Posted: Oct 31, 2012
PALMYRA, Pa. – As if a venue change thanks to Hurricane Sandy wasn't enough, Penn State Harrisburg had to deal with a second Storm this week, this one in the form of the visitors from Keuka on Wednesday, Oct. 31. Despite their North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) tournament first round playoff game being moved from Middletown to the "In the Net" sports complex in Palmyra, the Lions needed no adjustment period as evidenced by the scoreboard at the end of their 4-1 victory.
It took less than ten minutes for the Blue and White to get in the scoring act. In the ninth minute, sophomore defender Lindsey Haldeman (Grantville, Pa. / Hershey Christian) headed her third goal of the season past Keuka goalie Marriah Gough to give her squad the early lead. Sophomore Morgan Gates (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin) made the assist off a perfectly placed corner kick.
Freshman Fay Ansary (Hummelstown, Pa. / Hershey) added the Lions' next score 3:40 later. Ashley Pittman's (Redmond, Wash. / Bear Creek) cross found the frosh in front of the net and Ansary did the rest, putting her shot past the Storm keeper and picking up her 11th goal of the year.
Keuka's Sarah Capek kept her team in it when she broke away down the right side of the field and put her shot past Penn State Harrisburg goalkeeper Mackenzie Gates (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin) to cut the deficit in half in the 28th minute.
But the Lions' Lindsey and Lyndsay show pushed its team's advantage back to two scores when Haldeman sent a free kick into the box and junior Lyndsay Naughton (Reading, Pa. / Reading Central Catholic) headed it home past Keuka's second keeper, Maggie Tower, for her team-leading 18th goal of the season, making it 3-1 Penn State Harrisburg with 6:52 left in the first half.
A combination of solid defense and cold weather limited the scoring in the second half as both squads battled for quality looks. The Lions took advantage of one such scoring opportunity when Ansary took a ball down the right side and put her 12th goal of 2012 into the back of the net to make it 4-1 with just 3:51 left in the match.
Number three seeded Penn State Harrisburg's victory ended the Storm's season and set up a date with last year's regular season NEAC champion Lancaster Bible this Saturday, Nov. 3. The Blue and White will travel to the campus of this year's regular season champs from Penn State Berks where they will face off with the number two seeded Chargers in the last semifinal match of the afternoon.
The Lions will have revenge on their minds as they dropped a 2-1 decision to Lancaster Bible in the teams' only matchup earlier this fall. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.