During warmups, the players on the Oley Valley field hockey team have been wearing black T-shirts with the word “family” printed in pink on the back.
It’s not an uncommon way to foster togetherness.
Still, the Lynx — if you will — that connect the past to the present are so apparent in an Oley Valley program that will play for the PIAA Class 1A title against Lackawanna Trail on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Cumberland Valley.
Be it daughters following in the footsteps of mothers, sisters following sisters, alumni coming back to coach or people devoting decades to the program, it’s helped form — then further — the tradition.
“This program really is something special,” said senior Morgan Snyder, the Berks Player of the Year. “I mean, it is, for one, a legendary program, but it’s also such a close program that leaves lifelong friendships. Everybody always seems so supportive, and they always keep in touch and follow up on our games, come to our games and just show their support in so many different ways. So it’s really, really special.”
Coach Tiffany Cappellano has seen the program at every level.
She recalls being a junior high student watching the Lynx beat Tulpehocken for their first Berks title in 1994.
“I remember just riding home from that game and being like, ‘Yeah,’ ” said Cappellano, whose maiden name was Leister. “That was the first time I think it ever hit me, really, that I wanted to be a part of it.”
Cappellano was a star on the 1997 team that won Oley’s first state championship — her sister Tammy scored the winning goal on an untimed corner in the state title game win in 2000 — and she’s been the coach at her alma mater since 2009. She served as co-coach with Donna Long for one season before taking over on her own in 2010.
Long, who compiled a 459-88-30 record and led the Lynx to 12 Berks, six District 3 Class 2A and two PIAA Class 2A titles in 23 seasons, surely will be at the scorer’s table Saturday, along with Betty Reber. Reber kept the book that magical day at Messiah 23 years ago, when her daughter, Alison, helped the Lynx win state gold.
Cappellano’s coaching staff consists of Holly McCaw, who was also an assistant under Long and is in her 38th season, as well as Oley Valley graduates Melanie Brill-Yorgey, Kelly (Cawley) Williamson and Caitlin Drobek.
“It’s just great,” Taylor Vaccaro, a senior and two-time All-Berks selection, said about those who have made longtime commitments to the program..
For some, the connection to the high school program begins when they serve as ball girls while in the youth program or in junior high.
Nikki Hartranft, who is now the head coach at Bloomsburg University, was a manager/ball girl in 1995 when the Lynx played in their first state final. She played on the 1997 team.
Now her daughter, Kadyn Rhoads, is a freshman who has scored 14 goals this season.
“That’s a consistent tradition, I guess you would say, in the Valley,” Cappellano said of the ball girls. “We do believe that we are one program and it starts at the bottom and comes up.”
Adding to the family atmosphere is a highly respected and accomplished eight-member senior class that has led the way this season, fueled by some of the team’s near misses in recent years, including a 6-0 loss to Wyoming Seminary in the 2021 state final.
“As a senior class we really decided we need to come up with a culture,” said senior back and All-Berks pick Olivia Scatamacchia, “and we need to come together and get this group where we want to be and we’ve done that so far at counties and districts and we’re really hoping we can do it again.”
The Berks and District 3 champion Lynx (26-1-1) will be making their ninth state final appearance, fourth in the last eight years and third in the last five, looking to bring home that third title.
“It is amazing,” said Vaccaro, who has a team-leading 31 goals and 14 assists this season. “It is so cool, especially to get here twice in your high school career. Most people don’t even get this opportunity once, so having it twice is just a great experience.
“Ever since freshman year. we’ve wanted to be the class to do it. It’s been 23 years. So if we bring the state trophy back to our school, it would just mean everything to us.”
District 4 champion Lackawanna Trail (17-4-2) will be making its first appearance in a state final since 1984, aiming for its first championship.
The Lions are led by Lena Ryon, a Central Michigan commit who has 40 goals and 17 assists this season. Greta Krimmel has 28 goals and 10 assists.
“Obviously, this is kind of the moment we’ve worked for since we started playing field hockey,” said Snyder, who has 22 goals and 15 assists this season. “Having the opportunity to represent our school and our community and just go out there and play for a state title is really, really cool.”
As All-Berks junior Izzy Buehler said, the Lynx won’t just be playing for themselves.
“If most people can get into a program like this and have an opportunity like this, it’s really life-changing,” Buehler said, “and you learn so much and it’s just very special for us.
“Field hockey has been such a huge thing for our school. It has meant so much to us. We’re trying to carry this also for them, too, and win for them, too, because it’s not just about us. It’s a whole family.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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