Less than a week after falling short in the Berks Field Hockey League title game against Oley Valley, seventh-seeded Wilson bounced back with a 7-2 win over 10th-seeded Gov. Mifflin in the first round of the District 3 Class 3A playoffs Wednesday at West Lawn.
A commanding offense led the way for the Bulldogs (15-7), who had 17 shots and six corners compared to six shots and six corners for the Mustangs (11-8-1).
“They created a lot of offense and took a lot of shots; a lot of effective shots,” Wilson coach Kim Underwood said as a key to the victory. “I think we came into the game confident. A Wilson/Mifflin game is always a fun and exciting game; anything can happen. It’s easy to get excited for these types of games, district or not, just because they are our rivals.
“As we head into our second round here, we’ve got to clean things up a little bit, and tighten up and make some better decisions defensively.”
The Bulldogs will travel to second-seeded Lower Dauphin (16-2), which had a first-round bye, for a quarterfinal game Saturday at 1 p.m. Wilson fell to the Falcons 3-2 in the PIAA Class 3A and the District 3 Class 3A finals last season.
Junior forward Caroline Horace scored a team-high three goals and had a team-high three assists for the Bulldogs. Senior forward Mallory Sauppee had two goals, both in the first half, to help Wilson establish a 4-1 halftime lead.
“It’s a district game and you have to go in with the confidence that you’re going to win,” Horace said. “And I think that everyone on my team had confidence that we were going to win just because of the past games. And you need to put it in the goal to win so that’s what we all did. All the forwards had confidence in each other.”
Audrey Miller, a senior forward, opened the scoring for the Bulldogs with 1:00 left in the first quarter off an assist from junior Cameran Huyett.
Sauppee’s first goal came with 16 seconds remaining in the first quarter as she carried the ball a long way on a counterattack before tapping in a low shot. Horace assisted on the play to help give Wilson a 2-0 lead.
Sauppee and Horace connected again early in the second quarter as Sauppee scored off an assist from Horace 18 seconds in to make it 3-1.
Horace’s first goal came off of an assist from sophomore Macy Adams with six minutes left in the first half to make it 4-0. Horace handled the ball around junior goalie Addy Swayne for an open tap-in.
An unassisted goal by sophomore MaKenna Baessler put Mifflin on the board with 4:39 remaining before halftime, but for the most part the Bulldogs controlled the first half. They outshot the Mustangs 12-2 and had a 6-1 advantage in corners.
“(Our defense) was very composed,” Horace said. “They’re very confident in each other. They trust each other, too, and they’re very good at breaking down fast offensive breaks from the other teams. I think that’s what they did amazingly (tonight).”
In the third quarter, freshman Sidni Templeton scored for Wilson less than a minute in following a corner and was assisted by Horace, a Michigan State commit. Horace’s second goal was unassisted with 6:24 left in the third quarter, and her final goal also was unassisted and closed the scoring at 7-2 with 11:28 left.
“Caroline is a great player for us,” Underwood said. “She’s been working hard and when she follows the basic fundamentals she does really great things, and she did that tonight. We’re super proud of her.”
Sophomore Leah Fritz scored the last goal for the Mustangs with 4:20 to go in the third quarter and was assisted by Baessler. Swayne made nine saves for Mifflin and Jazzmine Bruce had a defensive save in the first quarter for the Mustangs.
Moving forward, Mifflin coach Betsy Forrer is optimistic about the Mustangs’ future.
“I’m very proud of the girls; they’ve had a wonderful season,” Mifflin coach Betsy Forrer said. “They play with heart, they play with effort and they play together. I couldn’t ask for anything more from them.
“We’re only losing three seniors so I feel like our future is bright. We have a lot of strong upcoming players.”
Heading into the game against Lower Dauphin, the Bulldogs look to remain confident.
“We have a huge game on Saturday, so it’s definitely a lot of preparation, but we’re really excited,” Horace said. “And like I said, you have to go into a district game with a lot of confidence, so that’s what we’re doing. We’re going to do what we do well, and in the next few days, we’re gonna work on what maybe we don’t do so well so we can go into even more confidence.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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