Ladue Gains 1-0 Strokes Play Win over University City

The rivalry in field hockey between University City and Ladue is so fierce, you could divide the schools with a steak knife.

Last year’s match went to strokes and so too did this year’s showdown on the well-worn turf of the host Lions.

In sudden death overtime and with stroke play, Ladue kept its streak alive with a 1-0 victory. The Rams sit atop the Suburban Conference with a perfect 8-0 record. Barb Dwyer’s stickers have won nine of their last ten games, including five in a row with only a 2-0 loss to mighty Cor Jesu in the streak.

The game was marked by a very fast pace, missed scoring opportunities and brilliant goalkeeping by Ladue’s Bea Dageforde and U. City’s Ellie McCray.

Record keeping before overtime put Dageforde stopping 7 shots in the game and 15 stops for McCrary. Often McCray strayed out of nets to tempt the Ladue attackers.

Marisa Shepard, U. City’s coach recalled last year’s showdown vividly. “last year we beat them. When we play Ladue, clearly, it is always a battle.” Going on, “I told the girls we needed to come out and give 100 percent effort from the very start of the game. We could not afford to wait around to get into our groove.”

The Lions didn’t do that. They were attacking, but not scoring from the get-go.

Both coaches acknowledged the high level of play by their teams.

Barb Dwyer was resolute in victory.”I don’t like to win that way going into stroke play.” She blamed the performance partly on the poor condition of the field. Large patches of dirt populated the field which seems to have lacked maintenace for years.

Shepard on the other hand had praise especially for her goalkeeper. “Ellie (McCray) worked extremely hard today. We were bummed out to lose in strokes, especially with the great play of our goalkeeper.”

In strokes, Courtney Emert scored the first goal for Ladue. She put the ball low and to the right of the keeper. U. City failed to score on their first four attempts. Dageforde stopped everything in her wake.

Ladue’s star Elana Gresick sealed the deal for the Rams, pounding in what seemed like a near-effortless shot past the keeper. “They (U. City) beat us in strokes last year. We were determined to win it this time,” said Gresick

Ladue has a showdown with second-place Lafayette on their turf Monday at 4 o’clock. University City is set to play Marquette on the road Oct. 13. The Lions fell to 11-4 (9-2) in conference on the season.