G-A hockey team ends season at districts

Greencastle-Antrim battled and battled and battled on the field hockey turf of the District 3-AA playoffs last week. So did the Biglerville Canners, who broke through with a goal in overtime to end the season for the Blue Devils.

This playoff action was intense from the start for first round competition and nothing changed until Biglerville laced the OT goal for a 2-1 sudden victory. The Canners had to contend with a hearty Blue Devil defense for the duration of the contest, forcing 16 penalty corners for the game and taking 16 shots. The Devils ended up with eight shots and six corners.

Still it was G-A that scored first. As she has done many times, senior Sarah Gipe delivered a ball to the front of the cage where classmate Brooke Strait banged it in. That was early in the second half after the teams had played a scoreless first.

The Blue Devil defense continued to withstand the Canner threats until just under five minutes in regulation. Biglerville’s score set up the seven-on-seven overtime period that just made the game more intense. With four minutes left, Biglerville scored to end the Devils’ season.

“We played well tonight, creating many scoring opportunities,” said G-A head coach Jen Everetts. “We had a lot of girls step up in a big way.

“Emiley (Maiorana) and the rest of the defense stepped up to shut them down several times, including two stick saves by Lauren Durniak.”

Maiorana made eight saves from her goalie position in the contest.

G-A’s final record for the season was 13-4 and 8-2 in the Mid-Penn Conference Colonial Division for second place.

Everetts added, “Although the loss is very disappointing, especially for our seven seniors, the team played a consistent, skillful game for 60 minutes.”