Our very own Jason Guarente was at Pequea Valley on Thursday night for the L-L League field hockey championship match, where Lancaster Mennonite pulled off the stunner, knocking off powerhouse Penn Manor to claim the crown. Here’s Jason’t story from Friday’s New Era:
After the celebration had quieted and the medals were handed out, Juliana Hershey had time to reflect on the goal.
“I’d say that was my biggest,” she said with a smile. “And it was the most fun.”
For Hershey and her Lancaster Mennonite teammates, it was hard to imagine a more memorable finish.
The underdog Blazers shocked Penn Manor 3-2 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League field hockey championship game at Pequea Valley Thursday night.
Hershey’s second goal, which came 7:29 into the second overtime period, was the difference.
“I was pretty tired by then,” she said. “While I was dribbling, I was thinking, ‘As soon as I get in that circle, I’m just going to take a shot.’ It hit (the defender’s) foot and it still went in. It was a very good feeling.”
Mennonite’s players stormed onto the field to enjoy the school’s first league title since 2002. It was a title few expected them to win.
This was supposed to be Penn Manor’s year. The Comets had won 19 of 20 games, were the Section 1 champions and were the consensus team to beat.
None of that mattered to the Blazers.
“I basically said we have nothing to lose. We have everything to gain,” LMH coach Karen Gyger said. “I said, ‘Just lay it on the line. Just risk everything and go for it.’ It had to be unified and it had to be a team effort. No one or two people were going to do it.”
Twice Penn Manor grabbed a one-goal lead and put Mennonite’s confidence to the test. Twice the Section 3 champs showed their mettle.
Kristi Shepps scored 2:57 into the first half to give the Comets an immediate 1-0 lead. Hershey answered 20 minutes later.
Cathryn Altdoerffer scored for Penn Manor in the final minute of the first half. LMH’s Katelyn Vanderhoff countered less than three minutes later.
No matter how hard it tried, Penn Manor couldn’t shake an opponent that believed it was going to find a way to prevail.
“We knew that most people were saying that we were the underdogs,” Hershey said. “We just wanted to come and prove everyone else wrong. We really wanted to win and we knew what we had to do to accomplish that.”
Mennonite’s strong defense — anchored by goalie Sarah Dickenson — managed to keep Penn Manor’s powerful offense mostly in check. The Blazers held Jenn Bradley and Jill Witmer, two of the top scorers in Section 1, without a goal.
After the teams combined for four scores in the first 32 minutes, the game remained tied at 2 for more than 50 minutes. Hershey ended the drought when she raced down the right side and blasted a shot that ricocheted into the net.
It was a sudden and stunning defeat for Penn Manor, which also lost in the L-L League final last season.
“There’s not much to say,” Comets coach Matt Soto said. “We can’t change anything. We’ve just got to get ready for the next tournament. It stinks to lose, but we have to pick ourselves up and get ready for the next one.”
Penn Manor can’t afford to let the disappointment linger. The Comets begin play Tuesday as the top seed in the District 3 Triple-A playoffs.
Mennonite, which is 18-3, has even less time to refocus. The Blazers were scheduled to play a Double-A tournament game against Northern Lebanon this afternoon — roughly 18 hours after the gold medals were placed around their necks.
Still, they were going to take time to savor this victory. It’s always a little sweeter when no one is expecting it.
“Back in August nobody picked us to win,” Gyger said. “It was all Penn Manor. I think they came in overconfident, thinking they were going to blow us out. I just wanted it to be nice and equal and not to be embarrassed. My kids came to play.”
The Blazers, after all, had nothing to lose.
They had a championship to gain.
