Click here to subscribe today or Login.
WHITEHALL — In a desperate attempt to finally break through a maddening Moravian Academy defense, Kate Supey sent a scalding shot toward the center of the cage.
The goaltender blocked it like a stone wall.
A second solid attempt by Maranda Moosic again threatened to dent the scoreboard.
That one was turned away, too.
Lions goalie Caroline Spugnard stuffed Lake-Lehman’s two best scoring chances in the final 12 minutes Wednesday and Moravian recorded its 16th shutout of the season by bumping the Black Knights from the PIAA Class 2A playoffs with a 2-0 victory in a state opener at Whitehall’s Zephyr Complex.
“They had a great goalie,” said Supey, a senior who finished the season as Lake-Lehman’s leading scorer. “We had great shots on that goalie. She was able to just get behind the ball.”
Not that the Black Knights got many opportunities, and that put them behind from the start.
They managed just one shot on goal in the first half and one more during the first 15 minutes of the second, before finishing with six for the game.
“They have high forwards that we’re not really used to,” said Moosic, Lehman’s only other senior on a team that finished 15-3 with the only other losses coming against District 2 champion Crestwood. “I think in the second half, we played a lot better and we were close to scoring.”
Point-producing machine Mayv Clune made sure that wouldn’t be a problem for Moravian, as the Lions junior punched home her 42nd goal of the season 3:08 into the game to put Lehman in a 1-0 hole.
That deficit doubled near the end of the first half, when Dana Turner lifted a high shot above everyone and into the cage to boost the Lions’ lead to 2-0 just before intermission.
“I had faith in our kids,” Lake-Lehman coach Jean Lipski said. “There was never a time when I thought we would not go down and score.”
But Moravian made its bid for a fifth consecutive shutout in the postseason stand up to the end.
That bid faced a bit of jeopardy from Supey and Moosic, Lehman’s only two graduating seniors.
But Supey’s one-timer from the top of the circle following a Lions timeout thudded hard off Spugnard’s closed pads. And when Moosic put some mustard on her own shot moments later, Spugnard turned that one away, too.
“They came out,” Lipski said of her spirited group of Black Knights, “and the emotion they took back out with them really shifted into a momentum change. I thought if we could just put in a goal there, another one might easily follow. Because they’re not used to being scored on.”
Instead, Spugnard stayed strong, and that first goal Lehman was searching for never came. It sent the 22-1 Lions on to face defending state champ Villa Maria in Saturday’s Class 2A state quarterfinals, while Lehman was left looking forward to next year.
“They’re defense is just tough in the circle,” Lipski said of the Lions. “Their goalie had some nice saves. They’re aggressive, they go to the ball, clear it out hard.”
PIAA Playoffs
Class 2A
Moravian Academy 2, Lake-Lehman 0
Lake-Lehman`0`0`—`0
Moravian Academy`2`0`—`2
First half — 1. MOR, Mayv Clune 3:08; 2. MOR, Dana Turner 16:35.
Shots — LL 6; MOR 8. Saves — LL 6 (Alicia Galasso); MOR 6 (Caroline Spugnardi). Penalty corners — LL 5; MOR 7.
Class 3A
(From Tuesday)
Coughlin 5, Central Bucks West 4
Central Bucks West`1`3`—`4
Coughlin`3`2`—`5
First half — 1. COU, Brigid Wood 3:58; 2. CBW, Emily Halderson 9:15; 3. COU, Kyra Wozniak 10:52; 4. COU, Wood (Savanna Robinson) 17:04. Second half — 5. COU, Wood (Kalie Reed) 1:37; 6. CBW Bryn Boylan (12:03); 7. COU, Wozniak (Wood) 17:06; 8. CBW, Taylor Mason 18:13; 9. CBW, Cadera Smith 17:22.
Shots — CBW 13; COU 16. Saves — CBW 11 (Courtney Wescott); COU 8 (Megan Novak 4, M’Kensie Lee 4); . Corners — CBW 22; COU 11.