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SPC Champs- Girls' Soccer Follows the Leaders
SPC Saturday was a banner day for the St. John's Mavericks. Wrestling won their sixth title in the last seven years. Girls' Swimming won their second consecutive championship, and Girls' Soccer won their first ever SPC Championship.
Girls’ Soccer, rested from their bye on Thursday, cruised by Houston Christian 8-0 to advance to the semifinals against ESD in the 6:00 pm Friday night game. The Mavericks faced a strong Eagles squad and in the first half a 20 mph north wind. St. John’s went up 1-0 early in the first frame on a goal by Katina Christensen ’21 only for ESD to hit the equalizer midway in the period to end the half knotted up at 1 apiece. In the second half, playing with the wind, the Mavericks put the pressure on the Eagles but came up empty on the scoreboard. St. John’s also lost a player to two yellow cards. The game would go to two 10-minute overtime periods and finally to eight sets of pks before the Mavericks would prevail on the final pk by Stephanie Sarkar ’19.
“We train for pk’s,” said Head Coach Susan Quill ’99. “We go through our order and we know what to do.”
“I was nervous and I went to a different corner and it somehow worked, said Sarkar.” I’m so excited to get to go to the championship.”
“This win was very emotional,” said Lilah Gaber ’19. “We have been on this team for four years. Last year was the first year we made it to the championship and we wanted to get back there.”
Last season St. John’s defeated ESD to put the Mavericks in the championship game for the first time ever. With their grit and determination, they found a way to get back to the title game a year later.
“It means the world to this team to get this opportunity,” said Camila Sabisky ’19.
St. John’s faced North Zone #1 seed Hockaday in the SPC Championship game. The first half featured two close misses by the Mavericks that ricocheted off the goal posts, but no team could put it in the net. At the 33 minute mark in the second half, Carter Hollingsworth ’21 was in the right place at the right time to convert for the first and only score of the game.
“I picked my head up and had an open shot and took it,” said Hollingsworth about her goal that proved to be the game winner. “Hockaday is a really great team, technically and physically. Playing them in the championship was a privilege.”
“Hockaday was a really good team and we wanted it more, said Sarkar.
“This was our last game and we wanted to win for Coach Quill who made a big difference in this program,” said Gaber.
After going up 1-0, St. John’s continued to battle for possessions and scoring chances, while Hockaday did the same. Nevertheless, the Daisies could not convert on several scoring chances inside the box.
“It’s amazing to know that a younger group of girls can look up to us and say that’s what they want to do,” said Sabisky reflecting on being the first St. John’s Girls’ Soccer team to win an SPC championship.
"We had some momentum in last night’s win and these girls were on a mission," said Quill. "On Thursday I took the team into the gym and we discussed the fact that the only missing championship banner is for Girls’ Soccer. They were determined to represent their school and put soccer on the map at St. John’s.”
Like Wrestling did in 2013, and Girls’ & Boys’ Swimming did in 2018, the Girls’ Soccer team put their sport on the map and on a fresh banner to be seen by generations to come.
Sam Chambers- Athletic News
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2019 Girls' Soccer & Wrestling SPC Champions
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