MARYLAND HEIGHTS – Villa Duchesne senior Ella Clayton had not scored a goal in 41 days when she tacked on the final goal in a lopsided, state quarterfinal victory over Westminster.
She wanted to celebrate but refrained, due to the time and score.
Playoff Ella did not mute her celebration Thursday.
Clayton scored the only goal of the game late in the third quarter, and Villa Duchesne held on to defeat Ladue 1-0 in a hard-fought Missouri State Field Hockey Tournament semifinal at Sport Port in Maryland Heights.
No. 1 seed Villa Duchesne (24-1) returns to play in the state championship game after a one-year hiatus and will face No. 2 MICDS (18-3-1) at 11 a.m. Saturday at Sport Port.
MICDS defeated John Burroughs 6-3 in the other semifinal.
Prior to the playoffs, Clayton’s only goal of the season came on Sept. 15, when she tipped in a shot from senior Mary Claire Schwanake during a 6-0 win over Kirkwood. The Saints scored 63 goals during their next 13 games, none by Clayton, until she smacked home a loose ball in the final minutes Tuesday in a 7-1 quarterfinal victory over Westminster.
Locked in a scoreless tie against Ladue on Thursday, Villa Duchesne earned its third penalty corner of the third quarter and playoff Ella emerged. Lauren Pelikan provided the insert, Hannah Ponciroli blasted the shot and Clayton cleaned up the rebound, stopping the speeding ball, and in one quick motion, sliding it into the corner of the cage.
She spun towards Ponciroli and leapt in the air.
“It was exciting. I had the last touch, but the goal was the progression of a lot of smart decisions from the backfield through the midfield and to the forwards. That was the reason we got that (corner) opportunity. It was a team goal,” Clayton said.
Ladue (16-6), which reached a semifinal for the first time since 2009 and became the first public school since Kirkwood in 2018 to play in the final four, executed its gameplan to perfection in the first half.
Strong hits and aerials from the back line of Sloan Gingrich, Carolena Jones and University of Iowa commit Melia Saffold negated the vaunted Villa Duchesne press and forced the Saints to navigate the entire length of the field to generate offense.
“Their press was very heavily packed. It was hard to get through. As a defensive line, we knew we had to work through the gritty and gross stuff and get something up to our forwards to work with,” Saffold said.
In the second quarter, Ponciroli, a Wake Forest commit, became an anticipating, intercepting machine. She dissected long passes, swatted down aerials and quickly turned defense into offense for the Saints.
“A big aspect was being able to keep the ball on our sticks and knowing what to do next – knowing when to make the next pass and knowing when to make those cuts,” Ponciroli said.
A slick pass by Ponciroli slid off the blade of junior Charlotte Kittner at the far post and trickled wide. A vicious, backhanded shot by Ponciroli was denied by a phenomenal, left pad save by Ladue goalie Mimi Tabscott, who did the splits to deny what appeared to be a certain goal.
The game remained scoreless at halftime and Villa Duchesne coach Kate Graft sensed some uneasiness.
“We had a couple of really good opportunities and when those don’t fall, it’s like, ‘Why isn’t this falling?’ The game doesn’t settle and starts to feel frenetic,” Graft said. “Anytime a game goes 0-0 for a long time, the pendulum can swing either way. That was something where we just had to stay the course.”
During pregame warmups, Ladue players played the song “Anything Can Happen,” from Ellie Goulding on their portable speaker. Several field hockey players were on the Ladue girls lacrosse team that knocked out top-seeded John Burroughs and advanced to the state title game last spring.
As the state semifinal against Villa Duchesne remained scoreless at the midpoint of the third quarter, it certainly appeared that anything could happen.
“We put that song on before the St. Joe (quarterfinal) game and it really pushed us to think, ‘Yes, anything can happen.’ The next morning, we sent it to our group chat and played it on our way to school. It became our song,” Saffold said.
But late in the third quarter, Villa Duchesne defenders other than Ponciroli began deflecting the long outlet attempts from Ladue, and the legendary waves of pressure began to form.
“We started to compact and shift as a team, and we were able to come up with more balls in the middle of the field,” Graft said. “The counterattack is so much better when you can come up with it inside the 50 (yard line) versus all the way down for a 16.”
An interception by Pelikan set up the first of three penalty corners, each one becoming more dangerous. Kittner was robbed by Tabscott during the first corner, Pelikan was stuffed on a pair of point blank attempts on the second. On the third corner, playoff Ella found the back of the cage.
The breakthrough goal provided a sense of relief but not resolve.
“It was a reaffirmation of the confidence we had that we were going to get a goal, but it was not, ‘Oh, we got one, now we’re done.’ We knew we still had to hold everything together. It was exciting, but it wasn’t done yet,” Clayton said.
Led by senior captain Lauren Hagan, Villa Duchesne gave Ladue scant opportunities in the fourth quarter. Each entrance into the circle by Ladue was met by fierce resistance by multiple Saints.
“You have to play with the girl next to you. You have to make sure you can do everything you can do for her. We were all doing everything for each other,” Hagan said.
In the final minute, Hagan was issued a penalty, and Villa Duchesne had to negotiate the final, tense moments with their defensive leader on the sideline.
“Definitely a little mishap, a mistake of mine, but I had trust in all the girls on my team,” Hagan said.
A final shot attempt by Ladue leading scorer Annie Tilghman was kicked aside by Villa goalie Mia Gassoff, as she claimed her 17th shutout in 25 games.
For Ladue, the breakthrough to the final four was special, earning the trip by finally ousting nemesis St. Joe, which had knocked the Rams from the playoffs in the state quarterfinals the previous two seasons.
“It’s incredible for us to make it to this point, we’re remaking history, but one thing we said during lacrosse season in the spring is that is we’re not surprised, and we had that same mantra here,” Saffold said.
The Rams heard from many public school players and coaches, congratulating them on reaching the final four and telling them they were proud to root for them.
“We knew just being in the final four was a huge moment for us,” Ladue coach Leah Jones said. “What we’ve done really well all season is balance the fun and enjoyment of the moment with playing hard and laying it all out there. We walked off the field bummed, but proud, with smiles on our faces.”
And for Villa Duchesne, an overtime loss to eventual champion John Burroughs in the state semifinal last year provided extra motivation to return the state title game this season.
“It means so much. Ever since last year, we have been working towards this exact moment, and now that we’re here, it’s time to go, it’s time to kick it in gear,” Hagan said.
Clayton added, “I’m excited that we get this last opportunity to show what we can do.”
For a photo gallery from this game, click the link below:
https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Field-Hockey/2026-Season/Ladue-vs-Villa-Duchesne-Semifinal-1
For the story of the regular season meeting between Villa Duchesne and MICDS from Sept. 14, click the link below: