Manheim Township scores 6 goals on corners to rout Warwick, advance to PIAA Class 3A field hockey finals

Momentary success is one thing, but consistent success brings results.

Manheim Township was consistently successful on its offensive corner opportunities, scoring six times on 16 corners, to defeat Warwick 7-0 in the PIAA Class 3A field hockey semifinals at Donegal Tuesday night.

The Blue Streaks (24-1-1), who have not allowed a goal in the state tournament, will play District 11 champion Emmaus in the state championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday at Cumberland Valley.

With three goals on its first four corners, Manheim Township took control of the game early. Brenna Campagna scored the first and third goal. Brooke Weaver scored the second tally and finished with three goals in the game.

“We talk about what we are going to do before each corner, but when I get the ball, I see what’s available,” said Weaver, a junior who also had two assists.

Campagna opened the scoring 4:25 into the action, shooting from the left post into the right corner of the cage. Weaver assisted.

For the second goal, Weaver dribbled from the top of the circle to the net and flipped the ball in with 6:53 to go in the first quarter. Nia Mountis was credited with an assist for the insert pass.

Campagna struck again with a goal off a rebound to make it 3-0 with 3:19 to play in the first quarter.

The Blue Streaks were making use of their experience against the Warriors, whom they had beaten three times this year, including a 3-2 decision in the Lancaster-Lebanon League final.

“We studied their (defensive) corners the last three games,” said Campagna, a senior who will be playing field hockey at Wake Forest next year. “We saw the left side was open, so we tipped the ball back to the insert side.”

The pace slowed down in a scoreless second quarter, but the Warriors (19-7-1) did not generate a shot on net in the first half.

“It didn’t seem like we answered the bell like we wanted to,” Warwick head coach Ron Stief said. “They never let us back in the game.”

In the District Three semifinals, a 4-0 deficit to Lower Dauphin turned into a narrow 4-3 loss, but Manheim Township took any such thoughts away quickly in the second half.

In the third quarter, the Blue Streaks converted on two more corners. Weaver earned her second goal with an assist from Campagna with 11:54 left in the period. Mountis scored on a rebound during an untimed corner at the left post to make it 5-0 entering the final period.

“It’s about having kids that are smart and are reading the play,” Manheim Township head coach Jess Shellenberger, a 1999 Warwick grad, said. “You tell them what to look for, but they have to see it. They have to see what’s open.”

Mountis and Rhylee Givens alternated positions on the Blue Streaks’ corners, each sometimes inserting and sometimes playing back behind the circle.

“I probably like being the insert more,” Mountis, a senior headed to IUP, said. “I like getting the ball into the players at the top.”

Weaver completed her hat trick and scored the game’s only open-play goal with 7:50 left on the clock with an assist from Sarah Ebersole.

Weaver finished off her big night with an assist on the last goal of the game, a tally by Cami Schwartz with 35 seconds remaining.

Warwick finished with eight shots on goal and nine corners. Taryn Toburen made six saves, including a nice kick save in the third quarter that prevented Campagna from picking up a hat trick.

Manheim Township goalie Zoe Caloviras made eight saves. She has not allowed a goal since the third period of the District Three championship game and has not allowed a non-penalty stroke goal since the second period of the District Three semifinals.