FRONTENAC – Madison Sineff stood on the eight-meter spot and waited.
With the game tied, the MICDS junior earned a free position opportunity just before time expired, and as the officials gathered to determine how much time to put back on the clock, Sineff stood patiently with the ball in her stick.
“I made a ton of mistakes during the game, and I thought of all my teammates who picked me up after,” Sineff said. “I was thinking, ‘I need to score for them.’”
Sineff deposited the game-winning, free position shot as time expired to propel MICDS to a thrilling 14-13 victory over St. Joseph’s Tuesday in a Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association state quarterfinal game at St. Joseph’s Academy.
MICDS (10-6), which advanced to the final four in girls lacrosse for the 11th consecutive season, will face Eureka (14-1) in a state semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at John Burroughs School.
Top-seeded John Burroughs (13-3) will host Cor Jesu (12-6) at 4 p.m. Thursday in the other semifinal.
In the equivalent of a football team icing the kicker, Sineff stood alone for almost five minutes as officials worked with the clock operator to return 1.7 seconds to the scoreboard.
At one point, officials prematurely began play and Sineff scored, but it was deemed that the clock was not ready, and she slowly returned to the eight-meter spot.
“I thought, ‘I can’t believe I have to do this again,’ Sineff said.
When the all-clear was given and the whistle blew, Sineff ran towards the goal and powered a low shot that glanced off the leg of St. Joseph’s goalie Jordan Wilson and ricocheted into the net for the game-winner.
“I just wanted to give it all I had, because it was all-or-nothing,” Sineff said.
MICDS sophomore Caroline Koman scored six goals and freshman Amelia Mackin added four, as the Rams utilized the extra space from a face-guarding defense employed by St. Joseph’s on Rams’ leading scorer Ava Goldson.
With the game tied at 10, Mackin bounced off a check and scored to give MICDS the lead. Then, she and Koman converted free position shots to put the Rams ahead by three goals with 11 minutes to play.
But the final minutes were a test of survival for the Rams. A goal by senior Gen Harrison began a St. Joseph’s barrage that included free position goals by seniors Hannah Jachna and Ainsley Horstman to tie the game at 13-13 with six minutes remaining.
“That stretch is everything I’ve asked my girls to do – give 110 percent and they did that,” St. Joseph’s coach Grace Zagursky said.
MICDS senior goalie Kendall Curry made one excellent save after another down the stretch, denying Jachna with both her right leg and the net attached to her stick. A tremendous leg save on a free position attempt by sophomore Janie Jackson kept the game tied with 2:40 to play.
“When I’m waiting for the whistle on a free position shot, I’m thinking about my team. I’m not making this save for myself, it’s for my teammates and my coaches. We all want to go on to the next game,” Curry said.
A tough, ground ball pickup by MICDS junior defender Chloe Davis in the final 30 seconds gave possession to the Rams, and they raced up the field.
The ball circulated to Sineff in the closing seconds.
“Our original plan was to stall and then give me the ball to take it (to the goal), but we lost it. When we got it back, we barely had any time left, so once I got it, there was no hesitation,” Sineff said.
St. Joseph’s (16-3), showed no hesitation in jumping out to a quick 4-1 lead in the opening eight minutes, highlighted by goals from Jackson and senior Abby Gaines. Along with Jachna, the three controlled the draw circle against an MICDS team that usually excels in that area.
“Between Hannah, Abby and Janie, our circle was almost flawless. They work so well together, and that was a big part of our powerhouse of a season,” said Zagursky, who in her first year as coach, led St. Joseph’s to its best record since 2013.
But MICDS scored the next five goals, three by Koman, whose flawless footwork including the use of a devastating, reverse pivot put MICDS in the lead.
“We’ve grown as a team, and we have faith that we can win if we play our game and focus on ourselves,” Koman said.
Koman and Jachna engaged in a mini-duel to open the second half as the two exchanged highlight-reel goals, including two goals 10 seconds apart. When Jachna’s attempted pass to Harrison missed her stick and accidentally landed in the net, it appeared that fate was smiling on St. Joseph’s.
But MICDS, the winners of five state championships in the last seven seasons, persevered until it earned its own good fortune in the final seconds.
And perseverance has been the theme for the Rams, who graduated seven seniors from last year’s state title team and lost starters Hattie Sloane, Mikaela Mikulec and Brooke Bernstein to season-ending injuries.
From the sideline, the three injured players added a bubble machine, thundersticks and a cowbell to the soundtrack of the afternoon, while restoring confidence into struggling players like Sineff to make the final heroic moments possible.
“We had bumps this season, but we worked on stick skills, being in shape and mindset,” Sineff said. “Once we have those three, it doesn’t matter what the rankings say, we just go out and play our game.”
