KINGSTON — Crestwood matched speed with speed on Nov. 2, containing a dangerous front line and limiting Selinsgrove to just three shots during a 2-0 shutout victory in the District 2-4 Class 2A subregional field hockey championship game.
“They have a lot of speed,” said Selinsgrove coach Roz Erb, who is accustomed to her team having the advantage in that area. “We knew that coming in. I thought we did a good job of neutralizing their offensive speed, but we had a hard time busting through.”
That defensive effort made goals by Kylah Kelly and Alex Geiger early in each of the first two quarters hold up.
Crestwood converted the game’s first penalty corner into a goal.
After goalie Bella Auman stopped the first shot, the rebound was loose in front. The ball came free to the right to Kelly, who lifted it into the cage.
“I didn’t think one goal was going to be enough,” Kelly said. “I knew it was going to be an intense game, so we needed to score fast.”
The Comets added another goal 2:27 into the second quarter when Ava McConnell dribbled to the end line on the right and sent a pass in front to Geiger for the score.
“A 2-0 lead is nothing; that can change on a dime,” first-year Crestwood coach Amanda Tredinnick said. “I just preached to them that we have to play our composed, passing team hockey.
“There were some parts where we got a little shaky, but we cleaned it up when it mattered most.”
Selinsgrove managed five of its six penalty corners in the second half, but the Seals had just three shots – one each in the second, third and fourth quarters.
“We practiced a quick style of having to play defense,” Tredinnick said. “We knew that (District 4 sprinting champion Carly Aument) was the fastest girl on the field and if we let her loose, we were going to be in trouble.
“We planned well to make sure we were going to be able to shut down that speed.”
Crestwood advances to the PIAA state tournament where it will play close to home Nov. 8 against the fourth-place team from District 1.
PIAA PLAYOFFS
Crestwood (14-7) advanced to play Mechanicsburg (17-4-1) in Saturday’s quarterfinals with the time and site to be determined.
Mechanicsburg, the No. 3 seed out of District 3, knocked off District 12 champ Archbishop Carroll 5-1 on Tuesday.
DISTRICT 2-4 CLASS 2A CHAMPIONSHIP
Crestwood 2, Selinsgrove 0
Selinsgrove`0`0`0`0 — 0
Crestwood`1`1`0`0 — 2
First — 1. CRE, Kylah Kelly 11:04. Second – 2. CRE, Alex Geiger (Ava McConnell) 12:33.
Shots on goal — SEL 3, CRE 8. Goalie saves — SEL 3 (Bella Auman), CRE 1 (Isabella Caporuscio). Penalty corners — SEL 6, CRE 3.
