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Palmyra 7, West Chester East 1
In the first round of the PIAA State Championship AA Tournament, the District 3 Champion Palmyra Cougars hosted West Chester East, District 1’s fifth place team.
Palmyra did not waste time in breaking the scoreless tie, as Morgan Lantz found the back of the cage just :43 into the contest. Less than three minutes later, Addie Sholly put Palmyra up 2-0. Keely Bowers would add another goal off of a penalty stroke to make it 3-0 by the end of the 1st quarter.
Two minutes into the 2nd quarter, the offensive attack continued when Sholly scored her second goal of the game off of an assist from Bowers. The score moved to 5-0 when Bowers scored her second of the game before halftime.
Sitting on a comfortable lead at the midway point, Jovie Weaver started the 2nd half with a goal of her own to give the Cougars a six goal advantage.
In a game where Coach Harshman could give more of his players valuable postseason experience, West Chester’s Carly Rice was able to score halfway through the 4th quarter. Palmyra’s Madi Gingrich would score in the final minute of the game to finish the offensive explosion, with Palmyra winning 7-1.
The defense was once again stellar for the Cougars, as goaltender Abby Bennett was not asked to make any saves. Backup goalie Riley Zettlemoyer made four saves in her time in the cage.
Bowers finished the game with two goals and two assists. Sholly joined her in scoring two goals. Weaver had a goal and an assist.
In the game, Palmyra outshot West Chester East by a margin of 19 to 5.
Palmyra will now move onto the Quarterfinals, which will be played on Saturday. Their opponent in the next round will be Manheim Central. The teams recently met in the District 3 Semifinals. Palmyra won that game 2-0 after scoring two late goals.
Scoring
1st Quarter
14:17 – Morgan Lantz, assisted by Jovie Weaver 1-0
11:22 – Addie Sholly, assisted by Hadley Hoffsmith 2-0
4:39 – Keely Bowers, unassisted 3-0
2nd Quarter
13:00 – Addie Sholly, assisted by Keely Bowers 4-0
5:36 – Keely Bowers, unassisted 5-0
3rd Quarter
11:36 – Jovie Weaver, assisted by Keely Bowers 6-0
4th Quarter
7:24 – Carley Rice (WCE), assisted by Lydia Bechtel 6-1
:55 – Madi Gingrich, unassisted 7-1
Shots: Palmyra – 19, West Chester East – 5
Lackawanna Trail 1, ELCO 0
After becoming the final State Playoff qualifier from District 3 with Saturday’s win over Annville-Cleona, the Raiders were tasked with taking to the road to face the Lackawanna Trail, the District 2 Champions. The game was played tight, with the only goal being scored by the home team in the 3rd quarter. That goal ended ELCO’s magical season, which included a Section 3 Championship, the program’s 500th victory, and their first appearance at States since the 2002 season.
