TOWN AND COUNTRY – Cor Jesu sophomore Macy Nicholson ran the gamut of emotions during the title match of the St. Louis Champions League tournament on Saturday.
Late in the first half, Nicholson’s heart sank when she was called for a foul in the penalty area that allowed Liberty to tie the game on a penalty kick. Early in the second half, she launched a 40-yard free kick into the same penalty area and was astonished by the result.
“I thought it went over the net. I kind of mis-hit it and fortunately it went in,” Nicholson said. “I was very surprised.”
Paced by Nicholson’s perfectly-placed rainbow and sophomore Maddie DiMaria’s hat trick, Cor Jesu defeated Liberty and hoisted the championship trophy of the inaugural STL Champions League tournament Saturday at Maryville University.
“It’s awesome to win the first Champions League and make history,” senior captain Emma Shields said.
Cor Jesu (8-1), the defending Class 3 champion, grabbed the momentum midway through the first half when DiMaria, the reigning Gatorade National Player of the Year, ran onto a Nicholson throw-in and was tripped in the box. Her penalty-kick laser spotted the Chargers an early lead.
The physicality increased throughout the half. Liberty (9-3-1) pressured the ball with bumps and nudges, and both teams jostled their way to scoring chances.
“It was the Champions League final and a physical game was expected,” DiMaria said. “Matching that was something we strove to do.”
Liberty freshman Madelynn Moyers sent a floating pass into the penalty area that sparked a collision between Nicholson and Liberty freshman McKenna Lucas. A foul was called on Nicholson, and Moyers converted the PK opportunity to tie the score at 1 going into halftime.
Still seething from the foul call that allowed Liberty to tie the game, Nicholson stood behind a free kick from 40 yards away in the second minute of the second half. Her right foot launched the ball goalward. She watched as it dropped over the outstretched arms of Liberty freshman goalkeeper Stella Zielinski and underneath the crossbar to give Cor Jesu a 2-1 lead.
“I was happy for her, especially because she was getting frustrated with some calls. Her mentality – she was ready to roll,” Cor Jesu coach Rachel Brcic said.
And DiMaria put the wheels in motion.
Twice she dribbled past defenders along the goal line and centered a soft pass that her teammates barely missed converting into goals, including a ping off the crossbar by senior Charli Blomstrom.
In tight spaces, DiMaria was a crafty magician, maintaining possession and setting up teammates. In transition, she was unstoppable. First, she raced through the center of the field and rang an 18-yard missile off the goalpost. Then, she sprinted 40 yards with the ball and was mauled in the penalty area by a flock of Eagles to earn her second PK opportunity.
She punished her shot into the corner of the net to give the Chargers a two-goal lead. Moments later, she ran onto a pass from Shields, squirted it past a diving Zielinski and tapped it into the goal to boost the lead to 4-1.
“We wanted to move the ball quicker in the second half because they were so physical,” Shields said. “The less time we spent on the ball made it easier to move around and that created a lot of chances for us.”
Nicholson’s early second half goal stunned Liberty, and while the Eagles were reeling, Cor Jesu pounced.
“Once they scored that second goal, we mentally took ourselves out of the game a little bit, which was frustrating,” Liberty coach Heidi Kleekamp said. “In the first half, we found a way to slow down the game, we had chances, they had chances, but once they scored that second goal, I saw a major change in our play.”
But the Eagles eventually recovered, and in the last 15 minutes, displayed the late-game magic they had shown throughout the Champions League tournament.
During pool play, sophomore Leah Czerniewski scored with 15 seconds remaining to defeat Clayton. Against Oakville, Moyers scored in the final minute to earn a tie and advance the Eagles through to the semifinals.
On Saturday, the Eagles’ created a flurry of late scoring chances and Nicholson found herself in the middle of the mayhem once again. Off a corner kick, Moyers drove a shot that Nicholson tried to block, but it deflected off her leg and required a sharp save from Cor Jesu goalkeeper Isabelle Hochmuth.
Moments later, Moyers escaped in transition and scored to slice the deficit to 4-2 with 6:21 remaining. Hochmuth made three more excellent saves in the closing minutes, including a brilliant reactionary save at the last second with the flashing of her right hand.
“The surge in the last 10-15 minutes shows the heart of our team, and we’ve seen that a lot this season. It makes me excited for postseason play,” Kleekamp said.
And Cor Jesu, which excelled in postseason play last year with a Class 3 title, earned another piece of hardware Saturday along with the title of the first STL Champions League champion.
“It’s very exciting. Our first game of the season was a Champions League game, so we had to be in that ‘this is a pretty big deal’ mentality right off the bat,” Brcic said. “Now that teams have a better understanding of what is expected, I think next year will be even better.”
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