Palmerton knocks off Northwestern
Sarah Sabo was not born and bred to be a goalkeeper, but honestly, how many field hockey players are?
Her career in the cage began out of necessity last year when Palmerton needed a backup when coach Megan Leadbetter saw something in her footwork. Sabo needed only saves to record the shutout in Palmerton’s 3-0 win over rival Northwestern Lehigh in a Colonial League semifinal at Northern Lehigh’s Bulldog Stadium on Monday night.
She spent the rest of her time admiring the job her teammates were doing on Northwestern (13-5-1), the West champion and No. 2 seed. The Blue Bombers (14-4), seeded third, will play Southern Lehigh (16-2) in Thursday night’s championship at Catasauqua.
Sydney Frantz, Mikayla Pengelly and Tessa Sander all scored for Palmerton, which controlled most of the play. Frantz scored with a minute and a half left in the first quarter. Pengelly and Sander added insurance goals in the fourth.
The Bombers reached the league final after being knocked out in the first round a year ago. They lost to Northwestern early in the season but rebounded with a 2-0 shutout a few weeks later and then added another shutout Monday.
“It’s definitely amazing,” Frantz said. “We knew we could do it , but Northwestern is a really good team. We’re peaking at the right time. We’re playing the best field hockey we’ve ever played.”
“The first time we played them they were definitely in my head a little, but as the season progressed, my skills have definitely improved,” Sabo said. “When I go into a game, I usually don’t think about getting a shutout for my stats. I just want to stop the goal and win. When the ball is hit at me, it all go in slow motion. Everything slows down and I have time to think.”
Sabo had one tough save midway through the first but Palmerton kept her out of harm’s way, for the most part. Tigers coach Lissa Opolsky attributed her team’s inability to strike back to communication.
“We had some pretty good possessions in the first half,” she said. “We were able to take No. 8 [Frantz] out of the game minus her goal. We showed our youth pretty quickly with our lack of communication and that led to breakdowns in our transition back to offense.”
Leadbetter is in her second season at Palmerton after coming over from Northern Lehigh.
“It’s confidence, not cockiness,” she said. “It’s too easy for them to get caught up in the wins. But if they work, they girls know they can fulfill what their dreams are. That’s the bigger picture for
Palmerton. I know they can go out there and win but they have to truly believe it.”
Bangor (10-7-2), coming off an overtime win over Wilson in the first round, played Southern Lehigh even through halftime and into the third quarter. But the Spartans capitalized in transition midway through the second when Leah Kramer took a pass from Piper Gluck to deposit Southern Lehigh’s only goal, which stood as the game-winner.
“When the ball came across, I was just there,” Kramer said. “All that happened was I stopped it with my stick and hit it in.”
Southern Lehigh played so well that goalkeeper Macy Reese needed only two saves to earn the shutout.
Palmerton 1 0 0 2 — 3 Northwestern 0 0 0 0 — 0
Palmerton goals: Sydney Frantz, Mikayla Pengelly, Tessa Sander. Shots: 9. Penalty corners:
5. Saves: Sarah Sabo 2. Northwestern shots: 1. Penalty corners: 5. Saves: Emma Yanders
6.
Bangor 0 0 0 0 — 0 Southern Lehigh 0 0 1 0 — 1
Bangor shots: 2. Penalty corners: 7. Saves: Lilyana Hickler 10.
Southern Lehigh goal: Leah Kramer. Assist: Pipe Gluck. Shots: 11. Penalty corners: 10. Saves: Macy Reese 2.