It was the first of three potential meetings this season, an exhausting thought considering what O’Connell and St. John’s went through.
There was the rare double red card in the second half that left both teams a player down. There were more than a few head-scratching decisions from the referee and linesmen that left both teams in a sour mood. And there was the chaotic final minutes when the Cadets relentlessly attacked to try and secure the tying goal.
In the end, No. 2 O’Connell had just enough to hold on for a dramatic 2-1 win over top-ranked St. John’s in a Washington Catholic Athletic Conference match in Arlington.
“They play a physical game and we tried not to let that get to us,” said O’Connell senior midfielder Kika Toulouse, who scored the opening goal in the first half after volleying a chipped pass from teammate Liz Carroll from 18 yards out. “But things got out of control in the second half. We were doing everything we could to hold on.”
O’Connell junior defender Brandi Lacoe and St. John’s junior Brittney Patterson were both red carded early in the second half after colliding on the Knights’ offensive side of the field, much to the chagrin of the Cadets’ bench, which howled in protest.
“So we ended up going with just three defenders and then just two at the end and that put our kids into the mindset that they were going to dominate the rest of the game,” said St. John’s coach Manny Villafana.
St. John’s certainly had more possession from that point. But O’Connell’s young defense was up to the task, time and again clearing balls out of danger. Senior keeper Aly Pont made three key saves for the Knights in the final four minutes.
Knights time
» St. John’s played without leadinggoal scorer Tiffany McCarty, a junior forward who is in Carson, Calif., this week training with the United States Under-17 national team.
» O’Connell improved to 11-1 with the victory. St. John’s is now 10-2. Both teams lost to Pennington (N.J.) in a tournament at McDonough (Balt.) earlier this month.
» St. John’s junior Zenia Barnum tied the game at 1 with her goal in the first half. O’Connell took the lead back when junior F Brook Chang finished a ball from senior teammate Liz Carroll four minutes into the second half.
