LIME RIDGE — The message at halftime was simple Saturday afternoon — go out and have some fun.
Lake-Lehman thought it had a joyous moment when Ady Perlis found the back of the cage 40 seconds into the fourth quarter. The goal, though, was disallowed and the Black Knights couldn’t muster up any happiness the rest of the way.
Instead, Susquenita’s relentless attack finally broke through about three minutes later as the Blackhawks ended Lehman’s season with a 1-0 victory in the PIAA Class A field hockey quarterfinals at Central Columbia High School.
“When they came out after halftime we said you have to have fun,” Lehman coach Jean Lipski said. “You have to have some fun in this game. They were feeling so much pressure. I thought they played much, much better in the second half.”
The loss ended District 2 champion Lehman’s season at 15-8. District 3 third seed Susquenita (22-2) will play District 3 second seed Oley Valley (21-5-1) in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Although Susquenita had the better of the play throughout, Lehman thought it had the game’s first goal when Perlis rocketed in a shot from the middle of the penalty area. The game officials met and determined there was a whistle stopping play a tick before the shot and with 14:20 remaining.
“I knew he blew his whistle and I thought we’d have a corner,” Lipski said, “but then he called it coming out when we had scored.”
Three minutes later, Susquenita finally solved Lehman’s strong defense. Kaydon Brandt took a penalty corner from the left. The ball went in front of the cage and eventually to Braelynn Prinz. Prinz made a short pass to Brandt and she tucked the ball just inside the left post.
Lehman goalie Gigi Kirkutis kept her team in the game with a couple saves in the closing minutes. The Black Knights also played a player down for two two-minute segments of the second half and held the Blackhawks off the board.
The offense, though couldn’t generate any consistency. Lehman’s Kate Hynick and Olivia Oliver had solid crossing passes early in the third quarter, but neither connected with a teammate.
Susquenita outshot Lehman 11-0 and had a 16-0 advantage in penalty corners.
“It was very difficult to get into any kind of rhythm today,” Lipski said. “Once again, I don’t understand all of the corners because we haven’t had defensive corners like that called against us all year. It’s just hard to have that pressure, pressure and then make a break and start into your offensive rhythm again.”
PIAA Class A Quarterfinals
Susquenita 1, Lake-Lehman 0
Susquenita`0`0`0`1 — 1
Lake-Lehman`0`0`0`0 — 0
Fourth Quarter: 1. SUS, Kaydon Brandt (Braelyn Prinz) 10:55.
Shots: SUS 11, LL 0. Saves: SUS 0 (Sarah Clouser), LL 5 (Gigi Kirkutis). Corners: SUS 16, LL 0.