Johnstown survives scare from Scotia-Glenville

October 25, 2008

By Bill Cain, The Leader-Herald

JOHNSTOWN - Visualize, then actualize.

That was the plan when Johnstown's Karly Vdoviak took a shot from a near-impossible angle that found a way into the cage for a win in double overtime Friday.



"We have this thing with visualizing," Vdoviak said. "If you can visualize and see it happening, it usually happens. Swear to God, it works. It's not the first time. I just slowed my feet down and scooped it in."

The goal came with just 2:58 left in the second 10-minute overtime to lift the Lady Bills to a 2-1 Section II Class B tournament win over seventh-seeded Scotia-Glenville. That's 2:58 from penalty strokes, where anything can happen. It's 2:58 from penalty strokes against a tough Lady Tartan goalie, Arika Adams.

Johnstown coach Quinn Swartwout said she knew Scotia would be a challenge for the No. 2 Lady Bills, primarily because of Adams, who they have faced twice in Foothills Council play.

"We just played them recently at Scotia and it was a 1-0 game," Swartwout said. "Their goalie gets better and better every game. I knew it was going to be tough and I tried to warn the girls. I think the girls understood that, but just didn't know how tough Scotia was going to be."

Adams turned away 13 Johnstown shots as the Lady Bills outshot Scotia 17-9. Johnstown's Adele Friello made seven saves.

Adams and her defense had to face 24 Johnstown penalty corners, while Scotia mustered four.

"The defense was solid," Scotia coach Sue Davenport said. "This is my sophomore defense that came up and are seniors now. They turned this program around and have been solid for three years."

Johnstown's first goal came on its sixth penalty corner of the game and the first taken from the left side of the cage. The first five had started on the right side, but each had been turned away.

This time, the ball came to Sarah Muzzi, who passed to Kendra Cooper for the shot. Cooper flipped the ball up into the netting for a 1-0 lead with 15:45 left to play in the first half.



The Lady Tartans evened the score with 10:39 left in the half when Grace Cavoli took a shot from 25 yards out. The ball was skipping along low to the turf when Erin Connelly put her stick on it just in front of the cage to flip it up and in for the score.

Scotia outshot the Lady Bills in the second half, 5-4, but was unable to capitalize on its offensive opportunities. Swartwout said the Johnstown defense came up big in the first-round game.

"Gretchen Derwin, Adele and our defense really saved us today," she said. "They have this saying that offense wins games and defense wins championships. Even though today wasn't a championship, Scotia played like it was and our defense kept us in it and saved us a lot of times."

Swartwout said she was frustrated by the offense at times, as they were able to move the ball into scoring position, but were so often unable to finish.

"We might have had the jitters," she said. "It's stuff we practice. Sometimes when they're playing, I really don't know what's going on with them. They just weren't connecting and they weren't finding the back of the cage. It was just that final finish."

With Friday's game, the two teams have played three times this season with Johnstown emerging victorious each time.

Davenport said having the regular-season experience against Johnstown helped her team prepare for the Lady Bills and prepare for the turf at Knox Field.

"We were fortunate enough to get seeded with someone we know," she said. "And we know the turf. The first time we were up here, we had a lot of problems with the lines and were very confused with all the lines on the field. This time, we got here early and inspected all the lines on the field."

In the two overtime periods, the Lady Bills outshot Scotia 7-0. One of those shots came when Vdoviak took possession of the ball and carried it 60 yards against two retreating defenders before putting a shot on goal that was saved by Adams.

Swartwout said she felt confident heading into overtime, but wanted to win in regulation.

"I thought we had it under control in overtime, but it never should have gotten to that point," she said. "We set goals for every game and we accomplished some of them, and we didn't accomplish some of them."

Heading into the first extra session, Vdoviak said, the girls talked about stepping up their play.

"Basically, we had to pick it up," she said. "We weren't going to lose to the No. 7 seed on our own field with all these people here."

Johnstown (13-5 overall) advanced to Wednesday's semifinal game, when they will host No. 6 Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake at 2:30 p.m. The Spartans topped No. 3 Ichabod Crane in penalty strokes Friday.

Scotia finished the season with a record of 6-10, but pushed the No. 2 seed from the section to double overtime before losing on a tough shot. Davenport said her players had no reason to hang their heads walking off the field.

"It's a respectable loss," she said. "I'm so proud of them today. They wanted this so bad. They fought. This has been the best season for us."

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