Field Hockey: Palmyra Survives Double-Overtime Thriller Against Red Land, Advances to State Semifinals

 

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Written by Pete Steelman

Palmyra Survives Double-Overtime Thriller Against Red Land, Advances to State Semifinals

In most schools around Pennsylvania, the athletic focus has already shifted to basketball and wrestling, as November means the winter sports season is soon to begin. But for a select few schools, the fall season is still very much alive and well, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Palmyra.

The field hockey team has already repeated as District 3 champions, and the Cougars are currently in the midst of defending last year’s State Championship, a run that began at home Tuesday night.

As District 3 champs, the Cougars drew a first-round matchup with Oxford, the #5 seed from District 1. More than half of the qualifiers for the State playoffs came from Districts 1 and 3, as historically these are the two regions most loaded with perennially strong field hockey programs.

For the first few minutes of the game, Philadelphia-area Oxford matched Palmyra’s aggression, winning several midfield 1-on-1 matchups and even registering an early penalty corner attempt, which is unusual given Palmyra’s stingy defense.

The lone score of the first frame came courtesy of Annie Weidman’s put-back on a penalty corner with 2:25 remaining in the period, giving Palmyra a precarious 1-0 lead.

After Grace Frew netted a Cougar score 6 minutes into the 2nd quarter, an Oxford cross skipped through the defense and found a deflection to cut the lead to 2-1. The Oxford players and fans were noticeably energized after the score, as their goal seemed to temporarily give the momentum to Oxford.

Their elation would be short-lived, however, as speedster Maddy Waldron took the ensuing restart right to the cage and scored a mere 8 seconds later. That quick-strike answer seemingly took the wind out of Oxford’s sails, as the floodgates then opened and Palmyra cruised to a 9-1 victory, setting up Saturday’s historic quarterfinal matchup vs. Red Land.

The Patriots and Cougars had already met twice this season. In their first meeting in September, Palmyra posted a 6-0 victory, which was Red Land’s first loss of the season. When they met for the second time at the end of September, it was Palmyra besting the Patriots in a much more competitive 2-0 game.

Those two losses would be the only Keystone losses Red Land would suffer in the regular season, as the Patriots finished with an impressive 14-3-1 record and made a strong run through Districts before losing to Warwick in the semifinals.

Palmyra was well aware of the way the Patriots had steadily improved this season under esteemed first-year coach Gini Bramley, and it was no surprise that in the first round of the State playoffs they easily handled WPIAL champion Shady Side, setting up the third matchup of the year with the rival Cougars.

In a game that will likely be talked about in this area for years, it was Palmyra outlasting Red Land through two frigid overtimes, ultimately winning 4-3 in the shootout round.

The first quarter started much like it did the last time these teams met, with very physical and evenly matched play. Red Land seemed to be deliberately throwing extra defensive attention at Allie Fink, who has been the biggest offensive catalyst for the Cougars this postseason.

To their credit, the Patriots seemed to have frustrated Palmyra early on, as the usually potent Cougar offense seemed a bit out of sync in the scoreless first half.

With the start of the 2nd half and with every passing minute that the score remained deadlocked, you could sense Red Land’s confidence building as the Patriots realized an upset was possible.

By the start of the 4th period, however, the Cougars seemed to have shaken off their first-half funk and really began turning up the offensive pressure.

For the last 6 minutes of regulation, Palmyra had several great chances to score, the first coming with 3:40 remaining as the Patriot goalkeeper made a brilliant diving save off a put-back attempt by Waldron, barely deflecting a shot that seemed well on its way to finding the back of the cage.

Two minutes later, junior Kate Driscoll uncorked a timely shot that sailed just left of the cage as Red Land dodged another bullet. After 60 minutes of regulation, the score remained deadlocked at 0-0 and the game headed for overtime.

In the first 7-on-7 overtime period, the Cougars controlled the majority of the possession, with several attacks on the cage that did not cash in.

The best opportunity came with 2 minutes remaining, as a shot attempt put the Red Land keeper on the ground, and a wide-open cage stared Palmyra in the face as the ball bounced perilously in the circle. Somehow, no Cougar was able to get a clean stick on the ball for the easy tap-in, and the first overtime ended scoreless.

In the second overtime period, Palmyra had several good chances, the first on a corner drawn by Addie Barger, which ultimately was turned away by the Red Land defense.

A second penalty corner drawn by Leigha Kane 40 seconds later was also turned away as the Cougar shot sailed just right of the cage. Then, one minute later, it was Waldron missing just wide left, as Palmyra kept up the pressure, desperate to secure the win before heading to a shootout where anything can happen.

Before the second overtime ended, there was one more heroic moment that punctuated a Herculean effort on the day by Palmyra junior Barger.

Barger had been ill all week, and it was uncertain whether or not she would even play Saturday. She did not start the game, but when she first entered late in the first quarter, she provided the calm control of the midfield that helped settle the Cougars down.

Countless times throughout the game, a clearly beleaguered Barger summoned the energy to make key contributions. Yet her most shining moment came at the end of that second overtime, when a Red Land forward had the ball at midfield with no defender in front of her: a full head of steam with no one to beat but the goalie.

An exhausted Barger turned on the jets and ran her down from behind, cleanly picking her pocket near the top of the circle and then bringing the ball coast to coast into the circle for a final corner attempt before shootouts.

The corner was not converted, but that singular example of tireless effort may have saved the season for the Cougars heading into the precarious shootout.

If Barger was the hero of overtime, then no doubt the hero of the shootout was Palmyra goalie Sophie Cunningham. Only a 10th grader, being put in such a high-pressure spotlight is not for the faint of heart, but Cunningham seized on this moment to save the Cougars’ season.

PIAA rules state that after two 7-on-7 overtimes, the game is decided by a shootout, where 5 shooters from each team have 8 seconds to score 1-on-1 against the goalie. Unlike World Cup soccer, this is not a static shot, but a thrilling exhibition of stickwork as the shooter tries to get the goalie off balance and score within the allotted time.

Barger was Palmyra’s first shooter, and she dribbled to the top of the circle, drew the goalie out of the cage, and then skillfully pulled right to pocket the first score.

Red Land’s first shooter tried a similar tactic, but Cunningham refused to be baited too far from the cage, and when the shooter pulled right, Cunningham was there for the dramatic save.

The second shooter for Palmyra was Fink, whose initial attempt was partially blocked by the Patriot goalie, but a fierce second effort to regain the ball paid off as she got behind the goalie to score right before the horn sounded.

Red Land’s second shooter, Ann Keim, lifted a gorgeous shot into the top corner of the cage that was virtually unstoppable, keeping Red Land within one goal in the best-of-five shootout.

Palmyra’s third attempt sailed left of the cage, and when Red Land’s next shot found paydirt, the score was suddenly knotted at 2.

Senior Waldron put her stamp on this game, as her shot found the bottom left corner of the cage to put Palmyra up 3-2, at which point Cunningham dialed up some more heroics.

Needing a score to tie the game, Red Land’s fourth shooter, Charlotte Hoffman, pulled right and ripped a shot that was beautifully saved by Cunningham in what felt like a game-sealing moment.

After an injury delay and some confusion on the field, the officials ruled that Cunningham’s save bounced off her glove dangerously, awarding a second chance to Hoffman, who converted to tie the score at 3-3 with one shooter remaining for each team.

Kane was first up for the Cougars, and her strong attack resulted in a foul on the goalkeeper, which awarded Kane a penalty stroke. The recently crowned Keystone Player of the Year coolly eyed the ball, and her shot found the left side of the cage for the 4-3 lead.

Red Land had one last shooter: a score and the game goes to another shootout, a save and the Cougars win.

Enter Cunningham, whose early save had already put Palmyra in the driver’s seat, with all the pressure and expectations of a town and a team fixed on winning another State gold.

Playing like a girl possessed, Cunningham moved laterally to her left with the Red Land shooter, diving for the ball before hopping back up to her feet to turn away a lift on the cage. Her 2 fantastic saves were the exclamation point on the dramatic win, propelling the team into the State semifinals on Tuesday.

While statistically Palmyra dominated the game, registering 14 penalty corners to just one for Red Land, this game came down to intangibles: Barger summoning up her version of the Michael Jordan “flu game,” countless hustle plays by tireless midfielder Amelia Valle, and ultimately the game-sealing saves by Cunningham.

In an instant classic that couldn’t be decided in 60 minutes of regulation and another 20 overtime minutes, the effort on display by both teams is a testament to both programs’ commitment.

All the praise in the world goes to the Red Land coaches and players, who very nearly pulled the upset and kept their magical season going.

Saturday, however, belonged to Coach Harshman and the Cougars, as they live to play another day, only two wins away from once again claiming State gold.

Next up for Palmyra is a semifinal matchup against District 1’s Bishop Shanahan, which defeated Gwynedd Mercy on Saturday. The game will take place Tuesday evening at a neutral site, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s PIAA State Championship game.

See below for the box scores from each of Palmyra’s first two games in the PIAA State Championship Tournament.

Here is the 2A bracket.

 

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Palmyra 1, Red Land 0 (2OT, SO 4-3)

November 14, 2026 • Susquehanna Township High School • PIAA Class 2A Quarterfinal

Shootout Summary

Palmyra wins shootout 4-3.

 

Saves: Palmyra – Sophie Kennelly 0, Sophie Cunningham 1 (plus 2 shootout saves); Red Land – Kourtin Stenman 6 (plus 1 shootout save).

 

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Palmyra 9, Oxford 1

November 10, 2026 • Palmyra High School • PIAA Class 2A First Round

Scoring Summary

• 1st Quarter: Annie Weidman (Palmyra), 2:25 remaining, penalty corner.

• 2nd Quarter: Grace Frew (Palmyra), 9:20 remaining, penalty corner, assist Ella Detwiler; Oxford goal, scorer not provided; Maddy Waldron (Palmyra), 6:25 remaining, field goal; Frew (Palmyra), 2:29 remaining, penalty corner.

• 3rd Quarter: Leigha Kane (Palmyra), 9:02 remaining, penalty corner, assist Addie Barger; Kane (Palmyra), 7:57 remaining, field goal.

• 4th Quarter: Weidman (Palmyra), 13:47 remaining, field goal, assist Kate Driscoll; Lindsay Brandt (Palmyra), 6:03 remaining, field goal; Myka Lechleitner (Palmyra), 0:15 remaining, field goal, assist Allie Fink.

Saves: Palmyra – Sophie Kennelly 1, Sophie Cunningham 1; Oxford – Jaycie Burnett 6.