St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes junior goalie Lauren Thomas felt a twinge of nervousness and just as quickly blocked it out. She could not hear the screams from the sidelines because her entire focus was on helping the Saints avoid a crushing upset loss. For a few moments, all outside influences were swept from her mind.
Time and again in the second half Thomas was there when Independent Schools League rival Holton-Arms threatened to take the lead. She deflected point-blank attempts and stopped several free position penalty shots as St. Stephen’s escaped with a 5-4 overtime victory at home.
“Lauren saved us,” said senior midfielder Carter Foote (Vanderbilt), who scored the go-ahead goal with 34 seconds left in the first overtime period and then won a crucial draw control to keep possession for the Saints (7-0, 1-0 ISL)
Thomas finished with 11 saves, including five in the final 5 minutes, 40 seconds of regulation. Three of those stops were on free position chances, dead-ball situations where the offensive player stands a few yards in front of the cage with no defenders in front of her.
“I just couldn’t let them score there and then feel like it was my fault we lost the game,” Thomas said. “I didn’t want to think about anything else.”
Holton-Arms (4-3, 1-2) led for most of the first half, playing a possession game and taking advantage of its scoring chances. Two quick goals by St. Stephen’s junior attack Katherine Denkler turned a 3-2 Panthers’ lead into a 4-3 deficit. But junior attack Erin Clare Cassidy slipped a shot past Thomas with 12 minutes left to tie the game at 4.
“It hurts anytime you lose, but we’re still taking so much away from this game,” said Holton-Arms senior goalie Jocelyn Keshisan. “Because it’s almost never this close when we play St. Stephen’s. We have to be happy with how we played.”
Saintly effort
» St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes has won 11 straight Independent Schools League championships.
» Holton-Arms senior goalie Jocelyn Keshisan was every bit as good as St. Stephen’s goalie Lauren Thomas. Keshisan finished with a game-high 12 saves and is the first goalie to hold the Saints under 12 goals this season. St. Stephen’s entered the game averaging 15.5 goals per game.
» Holton-Arms junior attack Catherine Colliatie led all scorers with three goals.
