“You have to win championships to win championships.”
Manheim Township field hockey head coach Jess Shellenberger was not trying to channel her inner Yogi Berra when she said that after the Blue Streaks won the District Three title two weeks ago. She was making a point about how her team has built up winning experience this year.
From a Section One title to a Lancaster-Lebanon League championship to the district crown, the Blue Streaks have been able to build on each previous accomplishment to achieve the next.
With those smaller championships in tow, Manheim Township (241-1) has earned the right to play for the most prestigious title in Pennsylvania high school field hockey, the PIAA Class 3A championship.
“Yesterday, I cried at the start of practice just thinking that they’d have the chance to play in the state finals and get the chance to walk on to that field,” said Shellenberger, who is in her second year at the helm and coached Donegal to state gold in 2016 and 2018.
But there will be another team that has proven its worth with previous titles standing in the way when the Blue Streaks walk onto that Cumberland Valley field at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Emmaus (25-1), the District 11 champion, doesn’t just have titles from this year. Emmaus has a collection of 14 state championships since 1991, including victories in 2020 and 2021 that some of the current Hornets were on the field for. All together, Emmaus has a 13-3-1 record in state championship games. The tie came in 1994, when the PIAA still allowed co-champions.
Not that the Hornets are relying on history. They have plenty of talent right now.
Melea Weber has produced offense that some entire teams would envy, scoring 65 goals and racking up 26 assists. She scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Lower Dauphin in the semifinals.
But Emmaus has firepower around the field with three other players who have double figures in goals and assists: Emmy Horner (20 goals, 17 assists), Haley Kvacky (13 goals, 19 assists) and Autumn Held (13 goals, 11 assists).
Emmaus goalkeeper Emma Cari has saved 80% of the shots she has faced and has a 0.5 goals-against average.
Manheim Township will counter with an offense that has seven players with over 25 points. Leading the way with 55 points each are Brenna Campagna (19 goals, 17 assists) and Brooke Weaver (15 goals, 25 assists). They are coming off one of their most productive games, Weaver scoring 3 goals and Campagna 2 in the Blue Streaks’ 7-0 win over Warwick in the semifinals on Tuesday.
The other top scorers, in order of total points, are Sarah Ebersole (17 goals, 5 assists), Calli Campagna (11 goals, 7 assists), Rose Montgomery (12 goals, 4 assists), Rhylee Givens (12 goals, 4 assists) and Nia Mountis (10 goals, 7 assists).
Goalie Zoe Caloviras is the centerpiece of a defense that has not allowed a goal in the last 208:01 of play. Caloviras has stopped 81% of the shots put on net and has a goals-against average of 0.74.
Unlike Emmaus, Manheim Township does not have a long-standing record of success in the postseason. Its league and district titles this fall were the first on the Blue Streak mantle. But one encouraging sign is recent history: In all three classes last year, the state champion came out of District Three.
And not all the state championship experience is on Emmaus’ side. Although the Blue Streaks have never made the state finals in field hockey, the Campagna sisters have been a part of state championship games for Township’s girls lacrosse team.
“These kids do know what it takes to get there and what it means to be there,” Shellenberger said.
Manheim Township and Emmaus had two common opponents. The Blue Streaks beat Lower Dauphin 2-1 in the District Three final, while the Hornets beat the Falcons 2-0 in the PIAA semifinals. Manheim Township beat Penn Manor two out of three times, the last being a 2-1 overtime win in the District Three semifinals, and Emmaus downed the Comets 4-1 in a regular-season nonleague game.
