Vikings advance to sectional final

In a field hockey battle worthy of a sectional championship game, Kelsey Mitchell and Janine Kovach yesterday led host Eastern to a 4-2 win over Washington Township in an NJSIAA South Group 4 semifinal.

Eastern (20-2), seeded second and ranked No. 1 in South Jersey by The Inquirer, will play the winner of today's Shawnee-Egg Harbor Township game, which was postponed by yesterday's rain.

Egg Harbor Township is the top seed; Shawnee is fifth. EHT will host at 2 p.m.

In a struggle of wills and a demonstration of resilience by both Olympic Conference American Division teams, Mitchell broke a 2-2 deadlock with 17 minutes, 2 seconds remaining in the second half when she pushed the ball past Washington Township keeper Briana Shea.

"I had the ball in the circle and kept it going," said Mitchell, who led South Jersey in scoring with 35 goals going into the game. "I willed my way through [defenders] and poked it in.

"I muffed a corner and felt that I owed the team a goal."

Eastern ran a clinic on corners, with eight in the first half and seven in the second. The Vikings didn't feel comfortable, however, until Kovach added an insurance goal off a rebound about six minutes after Mitchell's score.

"It was a great feeling to be up by two goals," Kovach said, "but there were 10 minutes left, and we knew we had to continue to play hard."

It was Kovach, a senior midfielder, who inserted the ball on penalty corners to junior defender Melanie Dawson for Eastern's two first-half goals, which tied the score at 1-1 and 2-2.

Washington Township coach Jeannine O'Connor was disappointed that the Minutemaids (18-3) hadn't applied defensive pressure quickly enough. But she had no complaints about the overall effort of her players.

Washington Township senior Marisa Schoepflin scored the first goal at 8:38, and it was worthy of a highlight reel.

Laura Rose intercepted Eastern's fourth penalty corner in the striking circle and dribbled the ball to the 50-yard line. Then, in one motion known as a reverse sweep and dump, the junior swept the ball with her left hand to senior Katie Griffis at the 25, and she passed to Schoepflin for the finish.

"It gave us a lift, but it also gave Eastern a lift because they came back and scored," said Rose, who later made the score 2-1.

Kovach acknowledged that Schoepflin's score elevated Eastern's adrenalin.

That goal "fired us up even more," Kovach said, "but we kept our composure. We knew what we needed to do."

One thing the Vikings did well was neutralize Washington Township playmaker Lisa Patrone, who was instrumental in a 3-2 win over Eastern on Sept. 19.

When she would get within 25 yards of the cage yesterday, three or four defenders would converge on her.

"It was a magical season," the junior midfielder said. "The ending wasn't perfect, but we played our best."

Washington Township 2 0 - 2

Eastern 2 2 - 4

Goals: WT–Marisa Schoepflin, Laura Rose. E–Melanie Dawson 2, Kelsey Mitchell, Janine Kovach.

Saves: WT–Briana Shea 8. E–Alana Barry 1.