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Carroll holds off Bonner-Prendie

Field hockey players from Archbishop Carroll swarmed around coach Kelly Dougherty after their win at Bonner-Prendergast and gushed as she lifted her smiling, 1-year-old niece.

Field hockey players from Archbishop Carroll swarmed around coach Kelly Dougherty after their win at Bonner-Prendergast and gushed as she lifted her smiling, 1-year-old niece.

"Maybe she's our good-luck charm," Dougherty said with a laugh. "We'll have to bring her to all of our games now."

The charm worked during a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon, as the Patriots edged the host Pandas, 2-1, in Catholic League play.

In its six preceding games, Bonner-Prendergast had fallen only to still-undefeated Episcopal Academy. Carroll players said the victory was a statement on where they stand among their league rivals.

"Prendie is very skilled," said senior center midfielder Keara McNulty, who scored the game's opening goal. "This win says a lot about our team. . . . We're coming together midway through the season, at the right time."

"We finally clicked today," senior left forward Grace Midgley said.

Neither team had a clear advantage in possession during the first half, as the defensive cores held strong through the opening minutes. During a timeout huddle, Dougherty and assistant coach Jackie DePetris laid out a clear task for their players: Finish and get the ball into the cage.

Minutes later, McNulty stepped up and fired the ball into a corner of the net to give the Patriots a 1-0 lead.

The game then reverted to a defensive showdown, as strong performances from Bonner-Prendergast's Maura Spellman, Olivia Keenan, and Casey Rafferty kept their team in the game.

But with nine minutes remaining in the second half, a ball bounced loose in front of the net, and Midgley knocked it in for an insurance goal the Patriots would end up needing.

With less than a minute left, a corner pass was sent to midfielder/defender Mary Anne Young, who fired a shot that was tipped in by forward Sierra Stretch to bring the Pandas within a goal of the Patriots.

Despite the last-minute effort from Bonner-Prendergast, Carroll held on to secure the victory.

"It was just too little too late," first-year Pandas coach Joanne Dolan said. "If we had another five minutes, I truly believe the game would have been a different outcome."

Archbishop Carroll 1 1 - 2

Bonner-Prendergast 0 1 - 1

Goals: AC-Keara McNulty, Grace Midgley; BP-Sierra Stretch.

Saves: AC-Kerri Mountz 7; BP-Maggie Baldini 14.