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Schools

Panthers Lose Heartbreaker in Group 2 Finals

After a historic centennial season, Camden Catholic defeated Collingswood 3-2 in penalty strokes to earn the Group 2 field hockey title.

A historic season for the Collingswood High School field hockey team ended in the most devastating of fashion: penalty strokes.

Eighty minutes of hockey was not enough to determine a winner between No. 1 Collingswood and No. 3 Camden Catholic in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 2 finals, so the game was reduced to goalie vs. shooter.

The Irish came through with one more goal than the Panthers in the shootout, earning their second-straight South Jersey title with a 2-2 (3-2) victory.

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Camden Catholic will take on Bishop Eustace in the state semifinals on Friday.

“It hurts,” said Collingswood head coach Valerie Dayton said. “We got to this game last year in Central Jersey against the same team and played a much different game (Camden Catholic won 4-0).

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"I am much happier with our performance this time around, but it’s devastating. It’s heartbreaking for them. They worked hard and they wanted this. In their eyes it was their time to get it.”

Tarra Vittese, Alyssa Olenick and Marissa Moreno each scored for the Irish in the shootout, while goalie Isabella Dolente made three saves. Shauna Lamaina and Ashley Walters scored for the Panthers, who rebounded from missing their first two attempts to draw within 3-2 entering the final stroke.

Ellie O’Neill stepped up and sent a shot toward the corner of the cage, but Dolente dove to her right and pushed the shit wide, sparking a celebration for Camden Catholic.

“Honestly, it was a must, I had to do it,” said Dolente. “It came down to me doing it for my team. I looked at the ball, I looked at her eyes. She was going right; I knew it. I went there and I made the save.”

“Give it up to Collingswood; they played awesome,” said Camden Catholic coach Maureen Nelson.

"They came out ready to go and it was a nail-biter all the way to the end. It was a great game of hockey all the way around.”

Collingswood looked like a team ready to take the title when Walters scored off a rebound with 1:55 left in regulation to put the Panthers up 2-1.

The lead would last just 26 seconds though, as Camden Catholic was awarded a penalty stroke. A shot hit a Panther defender on the ground in front of the cage. In a sign of things to come, Vittese stepped up and calmly fired a shot into the cage to tie the game.

Both teams had plenty of opportunities in extra time with the game reduced, by rule, to 7 on 7. Camden Catholic had four straight corners to open the first 10-minute, sudden death session, but couldn’t put a shot on target. Collingswood had a couple of good looks late in the second overtime, but also came up empty.

“I thought my kids did a great job today,” said Dayton. “They came out to play. All season long we talked about not settling, and they didn’t settle. Camden Catholic went up a goal and we could have right then just cashed it in, but they didn’t. They came right back and took the lead.

"We made a mistake and paid for it, we played to the very end," she said. "It came down to the last stroke and you can’t ask for more than that.”

Collingswood controlled play for much of the first half, but was unable to produce a goal. Melissa Cunningham sent a shot past Dolente off a corner with 15 minutes left, but the goal was waved off because the shot came from outside the circle and did not touch anyone.

Kelli Connolly gave Camden Catholic a 1-0 lead with 22:56 left in the first, capping of a series of six consecutive corners for the Irish. Collingswood
came back to tie the game when Emily Madden fired home a rebound on a long hit from Melissa Cunningham.

“I think we controlled a good part of the game,” Dayton said. “The first half, we had so many opportunities, and unfortunately, we didn’t finish. In a big game like this, you have to stick it in when you have the chance.”

When all was said and done, one team left feeling the greatest of highs, while the other was left knowing a great season has come to an end.

“I think the girls are really excited and they wanted to show up and do well,” said Nelson. “They will realize later there is a lot of success behind that.”

To see our gallery of photos from the game, click here.

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