A familiar matchup culminated into a fresh result Saturday night at Gov. Mifflin as the Wilson field hockey team defeated Oley Valley 3-0 to claim the 2024 BCIAA field hockey title.
“This group has put in a lot of effort in since January to continue to grow and continue to work together and continue to learn to be confident,” Bulldogs coach Kim Underwood said. “And we’re just seeing so much growth in them over the last couple weeks, and I’m super proud of the belief they have in themselves and the belief they have in each other.”
Top-seeded Wilson (16-4-1) and the second-seeded Lynx (11-10) were meeting for the third year in a row and the fifth time in the last eight years for the Berks championship.
Oley Valley won 3-1 in last year’s championship and the Bulldogs’ win on Saturday gives them their first title since 2022. Earlier in the regular season, Wilson defeated the Lynx 2-0 at Oley Valley.
“It feels amazing,” Wilson senior Caroline Horace said. “We started off really good. My sophomore year we won it and had a lot of seniors that I looked up to. So it was really like a full circle moment for me to be a senior and to win it again.
“It (the matchup with Oley) is definitely a lot of rivalry, but it’s also a lot of friendship because I play for the club team that the Oley head coach (Tiffany Cappellano) runs, so I know a lot of the players there. And yes, it is a rivalry in high school, but it’s also fun to know that my friends are on the other side of the field too.”
Wilson jumped out to a 1-0 lead after senior Olivia Reinhart scored 46 seconds into the match. Reinhart was assisted by freshman Sydney Adams on the play.
The Bulldogs held a 1-0 lead after one quarter and added two more goals before halftime.
“That was super impressive,” Underwood said regarding the fast start. “We were just trying to get off strong from the start, but obviously you don’t ever expect that (goal) to happen right away. I think it allowed us to take a deep breath and settle because there’s always nerves before a game like this. Everybody’s excited, and it’s what you do with those nerves. And I think they fortunately found a way to put the ball in the back of the cage and make things happen.”
Wilson continued to find a way to get the ball in the cage courtesy of strong play from penalty corners. Following a penalty corner with 11:20 left in the opening half, Horace scored and was assisted by junior Laura Crocona.
“My key job in corners is to frame,” Horace said. “So I knew that once Cameran (Huyett) shot the ball and the goalie saved it, the rebound bounce was mine. So every time I know I need to get it in and that was in my head.”
Six minutes later following another penalty corner, sophomore Sidni Templeton scored and was assisted by senior Evelyn Melograna with 4:56 remaining in the first half.
“We have a lot of girls that can be really effective on taking strikes on penalty corners,” Underwood said. “We have a lot of options that are strong, and we’ve been working really hard just to not give up when we’re in the circle. And just keep shooting, and keep shooting and keep making things happen after hitting that ball. I think that we did much better this time than last time we played them of making that happen.”
Wilson maintained possession throughout much of the second half and held the Lynx to just three shots. Senior goalie Catherine Wolf made three saves for the Bulldogs.
Oley Valley junior goalie Charlotte Prout made eight saves for the Lynx. Wilson recorded 12 shots on goal and had 12 penalty corners, while the Lynx had four penalty corners.
Wolf said she believes in her underclassmen teammates’ ability to carry on a winning tradition.
“I think it’s really exciting for me,” Wolf said “I know Oley and I know my team. I really trust them, and I came into this game knowing that we had it in the bag and we were gonna go out with confidence. We know this opponent, and I knew we were gonna be okay.
“I think that we got a lot of potential to play underclassmen right now. We have a really good team right now with strong leadership. And I think what we’ve done as seniors is taught the underclassmen what leadership looks like. They can now pass it on, and they’ve developed these fundamentals and this team culture that I think they’re gonna go far.”
Wilson is seeded sixth in the upcoming District 3 Class 3A tournament and will begin the tournament with a home match against No. 11 Ephrata (9-8) on Wednesday at West Lawn at 7 p.m., while Oley Valley begins play in the District 3 Class 1A tournament at Susquenita High School against eighth-seeded Newport (14-4) on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
“District three is packed with a lot of great teams,” Underwood said. “So I think we’re continuing to improve and get better, and as we head into districts we need to continue with that stride of just following our game plan and seeing each other on the field. Movement off the ball is so important, and then just making things happen up in the circle.
“I’m just really proud of these girls. Oley is an amazing team. They’re well coached. They play hard, and so it’s exciting for Berks County field hockey to have such a great game for people to come and watch.”
Source: Berkshire mont