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Unionville blanked in semis

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

By RYAN BRIGHT, Special to the Local News

WEST GOSHEN - There is something to be said for good goaltending in the postseason.

Despite dominating play in the second and third periods, Unionville was stifled by the clutch goaltending of Haverford backstop Chelsea Polidoro, who earned the shutout in her team's 3-0 victory over the Indians in the Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League Girls semifinals Tuesday at Ice Line.

"Sometimes you got it and sometimes you don't," said Unionville coach Fred Henjes, whose team has tasted defeat just twice this season. "We've had it for most of the season but we allowed the other team to take the play to us in the first period and score a couple quick goals. But we rebounded and played hard. I'm proud of the girls."

Although the Indians (15-2-1) won't contend for the league championship, Unionville was one of four teams invited to the 2010 Girls Flyers Cup, where it will face No. 4 Conestoga, Wednesday, March 17 at Ice Line. Unionville holds the top seed.

"We have 11 freshmen, two sophomores, three juniors and one senior," said Henjes. "We have a young team and we like our chances in the Flyers Cup."

The win by the Fords (14-3-1) advances them to their first ever ICSHL championship game on Thursday, 7:00 at Ice Line. There they will face the winner of Lansdale Catholic/West Chester East.

"Tonight just showed that (the players) are ready for anything," said Haverford coach Kelly Winther. "They're ready to take the championship."

With its back against the wall and season on the line, Haverford entered the contest like it was shot out of a cannon. With smooth skating defensemen Kaitlyn Smith, Olivia Martin and Alicia Potts, the Fords kept Unionville pinned in its own end by keeping the Indians from successfully moving through the neutral zone.

At 7:38 of the opening period, Unionville cracked under the pressure. With a scrum in front of the net, Potts, through a maze of bodies, tipped in a loose puck from the top of the crease to give the Fords the 1-0 advantage.

A little over four minutes later, Potts struck again. Using her speed, she pick the pocket of a Unionville defender in her own zone and went in alone on Katharine Rogers (11 saves). Potts waited for Rogers to make the first move then lifted a wrist shot high and in for the 2-0 lead.

"They knew coming in that this was it, do-or-die," said Winther of her squad. "They had to play to win and they showed up to play."

The 2-0 cushion was a relief for Polidoro, who finished with 20 saves.

"After the second goal, I had a good feeling that we could come out with the win," she said. "We don't score a lot of goals. Also, our defense played well and that helped a lot."

It wasn't until Gabriella Falcone made it 3-0 Fords at 13:13 of the second period that the Indians woke up. Unionville, led by Annabeth Donovan and Molly Topp, began peppering Polidoro and turning momentum in the Indians' favor. Wearing down the Haverford defense, the Indians nailed the crossbar on two separate occasions and Polidoro made glove save after glove save to keep Unionville scoreless through two periods.

"We had trouble putting the puck in the net," said Henjes. "Their goalie was very good and we also hit a couple cross bars that didn't help. If we were fortunate enough to score a goal earlier, it would have been a different game."

Early in the third, the Indians earned a two-man advantage, but were still unable to get on the board.

"We started out slow and when we finally woke up, it was too late to come back," said Donovan. "Now we just have to concentrate on the Flyers Cup."

Unionville's Lillian Henjes took the loss in stride, accentuating the positive side of losing prior to the Flyers Cup.

"It's a learning experience for us," the freshman maturely pointed out. "We need to learn what it feels like to lose and we need to improve on our mistakes."

Haverford 3, Unionville 0

Unionville 0 0 0—0

Haverford 2 1 0—3

Haverford goals: Potts 2, Falcone.

Goalie saves: Rogers (UN) 11; Polidoro (HH) 20.

Via Daily Local News