More than just a win, it marked the end of an era.
When Washington (D.C.) Georgetown Visitation School's Ana Hagerup slipped through a tight defensive front and scored with eight seconds remaining in overtime of her squad's game against Alexandria (Va.) St. Stephen's/St. Agnes, Hagerup clinched a win which could prove to shift the longstanding balance of power in the Independent School League. The victory was an important one for Visitation, which improved to 11-1 and 2-0 in the ISL's AA classification, but it marked something even more significant for St. Stephens/St. Agnes: According to the Washington Post, it was the team's first league loss since 1995.
That's right, an overtime setback on Tuesday marked the first league loss in 17 years for a tiny, all-girls school. That's an incredible credit to St. Stephen's/St. Agnes, and to the program which finally built up enough gumption to knock the the Saints off, particularly after falling to the league rival in each of the past two ISL AA tournament championships.
"I wanted to win it so bad," Hagerup told the Post of her game-winning shot. "I ripped it as hard as I could and it went in."
It's often said that champions don't go down easy, and that was certainly the case for St. Stephens/St. Agnes. The Saints appeared doomed to a regulation loss when trailing the Cubs by a whopping four goals with less than three minutes remaining, but SS/SA responded with a shocking four-goal run that spanned just 1:39, capped by a game-tying goal from Michele Phillips with 59 seconds remaining.
For once, that wasn't enough, and neither was a narrow, 11-10 lead gained in the first overtime period, as the Cubs rallied with a turnover and goal and a win on the subsequent face off, all of which set up Hagerup's streak-ending goal.
"We didn't let the name on their jersey scare us," said senior Mary Grace Mooney, who had three goals and two assists. "We knew this was going to come down to the mental game, and we were more mentally prepared than we've ever been."
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