BY MIA MESSINA
(PHOTOS & VIDEO BY MIA MESSINA)
PHILA. --Coming off a few key losses in the Inter-Academic league, The Agnes Irwin School (AIS) learned a lot about what they had to do going into their matchup with Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (SCH) on Tuesday.
AIS head coach Nicole Gerdes knew all the pieces were there for her team to win their next round of Inter-Ac games, and they showed that with their 4-0 win over the Blue Devils.
“It was definitely a big win,” Gerdes said. “SCH was a really talented team, so it was good to get that second win and then hopefully more to come.”
The key piece for Gerdes and the Owls: Leaning on the positivity to pick each other up and enhance team chemistry.
“We've been having a talk about how energy is just contagious all over the field,” Gerdes said. “If we could just keep that energy up in the positivity, I think it's going to be a really great rest of the season.”
Last season, the two schools finished 1-1 on their two matchups. This season, Agnes Irwin entered into Tuesday’s game 0-1 after the Blue Devils beat the Owls 3-2 earlier this season on Sept. 17.
AGNES IRWIN HEAD COACH NICOLE GERDES TALKS ABOUT KEEPING UP THE POSITIVITY GOING FORWARD.
The loss to Springside Chestnut Hill earlier in the season was one of three for the Owls, each of them coming at the hands of an Inter-Academic school. Agnes Irwin was 11-3 going into the game and 2-3 in conference play. Those two losses came from the top two teams in the Inter-Ac, Episcopal Academy and The Academy of Notre Dame. They fell 4-3 to Notre Dame, the top of the conference, on Oct. 3 and 3-2 to Episcopal, currently second in the Inter-Ac, on Oct. 7. The Owls were able to get back into the win column with a 7-1 victory over Central Bucks South on Oct. 10. Tuesday finally gave the Owls another conference win to get back to .500 in conference with a 3-3 record.
“Those teams are top in the country, so it's really good teams,” Gerdes said. “You're so close, it's like, what can we talk to the captains about, what can really push us to then win those games when it's close, or you're up.”
Springside Chestnut Hill entered into the game third in the Inter-Ac, now with a 4-3 conference record and a 9-5-1 record overall. Its only previous two conference losses also came from Notre Dame and Episcopal. The Blue Devils entered into Tuesday’s game with only one loss in the month of October.
Agnes Irwin took an early lead when Margo Chisholm found the back of the cage less than two minutes into the game. She notched another goal about 10 minutes later.
Lily Hark, a sophomore goalie who earned her 100th care save in the first quarter, came up big to help the Owls shut out the Blue Devils 2-0 in the first 30 minutes of play, after Springside Chestnut Hill had five penalty corner attempts each quarter of the first half.
AGNES IRWIN GOALIE LILY HARK TALKS ABOUT WIN AND ACHIEVING HER 100TH SAVE.
But Hark remained unfazed in the face of each attempt, making key saves and relying on the defenders in front of her.
In her ninth year of field hockey, Hark said her poise in the cage comes with her experience as well as the trust she has in her teammates.
“It really comes over time, like being put through these types of situations, like over and over and like knowing that, like, if I were to do something wrong, like my defenders will be there for me,” Hark said. “I'm not afraid to make mistakes, so that pushes me to try out things I haven't done before.”
Hark and the Owls continued to hold the Blue Devils out of the third quarter, while Agnes Irwin drew its first two penalty corners. It was the first quarter without Springside Chestnut Hill being awarded a corner attempt.
The Blue Devils only had two penalty corners in the back thirty minutes of the game. Instead, it was the Owls who were on the receiving end of more calls, including a penalty stroke for Gabby Lee 30 seconds into the fourth quarter to put Agnes Irwin up 3-0.
The fourth quarter mirrored the first, with the Owls seeing another two-goal quarter, Lee’s and one from Lucy Jones with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game, to serve as the exclamation point on the victory.
Gerdes also noted the team received its new astro turf field yesterday, a high they were still riding going into today’s game.
Agnes Irwin vs. SCH Field Hockey Photos by Mia Messina for PSD
“I think that kind of came at a really good time in our season to bounce back from those games and then hopefully get some wins the rest of the season,” Gerdes said.
Agnes Irwin will face Lawrenceville School before returning to conference play with a matchup against Germantown Academy this Friday.
AROUND THE LEAGUE as of Tues. 10/14
Episcopal Academy also had a conference matchup on Tuesday with a 4-0 win against Germantown Academy.
Rebecca Block netted three goals and one assist to help Episcopal improve to 13-2 overall and 5-2 in conference play while Germantown falls to 0-7 in the Inter-Ac and 5-10 overall.
Episcopal’s only two losses on the season both came at the hands of Notre Dame Academy, the top team in the country according to Max Field Hockey. The Irish are 15-1 overall and undefeated in the conference, going 6-0. Notre Dame last played on Oct. 10 with a 3-1 win over Episcopal and will face Penn Charter on Wednesday.
Penn Charter notched a 1-0 win over Merion Mercy Academy on Oct. 10 to get back to .500 on the season, with a 5-5 record overall and a 1-4 record in conference play.
They remain fifth overall in the Inter-Ac.
Springside Chestnut Hill will play next on Oct. 18 when they face neighboring riva