Eastern advances on last-second goal

The clock showed 0:00 when Kasey Morano saved the field hockey season for powerhouse Eastern on Saturday.

In an NJSIAA South Jersey Group 4 semifinal against visiting Washington Township, Morano, a freshman, tipped in a feed from senior defender Brittany Evangelisti to give the Vikings a 4-3 victory and a collective sigh of relief.

Eastern (22-0), the top seed, is scheduled to host third-seeded Clearview on Tuesday. Clearview coach Britney Ewan said she was encouraged by the way No. 5 Township (15-5) played against the Vikings.

"It feels awesome," Morano said about her timely contribution. "I was right in front of the goalie's pads. It [the feed] went a little to the left. I reached out and hit it in."

Evangelisti had gotten the ball on a corner insert by Cori Allen before spying Morano near the left post and slapping a perfect pass to her.

Township played tough. So tough, in fact, that the Minutemaids manufactured two leads, 2-0 in the first half and 3-2 in the second half, before a bizarre occurrence buoyed the Vikings' sinking ship.

On a penalty corner, Eastern fired a second shot that Township senior center back/forward Lindsey Hatch unintentionally blocked with her forehead. The clock stopped at 1 minute, 14 seconds because only a stick can legally block a shot; therefore, as Hatch lay on the goal line for more than 10 minutes, attended to by coaches and trainers, Eastern was awarded a penalty stroke.

Evangelisti paced the stroke line for what seemed an eternity until Hatch, with dried blood smeared on her left cheek, was assisted off the field.

When play resumed, Evangelisti fired low and to the left and the ball thudded against the backboard inside the cage, past goalkeeper Chelsea Holland for a 3-3 tie.

Evangelisti then coolly walked toward the net to retrieve the ball, showing no signs of nervousness that many of the younger Vikings had displayed throughout the game, according to Eastern coach Danyle Heilig.

That set the stage for Morano.

"We didn't come out at our best, but they gave it their all and it was good that we pulled it out in the end," said Evangelisti, whom Heilig calls one of the best players in the state.

Junior forward Keli Margiotta had given Township a 3-2 lead on a breakaway with 10:10 left in the game after Eastern sophomore midfielder Steph Byrne had tied the score.

Hatch, whom Township coach Jeannine O'Connor calls the best player on the team, had scored the first goal, unassisted, with 7:53 left in the first half. Teammate Erin Waller added another goal about three minutes later for a 2-0 lead. That margin was cut in half by sophomore midfielder Carly Celkos.

"I'm upset that we couldn't hang in there the last two minutes," said Margiotta, who finished the season with 23 goals. "We worked really hard as a team."

Statistically, Eastern steamrolled the Minutemaids with 30 shots and 27 corners, scoring off only two of them. Heilig called her team's corner productivity "atrocious."

Washington Township   2 1 – 3

Eastern   1 3 – 4

Goals: WT–Lindsey Hatch, Erin Waller, Keli Margiotta; E–Carly Celkos, Steph Byrne, Brittany Evangelisti, Kasey Morano.

Saves: WT–Chelsea Holland 13; E-Alana Barry 5.