FRONTENAC – The Villa Duchesne field hockey team found itself in an unusual conundrum.
During their impressive streak of five championships in the last six seasons, the Saints were blessed with gifted goal-scorers. Offensive production was rarely a concern.
But this season, a young Villa Duchesne team returned only three starters and struggled to find an extraordinary goal-scorer.
So, they became extraordinary passers instead.
The three-time defending champions put on a passing clinic Tuesday, recording assists on all eight goals as Villa Duchesne defeated Lafayette 8-0 in a Midwest Field Hockey Tournament quarterfinal at Condie Field.
No. 4 Villa Duchesne (15-4-2), which earned its 13th consecutive final four berth, will face No. 1 John Burroughs (18-0-2) in a semifinal matchup at 4 p.m. Thursday at Sportport International in Maryland Heights.
No. 2 St. Joseph’s (14-4) will face No. 3 Cor Jesu (15-4) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Sportport.
The tic-tac-toe passing display of the Saints began midway through the first quarter when sophomore Margot Leary intercepted a pass and found sophomore Grace Pelligreen who sent the ball towards the near post where freshman Trudy Redmond awaited.
“We made some good passes down the line to get there, and we had some good teamwork and communication,” Redmond said. “I just hovered, waited and got it in.”
The teamwork continued when sophomore freshman Lauren Pelikan intercepted a pass and found sophomore Halliden Brown, who sent junior Izzy Miller away for the second goal in 1 minute 33 seconds and a 2-0 lead after one quarter.
“We’ve really been working on (passing) in practice,” junior captain Katie Crump said. “We were happy to see the good passes to the back post, the finishing and the unselfishness.”
For the first time in six seasons, the leading point-producer in the St. Louis area was not in a Villa Duchesne uniform but rather standing on the opposing side of the field.
Lafayette senior Olivia Williams, who became the third area player in the last 25 years to score 40 goals in a season, was ready to display her outstanding speed and stick skills. But led by freshman Lauren Hagan and senior Ella Robson, the defenders for the Saints limited Williams to two shots on cage and no goals.
“Olivia is a fabulous player, and I was proud of the defense. They stepped up and kept an eye on her without stepping out of our game,” Villa Duchesne coach Kate Graft said.
Lafayette (13-4) advanced to a state quarterfinal for the sixth time in the last seven seasons, in large part to the outstanding play of Williams, who joined Villa Duchesne’s Taryn Tkachuk (43 in 2019) and St. Joe’s Annie Genovese (40 in 2016) as the only 40-goal scorers in the area in the last 25 seasons.
“We did a great job this season sending the balls up and finding Olivia in the circle, and she executed her role, scoring lots of goals and also setting her teammates up,” Lafayette coach Meghan Conroy said. “As a team we’ve grown so much from August to now and that was our biggest goal.”
The growth for Villa Duchesne this season involved the ability to make the extra pass.
Early in the second quarter, Redmond dribbled until she reached the baseline and directed a perfect centering pass to freshman Grace Pelligreen who deposited the third goal for the Saints.
In all, six of the eight goals scored by Villa Duchesne came from the sticks of freshmen or sophomores, including two apiece by Pelikan and sophomore McKenzie Durbin.
“They are rising up,” Graft said of her underclassmen.
The Saints’ corner execution also is on the rise. After not finding a goal despite an avalanche of corner opportunities in a 2-0 loss to Cor Jesu on Oct. 2, Villa Duchesne converted its first three corners into goals on Tuesday.
Crump made the score 4-0 on the first Villa Duchesne corner opportunity by depositing a stellar feed from senior Ella Anthon.
Pelikan added two goals off corners to begin the second half to push the game out of reach.
The Saints focused on corner execution during a recent trip to Louisville. That trip included a 1-0 victory over Christian Academy – the team that captured the 2023 Kentucky High School Athletic Association field hockey state championship on Monday.
“The Louisville trip, playing that high-level competition really helped us,” Crump said. “We tried out new corners, a new press and then had a full week of great practice right after it.”
She added, “The pieces are coming together.”