Magnificat celebrates its tough victory in soccer (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

A magnificent week for Magnificat
By Matt Pawlikowski
Sports
Published Oct. 31, 2007

Prior to the start of the season, the Magnificat coaches had a slogan for this year: “From good to great.” To say that Magnificat has had a great year in sports would be an understatement.

A better term would be “super.”

After watching its tennis team take home the state team title on Sunday, three other teams continued their excellence as the cross country squad won the regional title at Boardman; the volleyball team took home the district title with a win over North Royalton; and, not to be overlooked, the girls soccer team won a district title on Saturday. 

“It’s been a very exciting week for Magnificat,” said soccer coach Katie Eckelman. “I think it speaks a lot about the excellence that is present at the school, and the type of student athletes that we have.”

Leading the way was the cross country team, which won its first regional title in over 10 years at Boardman on Saturday. The Blue Streaks squeaked by Massillon Jackson by two points for the win to earn their fifth trip in a row to the state cross country championships.

“I really am excited,” said Magnificat coach Anjanette Arabian. “The girls are very ecstatic about it. They were hugging each other, and so it’s just great.”

As usual, Maddie Chambers led the team with her third place finish and time of 19:13, but the key to Magnificat’s win was the ability of the second through seventh runners, who had a total team split of 28 seconds and made the difference in the team score for the win. They looked like a blob of blue on the course.

“Maddie is young, and is such as good runner,’’ said Arabian. “But she knows it’s not about Maddie. It’s about the team, and they work hard together, which really showed.”

Kat Stultz (20:10) and Kathyrn McHenry (20:19) were the next two finishers at 20th and 23rd respectively, but not far behind in a surprise was Mary Whitmore, who ran her best race of the year to take home 28th with a 20:27. She was followed closely by Abby Fisher (30th), who also had the same time, and Clare Fisher, who was 34th overall with a 20:30.

While the cross country team with its regional title, has a chance to win the state title next week, Eckelman’s soccer program, along with the volleyball team, also brought great pride to the school, and now begin their quests for a shot at Columbus, as they are part of the state’s sweet sixteen.

In just her second year as coach, Eckelman’s program won its first district title in recent memory, as they downed Westlake 2-1 in an exciting shootout. Meghan Blake’s two goals were the difference in the game.

Still, it took a total team effort and a little pep talk at half, not to mention some smart coaching moves in the second half, to propel the team to victory.

“I felt we were the better team in the game but just weren’t able to put things away in the first half, which has been a problem all year for us,” said Eckelman. “I think we learned from the North Olmsted semifinal game, but this was exciting for us. One of our seniors who were injured gave a great motivating talk at halftime. It got everyone fired up.”

Although that talk seemed to motivate the team, it was two moves by Eckelman, one in the regulation, and one in the shootout that enabled Magnificat (11-5-3) to move on to the sweet 16.

The first came when Eckelman moved sweeper Clare Drehar to the forward position.

“Having her there helped motivate the team,” said Eckelman. “Normally I keep here back there, because I count on here for defense, which I feel wins games. But I put her up top, and she created havoc for the team.”

The final move came in overtime, when she chose to have her team kick second. The Demons missed on one of its five shots, and the Blue Streaks converted all five shots, as Blake, Meaghan Hennessey, Jacqueline Blades, Nicole Luke and Kelly McCartney each scored.

Westlake, which finishes its season at 14-3-3, completely dominated the first half, and got its only goal of the game when Lauren Acker scored. But once Drehor was moved, it seemed the Blue Streak defense tightened up.

Mags’ soccer team plays tonight at Bay High’s fields, when they play Strongsville, which is the same time the volleyball team, who also won the district title plays Bowling Green.

Led by Michelle Matia and Kristen Dubruy, the Blue Streaks have posted an impressive 21-4 slate. They have now won 18 district titles in a row, and are looking for their first regional championship since 1994.

”North Royalton is a very good team, I just think our defense is playing very well now,” said coach Michael Cannon. “To our girls it’s as if they are playing for respect. They respect their opponents, but want people to respect them. The school is on a roll right now. I think it’s a crossover of the fact that all the girls here support one another.”