O'Hara tops Carroll in battle of PCL unbeatens
The sun began to set behind her, and Marie Murphy was content. Her Cardinal O'Hara field hockey team knocked off Catholic League rival Archbishop Carroll, 3-1, Wednesday, in the first meeting between the two teams since late October of last year.
The sun began to set behind her, and Marie Murphy was content.
Her Cardinal O'Hara field hockey team knocked off Catholic League rival Archbishop Carroll, 3-1, Wednesday, in the first meeting between the two teams since late October of last year.
That's when Carroll defeated O'Hara in the Catholic League championship game.
The two squads have traded the championship crown in the last two years, building one of the strongest rivalries in the area.
Both entered Wednesday 8-0 in Catholic League play, and it was O'Hara that dominated play for most of the game and emerged largely unscathed.
Murphy's girls began the game with relentless attack, and midfielder Molly Grady scored the opening goal just 58 seconds into play, catching late-arriving parents and friends by surprise.
Hannah Nihill, O'Hara's offensive catalyst, sprinted down the left side of the field before tossing it to Grady, who had the entire right side of the goal to score.
Nihill set the tone all afternoon with explosive runs into Carroll's zone, catalyzing the O'Hara offense.
"Hannah's great," Murphy said of her veteran forward.
"She's super quick, and she's really gotten much better with the ball - being a basketball player, she knows how to handle it."
After seven more shots turned up empty, the second half began in similar fashion to the first.
Sara Hayes, another one of O'Hara's leaders, netted a goal on Nihill's second assist of the afternoon just seven minutes into the final stanza.
Passing was the theme of the second half for O'Hara, and as Murphy put it, "connecting as opposed to just sending."
Hayes said the continuity of her team's starters helped O'Hara keep the pressure on with smart passes against a desperate Carroll team in the second half.
"I think this year, it's because our team is so close, that we're able to know and trust where each other is on the field," Hayes said.
"We know where everyone is, and it's so much easier."
Enjoying the moment, Hayes said the win was a big one for a hungry O'Hara team.
"It was a little sweet revenge from last year," she said, grinning, content just like her coach.
But, Murphy reminded herself, it's just one game. The two teams could meet again in the Catholic League playoffs, with much higher stakes.
"There have been more than a few O'Hara wins in the regular season, and then we lose in the playoffs," Murphy said with a knowing look, tempering expectations. "We have too much history to think about this game more than we should."
Cardinal O'Hara 1 2 - 3
Archbishop Carroll 0 1 - 1
Goals: CO-Molly Grady 1, Sara Hayes 1, Hannah Nihill 1; AC-Sam Swart 1.
Saves: CO-Jen Ahearn 7; AC-Kimmy McGregory 11.