Fleetwood’s season ends with loss to Mechanicsburg

DENVER » As the sun set and final seconds ticked off the clock Saturday evening, Casey Lynn Dewald could only reflect on one of the greatest field hockey careers in Fleetwood history.

Dewald scored her 50th goal of the season and 130th of her career in the fourth quarter of the District 3 Class 2A quarterfinal game against Mechanicsburg.

But it wasn’t enough to extend one of the school’s greatest seasons as District 3 runner-up Mechanicsburg held on to defeat District 3 No. 5 seed Fleetwood 2-1.

“I was thinking how great this opportunity was to play with all these girls,” Dewald said. “It was just all coming together this last year. It was our best season.”

The Tigers (19-6) battled the Wildcats (17-6) on even terms for most of the game. But Fleetwood was unable to score in the first half and went to halftime down 1-0.

Anne Manning scored in the second quarter and assisted on a goal by Gracyn Catalano with 9:23 left to give Mechanicsburg a 2-0 lead.

Fleetwood answered less than a minute later on what would be the final goal of Dewald’s high school career before she heads to Kutztown University.

But the Tigers were unable to get the equalizer and could only look back to the first half when they were unable to get the ball past Mechanicsburg goalie Emily Kraber.

“We didn’t get ready for the rebounds that first half to be able to pressure back into the goalie,” said Fleetwood coach Joyce Angstadt.

Both teams finished with eight shots. Elizabeth Miller made six saves for the Tigers.

Miller and Dewald were among 11 seniors on the roster who helped lead Fleetwood go from a team that went 9-7-2 in 2018 to a state quarterfinalist this season.

“This whole senior class was neat to work with,” Angstadt said. “They’re a great group of kids.”