News and Features
Blazers Win State Semi-final 3-0
The Blazers have their second championship chance due to a strong showing by senior Katelyn Vanderhoff (2 goals) and a tenacious defense.
By halftime, the Blazers held a 6-1 shot advantage and created four dangerous scoring chances to Fleetwood's zero. This can be credited to the defense of Katelyn Rittenhouse, Heather Gochnauer, Jackie Gyger, Rachel Kennel, Kori Wenger, Kara Loften and Celina Nissley -- a defense that stifled Fleetwood's outstanding scorers.
"We knew they were going to put a heck of a lot of pressure on us," Mennonite coach Dale Stoltzfus said of the Tigers (24-3-2). "But they didn't get a lot of great looks."
Still, Mennonite couldn't breath easily until Vanderhoff's scored her second goal. Caroline Augsburger scored later to make it 3-0.
"It was talked about all year, but we knew we had to work hard to get here," Vanderhoff said. "It wasn't a given we were going to get here."
One surprising setback along the way was a triple-overtime loss to Donegal in the District III quarterfinals after the Blazers overwhelmed the Indians 4-1 during the regular season. Donegal, who did not even make the league playoffs, took many teams by surprise to reach the title game. Now the winner of this third Mennonite-Donegal matchup will be crowned as the best AA team in Pennsylvania.
Blazers Defeat Dock in Semi-Finals
The Lancaster Mennonite sophomore Rachel Dickinson scored in double overtime to earn a 2-1 PIAA Class AA quarterfinal win over Christopher Dock Friday, May 29. The win takes the Blazers (22-4) to the state semi-final game Tuesday, June 2, at Hersheypark Stadium, where they will face District Three champion Fleetwood (25-2-2), whom they defeated in last year’s title match. The game starts at 3:30 p.m.
Christopher Dock, a Mennonite sister school in Lansdale, PA, certainly made things interesting for the Blazers. The second-place District I team came out strong to score the first goal. Although the Blazers controlled the action, all their shots were turned away by Dock’s outstanding goalkeeper. Finally, three minutes into the second half, Katelyn Vanderhoff took a pass from Ally Brown, avoided two defenders and drilled a shot past the keeper to tie the game.
"I told Katelyn to get square and facing the goal. She went with a fake, cut it back and then it was a great shot by her," said Blazers coach Dale Stoltzfus.
Vanderhoff had an opportunity chance to end the game in the first overtime, but her shot bounced off the goal post. In the second overtime, Brown was knocked down in front of the goal as she was about to score. No foul was called, but Dickinson scored the much-deserved goal 45 seconds later.
For the team's ninth corner kick of the game, Taylor Wenger lofted the ball to Rachel Kennel in the middle of the goal area. Kennel then sent the ball to Dickinson at the far post, where she used her upper body to direct the ball for the winning score.
"I know I played my starters too many minutes, but they are the ones you want on the field. Dickinson did not have to do a lot and steered it in. It was a great win," Stoltzfus said.