The two KVAC rivals are also battling for Class B South positioning. Coming into the contest, the Phoenix had the advantage, sitting in fourth position, with the Hornets right behind them in fifth.
Leavitt earned a 2-1 senior-day victory Thursday, and the key Heal points that came with it. Both teams are now 9-4 on the season.
“It’s always a close game between us and Spruce,” Leavitt coach Wanda Ward-MacLean said. “They are kind of our rivals. It doesn’t matter, anytime if it’s here or if we are there, it’s always a close game.”
Hornets goalkeeper Hailey DeMascio came up big, making seven saves, most of them coming in the first 10 minutes of the game. Spruce Mountain also had four penalty corner opportunities in that time frame.
“It definitely shakes off the nerves a little bit because at the beginning you are building up the nerves and it help a lot,” DeMascio said. “The only thing you can do to prepare (for a penalty corner) is to take a deep breath and step back. If you get too nervous, you are going to make a mistake.”
Phoenix coach Tanya Evans was happy with the amount of chances the team had in the first 10 minutes, but wished Spruce Mountain had more quality opportunities.
“We’ve been working on, you can’t go through the goalie, you have to go up over her,” Evans said. “They weren’t able to make that quick transition. So, it’s something we need to continue to work on.”
Leavitt changed the momentum around the 10-minute mark of the first half and had a few penalty corners of their own. They controlled the play for the next few minutes and forced the Phoenix to call a time out 14 minutes in.
The Hornets took advantage of the break — Bailey Derocher found the back of the net right after the timeout.
“We were overloading one side and leaving no one on the other side,” Ward-McLean said. “I said, ‘We need to stay spread out so when the ball comes across we have someone there to put it in.’ Lo and behold, it happened the next time the ball was in the circle. It came across, we had Bailey there and she put it in.”
Spruce Mountain had a golden opportunity at the end of the half after being awarded a penalty corner with no time remaining. Leavitt was able to clear the zone to go to the break with the 1-0 lead.
“We don’t practice that a lot because it doesn’t happen in the regular season very much,” Ward-McLean said. “There was a little confusion on how far we had to clear it. In overtime, you have to clear it outside the 25 (-yard line). In regulation, you just have to clear it out of the circle. They didn’t score, so it ended up okay.”
Kaitlyn Leclerc put the Hornets up 2-0 two minutes into the second half.
The Phoenix cut the deficit in half when Sadie Storer tipped home a shot off a penalty corner at the 5:43 mark.
Spruce Mountain had another key penalty corner with 75 seconds remaining and DeMascio stood tall again. Leavitt cleared the ball out of the circle and up the field.
nfournier@sunjournal.com
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