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By Matt Chandik
TopLaxRecruits.com, Posted 7/8/13
TOWSON, Md. – She had already scored five times in the Under Armour Underclassmen Games final against Long Island, so when Baltimore’s Megan Whittle (McDonogh 2014/Maryland) got a free position in the game’s final minute, there was little doubt as to what she was going to do with it.
To everyone else, that is. Whittle had other ideas. She faked a shot and passed it to teammate Amanda Ignacio (Mount De Sales 2014/Georgetown), who tossed the ball in for the deciding goal as Baltimore upset favored Long Island, 11-10, for the championship. It marked the first time in the tournament’s history that Baltimore swept both the boys’ and girls’ titles.
Amanda Ignacio (game-winning goal, left) and Megan Whittle (MVP) helped lead Baltimore to the Under Armour Underclassmen Games championship
“I was thinking (pass),” said Whittle, who was named the tournament MVP after her five-goal, two-assist performance in the final. “Amanda Ignacio’s a great finisher. I’ve been playing with her since we were, like, eight, so we always know where each other are on the field.
“Throughout the tournament, we had been doing that where she ends up wide-open right in front of the goal on the free positions. I had complete confidence in her. Earlier in the game, she had one that gotten saved, but I knew she had it. I didn’t have to take it because she had it.”
Whittle might have known what she was going to do, but it was a surprise to Ignacio until the two made eye contact before the shot … and then it was time to start freaking out.
“I thought she was going to shoot. I didn’t think she was going to pass to me,” said Ignacio, who ended up with three goals and an assist. “But then we made eye contact across the field and I was, like, ‘Oh my God. She’s going to pass.’
“Then I was just, like, ‘just catch it and shoot,’ like I’ve been doing for years. (The chemistry) is awesome. She knows where I’m going to go. I know what she’s going to do. We know what each other’s doing.”
It was a stunning turn of events after Long Island had the ball late with the opportunity to go up a goal, but Molly Cobb (Notre Dame Prep 2014/Notre Dame) forced Long Island’s Kasey Behr (St. Anthony’s 2014/Virginia) to cough up the ball and Baltimore’s Hannah Warther (Century 2016) scooped up the ensuing ground ball to set up Ignacio’s and Whittle’s heroics.
After narrowly losing in the title game to D.C. last year, Long Island was a big favorite to win it all this time around, which made things extra sweet for Baltimore.
“It feels really good to even be in the championship with Long Island,” Whittle said. “We feel like we’re really representing Baltimore and with us being the hometown, we had the chip on our shoulder to come out and win and protect it.
“We knew they were a really strong team. They had been crushing teams in pool play and we had heard all the stories about them. … We knew what we had to do. We didn’t play scared and we played confident.”
Baltimore Scoring
Megan Whittle (McDonogh/Maryland) 5g, 2a
Amanda Ignacio (Mount De Sales/Georgetown) 3g, 1a
Miranda Ibello (Maryvale Prep/Johns Hopkins) 2a
Brindi Griffin (McDonogh/Uncommitted) 1g
Marissa Davey (Marriotts Ridge/Uncommitted) 1g
Maggie Gallagher (C. Milton Wright/Penn State) 1g
Kara Klages (The John Carroll School/North Carolina) 1a
Long Island Scoring
Nikki Ortega (Middle Country/Notre Dame) 3g
Kylie Ohlmiller (Islip/Stony Brook) 2g, 2a
Shelby Fredericks (Babylon/Northwestern) 2g, 1a
Kasey Behr (St. Anthony’s/Virginia) 1g, 1a
Kyra Harney (Bay Shore/Duke) 1g, 1a
Holly Logan (Cold Spring Harbor/Uncommitted) 1g
Kaitlyn Montalbano (St. John The Baptist /Towson) 1a
All-Tournament team: Samantha Brescia (LI, Farmingdale), Julia Braig (Balt, St. Paul’s School for Girls), Kasey Behr (LI, Northport), Gussie Johns (DC, Sts. Stephen’s & Agnes, VA), Corinne Wessels (DC, Osbourn Park, VA), Libby Muir (West, Sacred Heart Prep, CA), Kelly Myers (DC, Georgetown Visitation), Shayna Pirreca (LI, Mt. Sinai), Sidney Pirreca (LI, Mt. Sinai), Shelby Fredericks (LI, Babylon).
Baltimore’s Megan Whittle (McDonogh School/Maryland) was named the UA Girl’s Underclass Tournament MVP.
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