Echo Women in Sport award: Triple delight for Scoil Mhuire hockey stars

Three major titles in three weeks is a huge achievement for any team.

That’s what the Scoil Mhuire senior hockey team did recently as they won the Munster Cup and league double in the space of a week. They then followed that up by winning the Daphne Hall All-Ireland Cup to make the month of March a great one for all involved.

For leading them to the three major wins, their co-captains Amy Noonan and Sofie Moloney, are the winners of The Echo Women in Sport award for March.

Both played their part in their triumphs, with Sofie also being named player of the game in the Daphne Hall final.

Amy scored two of the goals in the Munster Cup win over Crescent College, the same side they beat a week later to complete the domestic double as they added the league title to their trophy cabinet.

Speaking about their Munster campaign, Amy said: “In the quarter final we played St Angela's, and it was a tough game. We won two-nil in the end, but we made it tough on ourselves.

“We then played Mount Mercy in the semi-final and won 3-2. Again, it was a tough game, so we knew going into the final that we had a hard campaign to get there.

When you look at our results versus Crescent's results before we got there, we had tougher battles to get to the final.

“Mount Mercy was a real battle, and we had a very hard game against them in the league semi-final as well. That went to shuttles, and they were probably our top rival for the year.

“So, we were well prepared for the final against Crescent, which we knew was never going to be an easy game. On the day, we seemed to have a lot more supporters than them, which I think really did make a big difference because our supporters were so loud and they were backing us the whole way.

“And we had the support from the entire school, so it was really powerful behind us. Once we got going out, we couldn't be stopped, and I think our second goal killed off their challenge.”

They won 4-1, with two from Amy, along with goals from Rebecca O’Connell and Emma McAuliffe.

They followed that up by beating Crescent again in the league decider, this time at their home pitch in Limerick.

Lilymay Kelleher and Katie Burke scored for Scoil Mhuire in a 2-0 win.

“You don't usually go up to Limerick and come away with a victory, so we were happy with it to win the double,” added Amy.

Following on from those two wins, they had to quickly turn their attentions to the All-Ireland series, travelling to Armagh for the two-day tournament.

On Thursday, they had two good wins before losing out to Wesley College on Friday morning.

Despite the loss, they still reached the Daphne Hall Cup final and had only a few hours to put that loss behind them and get themselves ready to face Holy Child Killiney.

“On Thursday, we had played two games, so we were tired, but we had played really well,” said Sofie, “I personally think we played the best hockey as a team we ever played that day.

“It was a really nice way to go into the second day. Then on the Friday morning, we unfortunately lost to Wesley.

“So we had to switch it around then for the Daphne Hall final, and I think it was just kind of like talking about what we did well during that match, but then what we could have improved on.

I think we really focused on the things we could improve on from the Wesley game and brought that into the final.

“I think as a team we knew Holy Child Killiney were a good team, but we just said we're not coming away with a loss here.

“For a lot of us, this was going to be our last hockey game for the school, so we were doing it for each other, for our coaches, and for the work we've put in for the whole year.

“So yeah, we were delighted to come away with the win.”

ON TARGET

Scoil Mhuire won 3-2 in the end, with Lilymay Kelleher, Katie Burke, and Ada Ryan on target for the Cork school.

But the score line flatters Holy Child, with both their goals coming in the last two minutes, the second as the full-time hooter went, and when they had taken their keeper off and had an extra outfield player.

“Katie scored an amazing drag flick for our third goal. But our first two goals, I think, were won by the whole team,” added Sofie.

“We worked around the Holy Child back line, and they were technical goals, so it was great to end the day on a high and win the cup.”

For now, both players attentions with turn to their Leaving Cert in the coming weeks, with plans to head to college after that.

Sofie is hoping to do either medicine or science at UCC, and if she applies the same level of dedication to her studies as her hockey, then the points will be in the back of the net for her.

Amy has already got her third-level education sorted as she will be heading to Philadelphia to study at St Joseph’s, to also pursue her hockey career, and where she hopes to study science.

A bright future ahead for two young hockey stars, who are sure to be major players for their clubs in the coming years.