RADNOR — Archbishop Carroll senior goalie Moriah McMorran played soccer as a freshman and sophomore.

“I switched to (field hockey) last year,” McMorran said.

Wednesday afternoon in the semifinal round of the Catholic League playoffs, McMorran got to experience the one thing any hockey goalie dreads — an overtime game decided by penalty strokes.

McMorran stopped four of the five Archbishop Wood strokes she faced while Kim Zamojcin and Jackie Krizovensky, the first two Carroll players to attempt strokes, were successful as the Patriots advanced to the championship game by taking a 2-1 advantage in the tie-breaker in a game that was tied, 1-1, after a pair of scoreless overtime periods.

The Carroll players won’t be practicing this afternoon. Coach Suzie Gennaro and her squad will be at Cardinal O’Hara to watch the Lions take on Kennedy-Kenrick in the other semifinal playoff game, which was postponed from Wednesday because of wet playing conditions on the O’Hara field.

McMorran, who turned away three shots in regulation play and a pair in the second overtime period, admitted she was a little shook up after the second overtime period had ended.

“I was crying before the strokes,” she said. “We practice them, but that’s a lot different than having to do it in a game.

“At school today I was telling Father (Ed) Casey how I had a dream that we’d have to do strokes today. He took a ball and said he would ‘hypnotize’ me so I’d just concentrate on seeing the ball.”

McMorran concentrated well enough to stop the first shot with her pads and the second with her glove. After Wood’s Chelsea Dolge banged the ball off the post and by McMorran, the Carroll goalie kicked away a shot with her left leg and stood her ground and let the ball hit her on the last stroke she faced.

The hardest thing then became surviving the mad rush of her happy teammates after they realized that they would get the chance to defend the playoff championship Carroll has won the last two years.

“You have to give all of them credit,” Gennaro said. “We knew Wood would come in here with a lot of fight in them after what happened to them before.”

Last year, after Wood had won a semifinal match at O’Hara on penalty strokes, Carroll rolled to a 4-0 victory in the playoff final. Earlier this season, the Patriots (13-3-1) went to Wood and came home with a 4-1 win.

Zamojcin, who scored three goals against the Vikings in the final last fall and three in the regular-season match this fall, gave Carroll the lead in the 11th minute when she claimed the ball after Wood goalie Samantha Arnold (14 saves) stopped a shot by sophomore Kelsey Byrne. Zamojcin flicked the ball past Arnold for her 20th goal of the season.

With a little more than five minutes left in the first half, Wood earned its first penalty corner and Tara Martin, assisted by Tara Brown, tied the score.

At halftime Carroll had a 14-2 advantage in shots and a 7-1 edge in penalty corners, but the score was tied. In the second half, it was 8-2 Carroll in shots and 5-1 in corners, but there were no goals.

Byrne had the best chance in overtime, but again there were no goals. After a short break, each team sent out five players for the tie-breaking strokes.

“We’ve worked on that a little more often lately,” Zamojcin said. “We have little competitions, and the ones who make the most shots are the ones who get to do this if we have to in a game.

“I know I just focus on the ball until it’s time to shoot.”

Krizovensky, who was among the Carroll defenders who helped hold off the Wood attack, had not scored a goal this season.

“You try to make the most of the opportunity when you get it,” said Krizovensky, whose shot was low to the right of Arnold and found its way between the goalie and the post to the back of the cage.

Carroll’s only league loss came at the end of the regular season, when the Pats dropped a 2-1 home decision to O’Hara.

“We knew this was the last time we’d be playing on this field,” Zamojcin said. “We knew we wouldn’t be coming back, so we had to leave with a win.”

It just took a little longer than the coaches had hoped.