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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Scotty Sports Corner: Winter Tournament Time
By Kelly Proctor '02
Special Correspondent
Tappahannock (February 25, 2002) - St. Margaret's soccer, basketball, and swimming teams culminated four months of hard work with a series of tournaments. All three winter squads gained another season's worth of memories and countless battle stories to share with friends. As the spring season approaches, the Scotties will thaw out their crew, lacrosse, softball, and tennis skills.
Photo left: Soccer forward Jessie Malm (right), shown here in a previous match against St. Catherine's, scored the winning goal in St. Margaret's first-round tournament game. After defeating Steward in overtime, SMS lost a close match to Virginia Episcopal the next day
Basketball: The SMS varsity basketball team traveled to Powhatan to play its first-round tournament match against Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot on February 13. The Scotties were ranked fourth in regular season standings in the League of Independent Schools, while their opponents were ranked first.
St. Margaret's played well in the first quarter. The second quarter found the team having difficulty containing BHS. Though the Scotties picked up the pace in the third quarter, the writing was already on the wall. The final score: BHS 42, SMS 24.
Co-Captain Fola Ogundiran made seven points and nine rebounds and Co-Captain Kristina Bethea racked up a total of seven points and eight assists. Freshman Becky Clark of Lively contributed six points.
Said Head Coach Sue Saunders of Tappahannock: "Of the teams that I have coached, this has been the most close-knit group of all. I am extremely proud of them and their accomplishments this year. I am really sorry that we are losing [Senior Co-Captain] Kristina Bethea, because she has been a great leader and a real asset to the team."
Soccer: The Soccer Scotties met the Steward School of Richmond on the Essex High School field on February 12. Third in LIS regular-season standings, the Scotties came out slow in the first half, and a hand-ball in the box gave Steward a penalty kick that resulted in a goal. It would not be until the second half that the Scotties turned up the heat. That's when Neillee Katona of Dunnsville, called up from the JV squad, booted the ball over the Steward goalie's head to put one on the board for SMS.
The score remained tied until the end of the game. The teams then went head to head in two overtimes, and had just begun to play their second "sudden-death" period when SMS forward Jessie Malm got her foot on a loose ball and sent it straight to the back of the net.
St. Margaret's now was primed to battle the league's second-place team, Virginia Episcopal School. They traveled the four hours to Lynchburg on February 13 to play a tension-filled game. After the Scotties scored in the middle of the first half, they fought desperately to retain the lead; however, in the second half the VES Bishops fired a ball straight into the open net.
With a collective inward groan, the SMS team knew it was to replay the previous day's struggle. After two overtime periods, either team had yet to score. Then the ball bounced off a crowd of players in the first sudden-death period to the primed cleat of a VES defender. She sent off a long, high "Hail Mary" shot that sailed right over SMS goalie Palmer Ware's head into the only one-foot space where the ball could have found the net. The game ended, 2-1, and with it, the Scotties' season.
"It was a tough, well fought game," said Head Coach Rodney Watkins of Tappahannock. "We fought down to the wire, and we just came up short. It just doesn't get any closer than that."
Swimming: On February 2, St. Margaret's swim team traveled to the University of Richmond to compete in the 2002 LIS Swimming Championships. Representing SMS were Merritt Allaun, Virginia King, Mary Elizabeth McDowell, Mary Andrews, Lulu Fiscella and Rachel Chang.
SMS placed sixth against such powerhouses as Collegiate and Norfolk Academy. Top Scotty finishers included Mary Andrews, ninth in the 50-yard freestyle and thirteenth in the 100-yard freestyle, and Merritt Allaun, who placed thirteenth in the 200-yard freestyle.
