Contact: Jenni Brockman Following a thrilling 3-2 home victory over Covenant last Tuesday (10/26), St. Margaret’s varsity field hockey team (5-0-1 League of Independent Schools Conference; 7-1-2 overall) grew anxious for its non-league match versus Christchurch Friday, October 29. Scoring one goal each for SMS Tuesday against Covenant were Ginny Moncure, a senior day student from Tappahannock, and juniors Carol Combs and Sara Shelton. Following an SMS time out after Covenant jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, the Scotties gradually picked up their level of play and began to score. St. Margaret's first goal was set up by senior Katie Farmer, of Millers Tavern, who carried the ball up the wing and center-crossed it to Moncure in front of the goal. "A text-book play!," said head coach Kate Coghlan in reference to Farmer's assist. "Carol and Sara both scored beautiful goals as well," said Coghlan. "We played our hearts out…hopefully this momentum will continue into post-season play." But before any post-season play, SMS had an important rendezvous with Christchurch at home as area bragging rights were on the line. "The girls were really pumped to play Christchurch," said Coghlan. Coghlan, who played field hockey at Drew University (New Jersey), saw Friday’s game against Christchurch as a great wake up call heading into this week's L.I.S. tournament. "We made the mistake of getting caught up in the hoopla of the rivalry and not executing our plays," Coghlan said. "The excitement, both on and off the field, made the game a really huge spectacle. We fell for some of that but had multiple chances to win late and couldn’t capitalize." Of course, the CCS "fan van" which bussed droves of diehard CCS fans to Gilchrist Field didn’t help much either. Friday’s crowd, an eclectic mix of CCS men clad in trendy bow ties and spirited SMS parents, students and faculty who contributed loud cheer made for an exciting afternoon--one young man, perhaps getting an early start on Halloween, dressed himself as a suffragette and wore a skirt! As area rivalries go, few can match Christchurch-St. Margaret’s; perhaps that explains the wild scene.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
St. Margaret's Clinches L.I.S. Regular Season Title,
Heads to Post-season Play
Junior Carol Combs hits the ball to a teammate Friday against Christchurch. Combs scored the only SMS goal of the afternoon.
St. Margaret's huddles together at halftime to prepare for the second half.
In the end, Christchurch left rather pleased having forced a 1-1 tie. Statesboro, GA native Carol Combs scored the only St. Margaret's point of the afternoon 17 minutes into the first half. As a non-tournament game, the teams did not play overtime. Both teams, however, had many positives to take away from Friday's game. Christchurch, after a season filled with many cancelled games, proved capable of sustaining play at an elite level; St. Margaret's, although disappointed to have relinquished its lead, played aggressively and never quit.
"I am really proud of both teams," said Coghlan. "I had to stop myself more than once to admire the class and poise exhibited by both schools. How fitting we each went home winners."
SMS will host the L.I.S. tournament this week at Gilchrist Field. The tournament semifinals begin Wednesday, November 3 and the championship match will begin Friday, November 5 at 5:00 p.m. Next week, SMS hopes to host the first round of the state championships.
