MARYLAND HEIGHTS – Villa Duchesne junior Finley Meek fell to the turf and listened, hoping to hear the melodious thud of the wooden baseboard that lines the inside of the cage.
“I didn’t see it go in, but I heard it,” Meek said. “I looked up and saw everyone celebrating.”
Meek tipped in a pass from senior Katie Crump with under nine minutes remaining to propel Villa Duchesne to a 1-0 victory over St. Joseph’s in a Midwest Tournament state semifinal Wednesday at SportPort International.
Villa Duchesne (23-2), which advanced to its seventh state title game in the last eight seasons, will face defending champion John Burroughs (17-2) at 11 a.m. Saturday at SportPort.
Meek’s goal was the reward of a steady Saints’ attack that applied offensive pressure on their rivals from the outset.
In the opening five minutes, Villa Duchesne earned two penalty corners. On one attempt, Crump delivered a blistering shot that was tipped in front and required a brilliant, reflexive save from St. Joe’s freshman goalie Mary Malloy.
“Obviously St. Joe is a big game for us no matter where or when it is. We knew we wanted to come out firing because we knew they were going to do the same,” Villa Duchesne coach Kate Graft said.
Outstanding defensive plays by St. Joe’s defenders Isabel Henderson and KK Dooley helped in keeping Villa Duchesne off the scoreboard early, and stellar penalty corner defense, led by senior flyer Jo Carollo, helped the game remain scoreless through three quarters.
“Kudos to St. Joe, they have amazing corner defense. We were scheming new corners to try to get in behind their defense and trying to figure out which corner play was going to work,” Crump said.
In all, Villa Duchesne earned six penalty corners, but the aggressive St. Joseph’s defense consistently disrupted the plan before the ball arrived at the feet of Malloy.
“It’s almost like a puzzle. You try one thing and it doesn’t work and then you look at another option of off that,” Graft said. “We knew it was going to take something scrappy, where we get in there and get our sticks down, and luckily, we were able to find a way.”
That way was mapped out by sophomore Lauren Pelikan, whose anticipation in the midfield created several takeaways, and sent the Saints into prime scoring areas throughout the second half.
“A part of our game is to go forward, so when (the opponent) hits it downfield, I just want to get it and let everyone push up,” Pelikan said.
Pelikan pushed a pass ahead to Crump, who carried the ball into the circle and sent a pass into a sea of bodies near the goal mouth where Meek was stationed.
“I just sent it in and Finley had the amazing effort. It was so impressive. I don’t even know how she got that,” Crump said.
Despite falling to the ground, Meek reversed her stick to the perfect angle to send the ball through the pads of Malloy.
“I just knew I had to be in the right spot in front of the goal. I trusted that Katie was going to give me a great ball, and then I had to trust myself to put the ball in the back of the cage,” Meek said.
St. Joseph’s, which scored the tying goal with triple zeroes on the clock in its overtime, quarterfinal victory against Ladue on Monday, pursued more late-game magic.
Led by the speed and cleverness of Carollo, St. Joseph’s maneuvered deep into the Villa Duchesne end of the field, but strong Saints’ defense and a five-save performance by senior Izzy Miller prevented the Angels from scoring.
“That’s our specialty. We love those last-minute chances. For a second, I thought we might be able to do it again,” St. Joe’s coach Claire Aubel said.
Villa Duchesne endured the sight of a zero on its side of the scoreboard through three quarters, despite a large advantage in shots and penalty corners.
“What won us this game is that we didn’t get frustrated. We stayed composed and kept relying on our teammates, instead of focusing on ourselves,” Crump said.
Graft added, “That’s what I’m most proud of. We kept that high energy throughout the game and we were able to capitalize when we needed to.”
For St. Joseph’s, a third consecutive journey to the final four provided long-lasting memories and heart-stopping finishes.
“I told them, ‘We had such a great season, this loss does not define it. This was a fabulous group of girls – so positive and fun, focused and hard-working. One of my favorite groups I’ve ever coached,” Aubel said.
And for Villa Duchesne, the return to the state championship game after a one-year absence is exactly where they hoped to be.
“After last year’s loss (in the semifinal), everyone wanted to play for each other and leave it all out on the field,” Pelikan said.
Meek added, “It’s exciting. We’re just going to play our game, focus on ourselves and be the best version of us we can be.”
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