^{Preview Play-by-play Recap}

Preview

Semifinal #1: Fenwick (24-8) vs Mother McAuley (18-14)

Game Time: 9:00am; Saturday, May 21

Coaches: Fenwick - Jack Wagner (16th year) / McAuley-Vanessa Carroll (2nd year)

How They Got Here: Fenwick beat H-F 10-7 in the quarterfinals. McAuley beat Fremd 3-2 in the quarterfinals.

Previous 2011 Meetings: Fenwick leads 2-0. Fenwick beat McAuley 10-8 on 3/16 and 12-8 on 5/7.

Current Rankings: Fenwick - #5 / McAuley - #7

Top Performers: Fenwick (Annie Collins - 51 goals) / McAuley (Vicky Arciniega - 54 goals)

The Goalies: Fenwick (Mackenzie Bonk) / McAuley (Sarah Abbott)

Talking points: The Friars' have had McAuley's number this year, winning both encounters at the front and back end of the regular season. Still, the Mighty Macs defensive effort against Fremd should give the Fenwick offense cause for concern, as they allowed just two goals in a 3-2 win over the Vikings on Thursday. On the other side, it's nearly impossible to try and pick a certain player to contain from Fenwick's wide array of offensive options, so McAuley is going to have to try and figure out how to stop the balanced attack of the Friars.

Ultimately, these two teams have a long history of close encounters at state, so I imagine we will get a sense of how things will play out in the early stages of this semifinal contest at 9:00am on Saturday morning.

Other Players to Watch: 

Fenwick (Alexa Ovalle, Cara Borkovec, Colleen Barron, Gena Wendt, Haley Wickham, Maggie Carey, Maureen Barron)

McAuley (Amy Kopale, Adriana Izquerido, Bria Nolan, Clare Bryar, Jackie Knightly, Kristen Kleist)