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Check back for a follow-up about the special 'Corners for Cancer' event.
FORT WASHINGTON – Erin Cummings had nothing left in her tank as she walked off the field after Saturday’s scintillating 3-3 tie with Cape Henlopen, but the Upper Dublin senior was smiling.
“That was a fun game to play,” an exhausted Cummings said to no one in particular.
That seemed to be the prevailing theme after a thrill-a-minute ‘Corners for Cancer’ contest that saw Upper Dublin stage an electrifying comeback in the final four minutes of regulation, rallying from a 3-1 deficit to knot the score and send the game into overtime.
“That was the best game ever,” Cummings said. “That was so much fun.
“Coming back against a team like this gives us a lot more confidence for the second half of our season.”
The Flying Cardinals have a date with both Springfield and conference-leader Wissahickon this week, and if they wanted a perfect warm-up for those showdowns, Cape Henlopen – ranked second in the State of Delaware – was it.
“Our most important week of the season is next week,” Upper Dublin coach Heather Boyer said. “If we want a shot at that SOL championship, we have got to take care of business.”
Adding to the emotion of a game in honor of Mary Kay Greenwood – mother of Upper Dublin alum Maura Greenwood – as well as all Upper Dublin family member and friends who have battled cancer was the fact that a familiar face was on the Cape’s sidelines.Coaching the Vikings was former Upper Dublin and Michigan State standout Nicole Catanzaro, who admitted it was great to come home again.
“To be quite honest, I didn’t recognize anything, but I was trying to navigate the bus through,” the 1996 UD grad said of her alma mater, which is in the final stages of building a brand new school. “It’s great.
“The facility is beautiful. I’m jealous – it figures they would update everything after I’m gone. The girls are really lucky. This just does wonders for the Suburban One League. I think it’s awesome.”
For the better part of 60 minutes, it looked as though Catanzaro’s team was going to steal the spotlight in Saturday’s game. Amy Cross scored midway through the opening half to give the Flying Cardinals a short-lived 1-0 lead, but four minutes later, Mary Yeager came back to knot the score for the Cape.
The two teams went into halftime deadlocked 1-1 even though the Vikings held an 8-1 advantage in shots, thanks to the standout effort of goalie Brittany Rowley and the Cardinals’ defense.
“It was better than what we had yesterday – we won 7-0, and I touched the ball maybe once,” said Rowley, who finished the game with nine saves. “I like games when we have to fight for it. This is something we really need because we have two really big games this week.”
Goals by Yeager (Kaci Coveleski assist) and Jaclyn Coveleski (Hannah Pepper assist) put the Vikings on top 3-1 early in the second half, and it looked as though the Cardinals would be going down to defeat.
Until, that is, the final four minutes of regulation when they began applying some serious offensive pressure for the first time all game.
“We just didn’t want to lose,” Cummings said. “We had five times or six times as many people as we usually have at our games, and we didn’t want to lose.”
The Vikings – for all their talent – simply could not match the passion and desire of the Flying Cardinals, and when the Cardinals capitalized on their first corner of the game on a goal by Jordan O’Reilly (Amy McCaffrey assist) with 3:45 remaining in regulation, a comeback no longer seemed out of the question.
With less than a minute to play, the Flying Cardinals were awarded their second corner of the game. By this time, momentum was firmly in their corner, and losing was no longer an option. So it was hardly a surprise then O’Reilly slammed home a pass across goal by Kelly Cross, knotting the score with 45 seconds remaining and setting the stage for a riveting overtime.
“Losing this kind of game would just stink because everyone is here to watch us,” senior Sarah Boyd said. “Especially for Mary Kay Greenwood – we were all here supporting her, and we didn’t want to play bad for her. We really wanted to win.“The cheering from the sidelines was insane, and everybody just realized we could do this.”
Boyer was thrilled to see her team score on its only two corners of the game.
“How can you not be excited about that?” she said. “It was just good execution and taking advantage of the opportunities we had.
“Their defense in the circle was outstanding. They did a great job of staying low and keeping their feet protected with their stick. To be able to get through that, it’s certainly very exciting.”
While the final four minutes were filled with drama, so was the entire 15-minute overtime period. The Vikings drew their first of two corners just three minutes into OT, and it was Boyd stopping a shot before it reached the goal cage.
Midway through the period, Cross found herself one-on-one with goalie Veronica D’Amico, but Cape’s goalie came up with a huge save.
Late in the period, the Ghosts had a three-on-one, but no one got a stick on O’Reilly’s pass across goal.
The Flying Cardinals’ defense was flawless in OT as Rowley, Cummings and company were in complete command.
“We talk,” Rowley said. “That’s the main thing. We have to keep communicating or things just go downhill. We were all working together.”
Just how exhausting was it to play a 15-minute OT period of end-to-end action?“I had to get pulled off in the middle of overtime,” Boyd said. “I couldn’t breathe.”
“Fifteen minutes is a long time,” Cummings said.
In the end, perhaps a tie was the best of all endings since neither team deserved to lose this one.
“They are a very good team, and the fact that we did tie them was outstanding,” Rowley said.
“I could not have asked for any of them to give any more of themselves,” Boyer said. “I had never seen Cape Henlopen play before, but knowing it was Nicole Catanzaro’s team – they’re going to be well coached, they’re going to know what to do with the ball, their stickwork is going to be great, and they certainly did not disappoint.
“They’re an excellent team. It was good for our girls to play a team like that because that’s what we want our program to be like.”
The tie was the first blemish on the Cape’s record (6-0-1).
“I’m okay with that because we have been tested the second week we play, but up until then, we haven’t been tested,” said Catanzaro, whose team had outscored its opponents 39-5. “So I’m glad Upper Dublin was able to pull it back because it gives my girls a bit of a reality check, and I’m okay with that.”
Catanzaro – who was supported by a large contingent of family and friends – hopes to make her alma mater a regular addition to her team’s schedule.
“This is awesome,” she said. “It was a lot of fun for me, and for the girls, this is a change of pace. They’re representing Delaware.
“Pennsylvania has that filtering of awesome field hockey, and this was a challenge for my girls to pick it up and show what Delaware girls can do. This was a good match for us.”
UPPER DUBLIN 3, CAPE HENLOPEN 3 (OT)
Cape Henlopen 1 2 0-3
Upper Dublin 1 2 0-3
Goals/Assists: Cape Henlopen – Mary Yeager 2-0, Jaclyn Coveleski 1-0, Hannah Pepper 0-1, Kaci Coveleski. Upper Dublin – Jordan O’Reilly 2-0, Amy Cross 1-0, Amy McCaffrey 0-1, Kelly Cross 0-1.
Shots: CH-12, UD-9
Corners: CH-8, UD-2
Saves: Veronica D’Amico (CH) 6, Brittany Rowley (UD) 9.
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