Copyright Mechanicsburg Patriot News
PALMYRA — Although it’s extraordinarily difficult to defeat a quality outfit three times in the same season, imagine trying to accomplish that feat in a crucial postseason encounter. Well, Palmyra did just that. The top-seeded Cougars registered their third victory over a feisty Northern York side on Wednesday night at the chilly OAL Sports Complex, turning back the Polar Bears 2-0 in a highly competitive District 3 Class 2A semifinal clash. A.J. Walker and Maddie Stahl located the back of the goal cage for Palmyra (17-2) – one in each half of play – while Abby Bennett made three saves to preserve the shutout. “We knew it would be a [scrap],” Palmyra head coach Kent Harshman said. “We scored five goals and six goals on them [during the regular season], but we knew this would be a war, and I think we were prepared well. “We played really good defense, and I thought we played outstanding corner defense. … Really proud of the kids. They had a great game.” While No. 5 seed Northern York (17-4) was unable to dent Bennett and the Palmyra defensive backfield, the Polar Bears were able to stay close throughout the 60-minute exercise behind a 10-save performance from senior goalie Lauryn Hose. And since both sides are ticketed for the PIAA Class AA tournament, perhaps a fourth meeting awaits sometime next month. THE STARS We’ll begin with Walker, who moved up from her spot in the D-backfield early in the second quarter when Palmyra was awarded a penalty corner. While no one cashed in off the insert, Walker was in the right place at the right time to cap a scramble with a timely finish. Extremely miffed when she was assessed a card in the third quarter that cost her several minutes of action, Stahl returned to the fray, determined to make something happen. Hovering near the edge of the circle, Stahl turned a Leigha Kane dish into an add-on goal. Bennett had plenty of help in front, turning away what opportunities Northern York was able to manufacture. Two of her three saves came in the final quarter as the Polar Bears upped the energy level in a valiant effort to chase the result — something that didn’t happen. As Palmyra started to create traffic in front, Hose and her teammates were able to get to just about every ball in the first half — six saves came during that stretch — yet one eluded her. Hose turned away four of Palmyra’s five chances after the break. Palmyra was able to quiet Northern’s remarkably athletic Keairah Dykes and limit her chances, despite her impressive speed and stickwork. Dykes never really had a chance to tee off on Bennett, since one and often multiple marks were checking her. “She’s very good,” Harshman said of Dykes. “They’ve got several good players; No. 1 (Courtney Heitzel) and No. 2 M.J. Simpson are really good as well in the middle of the field. I was really proud of our kids. I thought we played really well and did what we needed to do to shut them down and seal off the corners.” HOW IT HAPPENED While Palmyra swept the regular-season matchups 5-3 and 6-1, Northern York was determined to upend the host Cougars and return to its third straight 3-AA title game. Didn’t quite work out that way. “We were ready for it, it’s the basic part of playing a team three times,” Northern head coach Amelia Martire said. “I think we were happy to play Palmyra again, just because we know the second time we played we had a bad quarter and just got down on ourselves. “So, we were happy to get another shot.” Scoreless through 19 minutes of action, Walker’s fortuitous strike in front of the cage popped Palmyra in front at 19:19. Then, well into the second half, Stahl’s finish relieved some pressure as she bumped the lead to 2-0 with 2:50 gone in the final quarter. “It’s definitely hard to beat a team three times, so to go ahead in the second quarter gives us momentum going into the second half,” Walker said. “You always hope to go up, but we’ve come back before,” Martire added. “You always hope to go up one, but something this team has done well is not getting down on themselves.” Northern tried to avert the shutout, but the Cougars stiffened defensively and kept the pressure off Bennett as the game continued to play out. BIG PICTURE With the victory, Palmyra will play in Saturday’s final against Warwick – another storied District 3 program. In addition, the Cougars will be chasing their fifth 3-AA title in seven years, as well as their 16th District 3 championship overall. “We’re back where we wanted to be,” Harshman said. “That’s my goal for the kids every year. I always feel that we’ve got great kids, we’ve got a great coaching staff, and it’s my goal to do everything we can to get them to the championship game at this level and, quite frankly, at the next level. We’ll see. We’ll line up and tee it up against Warwick on Saturday — they’re an outstanding team as well — and we’ll see what happens.” Northern York, which tumbled in the last two 3-2A title games, will be looking to pick up a win over Hershey in Saturday’s third-place scrap. The winner of that contest, like both sides in the title game, likely will play at a District 3 venue when states begin. THEY SAID IT “This was a pretty intense game the whole way through, it was absolutely not ever one-sided like we were never in the game. We gave them a run the entire time.” — Northern York head coach Amelia Martire “We got behind against them at their place. We were fortunate to come back and win, but it’s not easy when you’ve got to come from behind. That’s not easy in playoff hockey. We were really happy to get up that goal.” — Palmyra head coach Kent Harshman Palmyra 2, Northern York 0 Northern York (17-4) 0-0-0-0 – 0 Palmyra (17-2) 0-1-0-1 – 2
