CHESTERFIELD- St. Dominic seniors Grace Luedde and Brooklyn Penrod knew a breakaway was possible.
As the defensive alignment of Pembroke Hill continued to drift forward, Luedde and Penrod patiently waited for the perfect opportunity to exploit it.
“We noticed their high line and we have fast forwards, so we were looking for those open channels to play the ball through,” Luedde said.
Penrod added, “I felt like we were going to be lucky and one of (the passes) would get through.”
Penrod scored twice on breakaways, both set up by beautiful through-balls by Luedde as St. Dominic defeated Pembroke Hill 3-2 in the first round of the Midwest Field Hockey Tournament Wednesday at Marquette High.
No. 15 St. Dominic (8-5-1), which advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history, will play No. 2 Villa Duchesne (20-2) at 11 a.m. Saturday at Condie Field on the campus of Villa Duchesne.
St. Dominic is amid its second winning season since the program’s inception in 2018 and its furthest playoff run.
“We’ve been growing, and this shows that we’re a valid team now,” said fifth-year coach St. Dominic coach Beckey Patterson. “The building up of the program has been exciting. I’m very proud of the girls.”
With the Crusaders leading 1-0 at halftime on a goal from senior Joana Susui, Patterson issued a challenge to Penrod after seeing the alignment of the Pembroke Hill defense. The Raiders positioned speedsters Cate Degnan and Claire Kroh above the midfield stripe with the belief they could recover if a pass went beyond them.
“I put a fire under her by saying, ‘I think their defenders might be faster than you,’” Patterson said.
Penrod got her chance to prove her coach wrong after the first Raiders’ penalty corner of the quarter was thwarted by the Crusaders’ defense. Luedde dribbled the ball towards midfield and sent a perfectly-paced through-ball for Penrod to run onto.
In a flash, Penrod was ahead of the Raiders’ defense with only the Pembroke Hill goalie in front of her.
“We always practice 1v1s and it was a lot like that,” Penrod said.
Penrod approached the cage, took a touch to her right and blasted a shot into the back board to increase the Crusaders’ lead to 2-0. Four minutes later, Luedde sent another pass through the high line of the Pembroke Hill defense and Penrod drained her second breakaway goal of the quarter to give St. Dominic a three-goal cushion.
In all, Pembroke Hill earned five penalty corner opportunities in the third quarter, but it was the slick passing of Luedde and breakaway speed of Penrod that produced the only two goals.
“In the circle we were not sharp enough, and they got us on the counterattack,” Pembroke Hill coach Bram Strookman said.
Pembroke Hill continued to mount ferocious offensive pressure in the fourth quarter. A laser by senior Eliza Wysong was kicked aside by the right leg of St. Dominic goalie Sam Liszewski, whose aggressive goalkeeping produced two more outstanding saves on shots by Raiders’ freshman Poppy Bash.
Liszewski, a junior playing her first season as a goalie, made 12 saves against Pembroke Hill – the eighth time she has produced double-digit saves in a game.
“I just try to always be ready and be aggressive for the ball. I’m really competitive and I want to win,” said Liszewski, who currently ranks sixth in the area in total saves (159) and fifth in save percentage (.846).
The St. Dominic win was made more complicated when Pembroke Hill senior Caroline Kroh popped a shot over the shoulder of Liszewski with 9 minutes 26 seconds to play, then snuck another past her with exactly one minute remaining in regulation to slice the Raiders’ deficit to 3-2.
“A little stressful,” Liszewski understated.
But strong defense by St. Dominic senior Lucy Ryan prevented further advancement into the circle by Pembroke Hill.
“They have really good mental toughness, and they gave it their all in the fourth quarter,” Strookman said of the Raiders. “It was just a little too late in the game to get all the way back.”
And for St. Dominic, the advancement to the Sweet 16 is an important milestone for a senior-laden team looking to make their imprint on the sport of field hockey.
“It’s a really special season. We have great chemistry, we all love each other and it translates onto the field,” Luedde said.
She added, “We wanted to make history for our program and continue to fuel that inspiration for our program down the line.”
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