Prendergast upsets Carroll in field hockey

Archbishop Prendergast reprised its field hockey playoff performance of a year ago when the Pandas surprised Archbishop Carroll, 1-0, in the Catholic League tournament semifinals Thursday. Carroll was the league's first-place finisher in the regular season.

Last year, Prendergast pulled off a similarly stunning upset when it beat regular-season runnerup Cardinal O'Hara to reach the championship game.

Yesterday against Carroll, the Pandas showed that lightning can strike twice as Prendergast junior Brooke Stretch scored a sudden-victory goal off an offensive penalty corner with just under three minutes gone in the extra period. It was her 18th goal of the season for the Pandas (14-4).

"The ball went out of the circle [on the penalty corner insertion] but Kara McDonald hit it back in. I got my stick on it about five or six feet from the goal and pushed it in," Murray said.

The win was even sweeter, she said, because the Patriots had beaten the Pandas, 4-0, during the regular season. Carroll is 13-2.

"We just wanted to keep our composure today," Stretch added. "I was a little nervous because of what happened during the regular season."

A broad smile on her face after the game said that the nervousness had disappeared.

In a game where the momentum swung back and forth, Prendergast began to pick up steam in the closing minutes of regulation. The Pandas had two penalty corners in the last six minutes of regulation but couldn't cash in.

They got their fifth corner less than two minutes into the overtime and hit paydirt on their next one. Carroll had 12 corners but none after the 10-minute mark in regulation.

The Pandas also got a boost from senior goalie Emily Moran who just started playing field hockey this season. A softball shortstop for the Pandas, she answered the call when Pandas were in need of a goalie. She made five saves against Carroll, including one on a ball over her head.

"We put her in goal and she's done a great job for us," said Pandas coach Megan Staniszewski.

The Pandas face O'Hara in Saturday's 2:30 p.m. league championship game at Arcadia University. O'Hara defeated Kennedy-Kenrick, 4-0, in the other semifinl Thursday.

"We came out and played but for some reason we didn't click," said Carroll coach Suzie Genarro. "We couldn't seem to get into a flow, a consistency."

Archbishop Prendergast   0 0 1 - 1

Archbishop Carroll   0 0 0 - 0

Goals: AP- Brooke Stretch.

Saves: AP-Emily Moran 5. AC-Mia DePlato 1.