JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
BLAZERS RALLY IN SECOND HALF, BUT FALL TO FLEETWOOD 2-1 IN DISTRICT 3 DOUBLE-A GIRLS’ SOCCER SEMIFINALS
Another night, another short commute for me. Tuesday I was over at Governor Mifflin (about a 15-minute drive, yay) for District 3 Double-A girls’ soccer, pitting L-L League champ Lancaster Mennonite against defending champ Fleetwood in a semifinal showdown. Fleetwood scored a pair of first-half goals, then withstood Mennonite’s second-half onslaught for a 2-1 win. But the Blazers are still headed to States, along with a bunch of other L-L League teams. You can read about them in my story from Wednesday’s New Era …
SHILLINGTON – Despite a valiant second-half rally, Lancaster Mennonite will be on the outside looking in at the District 3 Double-A girls soccer championship game.
The Blazers, the reigning Lancaster-Lebanon League champs, played a spirited final 40 minutes in their district semifinal against Fleetwood on Tuesday night at Governor Mifflin High School.
But junior forward Steph Barrett’s two first-half goals stood up for Fleetwood, which withstood Mennonite’s second-half barrage for a 2-1 victory and a trip to the finals, where the Tigers will try and defend their Double-A title.
Fleetwood, which defeated Elco in last year’s championship game, will meet Berks County foe Tulpehocken – a 4-0 winner over Eastern York – in the title game on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in Hersheypark Stadium.
If Fleetwood wins, Mennonite will be the third seed for the state tournament. If Fleetwood falls, the Blazers will be the fourth seed for the state tournament.
Three other L-L League teams punched their tickets to the state playoffs with consolation-round victories on Tuesday:
In Triple-A, Penn Manor edged league foe Hempfield 1-0 and Warwick nipped Cumberland Valley 1-0 to advance.
And in Double-A, Lancaster Catholic survived Lampeter-Strasburg in penalty kicks. The Crusaders and the Pioneers both qualified for States.
Donegal, the No. 1 seed in Double-A, fell to Wyomissing 3-0, but the Indians still advanced to the PIAA playoffs, as the top eight finishers in District 3 Double-A advance to States.
As for Tuesday’s Double-A semifinal showdown on Mifflin’s turf field, Mennonite (23-3 overall) could have used a couple of more ticks on the clock.
“As the game went on, I thought we wore them down,” Mennonite coach Dale Stoltzfus said. “But in the first half they were all over us.”
And that was the difference.
Fleetwood, the Berks County runner-up, piled up three shots and five corners in the first half, when the Tigers (24-2) used their speed to grab a two-goal lead.
Barrett corralled a loose ball near midfield and dribbled in alone, blasting a shot into the upper left corner past Mennonite senior keeper Laura Gochnauer to make it 1-0 with 35:08 to go in the first half.
With 13:06 to go before the break, Barrett pounced on another loose ball just to the left of the cage, beat her defender with a sweet deke and chipped a shot past a sprawling Gochnauer and it was 2-0.
“She made a couple of great shots,” Stoltzfus said of Barrett’s decisive goals.
“She took advantage and she finished her opportunities. … That’s probably the most corners we’ve given up this season (9), so that should tell you all you need to know about Fleetwood’s offense.”
Mennonite finally caught fire in the second half, pelting Fleetwood freshman goalie Kaley Kinek with six shots and earning three corners.
The Blazers got on the board with 21:33 to play when Mennonite junior forward Steph Miller was tripped up in the box by Barrett. A penalty kick was rewarded, and Blazers’ senior midfielder Sarah Dickinson zipped the PK past Kinek (7 saves) and it was 2-1.
“We really felt like we could come back, and we had the momentum,” Mennonite senior midfielder Bethany Engle said. “We knew we could do it.”
The Blazers, who outshot Fleetwood 8-4, had plenty of chances – including senior forward Lisa Wingard’s header from close range, which sailed wide, in the waning minutes – but couldn’t complete the comeback.
“At the half we talked about getting the momentum changed, and I thought we did that,” Stoltzfus said. “And we finally started getting the ball on net. If we get it to 2-2, I would have loved our chances in penalty kicks.”
Mennonite has two postseason wins via penalty kicks: against Conestoga Valley in the L-L League title game, and again last Saturday in the district quarterfinals against Lancaster Catholic.
Up next for the Blazers is a first-round state-playoff game next Tuesday.
In yesterday’s District 3 state-playoff qualifying games:
Penn Manor 1, Hempfield 0
At Northeastern High School in York, Rachel Hess scored off a feed from Kristi Shepps at the 54:12 mark to lift the Comets over their rivals and into the state playoffs.
Warwick 1, Cumberland Valley 0
Also at Northeastern, Lindsey Hartman scored off Katrina Gazsi’s feed just five minutes into the game, and that goal stood up for the Warriors, who clipped the Eagles and into the state playoffs.
Alicia Miller saved all 10 shots she faced for Warwick.
Wyomissing 3, Donegal 0
At Central Dauphin Middle School, Wyomissing scored three second-half goals – all off of penalty kicks – and blanked the Indians, who will still go to the state playoffs.
Kayleigh Hershey made four saves for Donegal, which was outshot 7-4.
Lancaster Catholic 1, L-S 0
At Hempfield, Denver College recruit Caitlin Hulyo made four saves and the Crusaders won 3-0 in penalty to advance to States and knock out the Pioneers.
Jess Manchak made nine saves for L-S, which was outshot 9-4, but will still play in the PIAA Tournament.
