By Jonty Ralphsmith
Mikayla McDonald has hit the scoreboard for the fourth consecutive week in Casey’s 1-1 draw with Yarra Valley.
With 12 goals from 13 games, McDonald has been a key pillar for Casey, which falls to second on the table following the weekend’s result.
Sunday was the first time that Casey has had its best team on the park all season and they started strongly, with their goal coming in the first stanza.
Yarra Valley then hit back to control the middle part of the game, but Sarah Sutton-McLellan made several important saves to keep the Cannons in the contest.
With the score at 1-1 going into the last, Casey had its best opportunity to score in the last 20 seconds of the game, but the shot on goal was off target.
The women will have the chance to reclaim top spot this week when they take on Mornington Peninsula in a one-versus-two clash.
Meanwhile, Yarra Valley consigned Casey to a 7-1 loss in the men’s match.
Josh Watson scored the visitors only goal against the ninth-placed team, with the result seemingly all but consigning them to last spot on the table and relegation next season.
Matches against eighth-placed Eastern Christian Hockey Organisation and seventh-placed Werribee, who have three wins each, present as winnable on the run home, but they now sit more than a game behind Yarra Valley.
Elliot Stephens was the key weapon missing from the Cannons’ arsenal in the loss.
Women
Results: Brunswick 5 v Werribee 2, Mornington Peninsula 2 v North West 1, WestVic 1 v Knox 2, PEGS 1 v Monash University 2, Yarra Valley 1 v Casey 1.
Ladder: Mornington Peninsula 32, Casey 31, Yarra Valley 29, Monash University 26, Knox 18, WestVic 13, Brunswick 12, PEGS 10, Werribee 10, North West Lightning 9.
Fixture: Monash University v WestVic, Werribee v North West Lightning, Brunswick v PEGS, Knox v Yarra Valley, Casey v Mornington Peninsula
Men
Results: Brunswick 4 v Werribee 3, PEGS 5 v Monash University 4, Old Xaverians 4 v Eastern Christian Hockey Organisation 1, Melbourne Sikhs 4 v NorthWest 0, Yarra Valley 7 v Casey 1
Ladder: Melbourne Sikhs 30, Old Xaverians 29, Brunswick 28, PEGS 25, Monash University 22, North West Lightning 22, Werribee 12, Eastern Christian Hockey Organisation 8, Yarra Valley 7, Casey 3.
Fixture: Brunswick v PEGS, Casey v Melbourne Sikhs, Werribee v North West Lightning, Monash University v Old Xaverians, Eastern Christian Hockey Organisation v Yarra Valley, Brunswick v PEGS
