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WHITEHALL TWP. — This couldn’t be happening.
Someone seemingly pulled the plug on Wyoming Seminary’s high-powered offensive attack, and the shots that so easily turned into scores throughout the state tournament somehow shut down.
Credit Greenwood’s lane-clogging defense for preventing the Blue Knights from bringing home a seventh state title.
Instead, the Wildcats finally found a way to win their first.
Penn State commit Paityn Wirth scored first, Leah Bryner broke a tie and Greenwood frustrated Sem 2-1 in the rainy PIAA Class A field hockey championship Saturday at Whitehall High School’s Zephyr Complex.
“I think we came out without our A game,” Sem co-captain Kelsey Reznick said. “We weren’t playing the game we always play.”
Greenwood’s gritty defense had a lot to do with that.
Sem was limited to just nine shots — most of them on penalty corners — as the Wildcats swarmed the Blue Knights’ top scorers and made it a challenge just to enter their circle.
That prevented District 2 champion Sem (22-3), which was 6-2 in eight previous appearances in state title games, from winning its first PIAA title since 2013 — when none of the team’s current players were yet in high school.
And it took Greenwood (22-5 and the No. 3 team out of District 3) and its long-time field hockey and basketball coach Kent Houser to the school’s first PIAA championship in its first state final in either sport.
“They’re just very good defensively,” said Wyoming Seminary coach Karen Klassner, who fell to 6-3 in state championship games. “I’ve always said, defense wins you championships.”
This Sem squad boasted plenty of offense while bidding to become the school’s first state title team since 2013.
But the only goal the Blue Knights managed came when Aubrey Mytych, the team’s leading scorer, swatted a rebound of a penalty corner into the cage with 4:10 remaining in the opening half.
“If we would have played our game, we would have been champions,” Mytych said.
Instead, the Blue Knights were bogged down from the start.
Wirth struck quickly, slamming her 53rd goal of the season into the cage just under seven minutes into the game, putting the Blue Knights on their heels while facing a rare playoff deficit.
“Paityn Wirth played an amazing game,” Klassner said. “She showed why she’s one of the best players in the country.”
Meanwhile, the Blue Knights kept showing signs of struggle.
They never seemed to find the offensive firepower or flow that took Sem to two previous state wins on the same Zephyr Complex turf, as the Blue Knights had tons of trouble controlling passes and avoiding swarms of Greenwood players who continually rallied to the ball — long before the rain started to fall just before halftime.
Some early jitters may have played a part in Sem’s shakiness.
“Maybe just a little bit,” Mytych said. “But we came back and scored, so it was a new game.”
Not for long.
Bryner chipped in a roof shot on a penalty corner 43 seconds from halftime, marking the first time District 2 champion Sem allowed more than one goal in any district or state playoff game.
“I think the team was a little flustered,” Reznick said. “We couldn’t find a rhythm the whole game. They were playing good defense.”
Instead, the Blue Knights tried to crack Greenwood with a few late-game penalty corners, which created some hope if not scoring chances.
Greenwood flew to the insert passes so quickly, the Blue Knights barely had opportunity to push the ball into the circle.
“We had a lot of opportunities and didn’t finish them,” Klassner said. “That happens. You hope it doesn’t happen in a game like this.
“But it did.”
PIAA CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP
Greenwood 2, Wyoming Seminary 1
Wyoming Sem`1`0`—`1
Greenwood`2`0`—`2
First half — 1. GRE, Paityn Wirth (Courtney Fleisher), 23:03; 2. SEM, Aubrey Mytych, 4:34; 3. GRE, Leah Bryner (Fleisher), 0:43.
Shots — SEM 9; GRE 10. Saves — SEM 8 (Mia Magnotta); GRE 8 (Kelsey Sheaffer). Penalty corners — SEM 7; GRE 14.
