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Carroll tops O'Hara in Catholic final

Former teammates Kelly Dougherty and Jackie DePetris knew what it felt like to win a Catholic League field hockey championship for Archbishop Carroll.

Former teammates Kelly Dougherty and Jackie DePetris knew what it felt like to win a Catholic League field hockey championship for Archbishop Carroll.

But after the final whistle blew and the pair, now cocoaches, watched a team of resilient Patriots storm the field to take the title back once again, they said this one felt better.

Gaining payback for a loss to Cardinal O'Hara from earlier this season, Carroll beat the Lions, 3-2, for the title Thursday night, with support from an electric crowd at Neumann University.

"It's a better feeling as coaches," Dougherty said. "We told them to give it all or nothing, to leave it all on the field; we're the underdogs here, so let's come out on top, and we did."

Carroll took an early lead, as junior Grace McClatchy netted a rebound off the pads of O'Hara goalie Maureen Heneghan.

The 1-0 lead lasted through intermission, until McClatchy struck again, scoring off an assist from sophomore Sam Swart.

"It's just an awesome feeling knowing that everything we worked for this season happened tonight on this field," McClatchy said.

But the Lions proved resilient, scoring two goals within 18 seconds of each other to tie the game late in the second half. The goals came from senior captain and Catholic League MVP Jess Randazzo on a corner and from sophomore Hannah Nihill.

O'Hara wore blue ribbons with the initials "DA" in memory of Lions football coach Dan Algeo, who passed away during the summer.

"He was a really big supporter of our team," O'Hara coach Marie Murphy said. "It just felt great to be out here in honor of him. I think he'd be so proud of us."

Carroll senior captain Keara McNulty perfectly executed a corner, scoring the winner with exactly five minutes left off an assist from senior cocaptain Alyssa Lemons.

"Whenever we're not looking forward to a practice or don't want to do a sprint, this is what we work for," McNulty said. "We work for the last game, the last five minutes, and the final whistle. We have all the trust in the world in our team."

Archbishop Carroll 1 2 – 3

Cardinal O'Hara 0 2 – 2

Goals: AC-Grace McClatchy 2, Keara McNulty; CO-Jess Randazzo, Hannah Nihill.

Saves: AC-Kerri Mountz 2; CO-Maureen Heneghan 4.