Only one person stood between No. 3 Centennial and its first trip to the state field hockey final -- Leonardtown keeper Katie Jackson.
Under constant pressure for the last 16 minutes of the game, Jackson made several spectacular saves to preserve a 1-0 win for her Raiders (14-0-1) in a state Class 3A semifinal yesterday at Goucher College.
nTC "We did everything we could to get a goal," said Eagles midfielder Liz Sturm. "That goalie was incredible. Without a doubt, she won the game for them. The whole second half we were down there, corner after corner."
The Eagles (14-1) had 10 penalty corners and outshot the Raiders 10-2 in the second half, but it was Jackson's show.
As Centennial began its barrage, Jackson made a terrific split save on the edge of the cage to deny Allison Altscher. Emily Ward caught the rebound and fired just beyond the far post.
With eight minutes to go, Jackson dove to hold off Ward. But her most dramatic effort came in the final 30 seconds when Ward fired another bullet headed just inside the post. Jackson dove to deflect the ball away with her stick.
"When you're the goalie, the ball gets about this big," said Jackson spreading her hands to the size of a basketball, "and that's all you see. It's second nature to me to go down to stop it."
Ward, a breakaway artist with 17 goals, took seven strong shots in the half. Jackson, who recorded her 11th shutout, stopped five.
"She is the toughest offensive player we've been against," said
Leonardtown coach Denise Shaw.
The Raiders marked Ward, but their defense could not contain her. Only the slow field stopped the Eagles from getting the jump on Leonardtown in the first half.
Leonardtown dominated early and Kerri Duke scored her 32nd goal of the season with 16:31 to go before halftime. Andrea Long crossed the ball to her with Eagles keeper Becca Armiger coming out to play it.
In addition to her four saves, Armiger upset the Raiders' offense at least three other times by coming out to aggressively play the ball in the circle.