only goal of the game with 13:55 left to cut Leonardtown’s lead to 9-7, the Raiders went on another scoring streak, with five goals in eight minutes, before the Panthers threw home their last goal of the night with 1:58 left.

‘‘I think Leonardtown woke up a little bit,” said Barone. ‘‘We were worn down a little bit.”