HS: Fall SIMA FAB 50, Sept. 29

by Sheldon Shealer

September 29, 2015

TOP STORY: The final minute of regulation pretty well summed up the wild swings of momentum in a classic girls soccer clash between SIMA FAB 50 No. 28 Immaculate Heart Academy (Township of Washington, N.J.) and No. 2 McDonogh School (Owings Mills, Md.) on Saturday.

With the score tied at 1, IHA was awarded a penalty kick in the closing minute. When all seemed lost for McDonogh, the shot went wide. Sensing new life, McDonogh went on the offensive and with the last kick of regulation a McDonogh player missed an open net for what would have been the winner for the Eagles.

Enter overtime.

And it did not take long, less than three minutes in fact, before McDonogh scored the most unlikely of goals from the most likely of players. Kathleen Gibbons' corner kick cleared its intended target and one-hoped into the mid-section of North Carolina recruit Bridgette Andrzejewski, who redirected the ball into the net for a 2-1 McDonogh victory.

"Honestly, that was a great game," said Andrzejewski, who scored both of McDonogh's goals. "That's a game we'll never forget."

The match lived up to the billing, although it lacked the high-profile appeal it carried in the preseason when both teams were coming off perfect seasons and a SIMA FAB 50 No. 1-2 finish in 2014. While McDonogh (4-0) is very much in the chase for a second straight national title, IHA lost two early matches to out-of-state opponents.

It was looking like loss No. 3 wasn't even going to be a contest.

McDonogh created scoring chance after scoring chance in the first half. Only the play of IHA sophomore keeper Kimberly Mains -- and one lucky bounce off a post -- kept IHA in the game with a 1-0 deficit at the break. Without Mains' play, the score easily could have been 3-0 or 4-0 at half.

After a halftime tweak, where IHA coach Brandon Silva decided to through numbers forward, momentum did an about-face. IHA started controling play and generating chances. IHA received a brillant goal from distance by captain Erin Spillane, who pegged the upper 90 on a rocket of a shot from 30 yards out to even the match at 1.

Spillane's goal set up the final minute of play where both teams watched a potential game-winning chances just miss the mark.

BIG MOVERS: BOYS: Arlington (LaGrangeville, N.Y.). Even after the retirement of a legendary coach a couple years ago, Arlington remains a major player in the New York high school scene. This week, the team vaults from No. 42 to No. 25 -- the biggest jump among teams ranked from last week. GIRLS: Seattle Prep (Seattle, Wash.). Behind a couple major-college recruits and powered by a perfect record, Seattle Prep made a 15-spot jump in this week's SIMA FAB 50, the second-largest movement among any of last week's ranked teams. Seattle Prep is at No. 27 this week and could crack the Top 25 next week.

NEWCOMERS: BOYS: No. 31 Detroit Catholic Central (Novi, Mich.), No. 32 Chaminade (Mineola, N.Y.), No. 37 Kearny (Kearny, N.J.), No. 38 Byram Hills (Armonk, N.Y.), No. 39 Christian Brothers College (St. Louis, Mo.), No. 40 Rockhurst Jesuit (Kansas City, Mo.), No. 42 St. Thomas Aquinas (Overland Park, Kan.), No. 43 Blue Valley Northwest (Overland Park, Kan.), No. 46 [University il-m] (Normal, Ill.), No. 47 Albuquerque Academy (Albuquerque, N.M.), No. 49 Solon (Solon, Ohio) and No. 50 Okemos (Okemos, Mich.). GIRLS: No. 37 La Cueva (Albuquerque, N.M.), No. 38 South Side (Rockville Centre, N.Y.), No. 44 Upper St. Clair (Pittsburgh, Pa.), No. 45 Zionsville (Zionsville, Ind.), No. 47 Central Catholic (Lawrence, Mass.), No. 48 Mercer Island (Mercer Island, Wash.) and No. 50 Shawnee (Medford, N.J.).