Trojans Lose HeartbreakerFree Access

The Hershey girls came tantalizingly close to knocking off defending District 3 2A lacrosse champ Twin Valley in the D3 final on June 1 at home.

The previously-unbeaten Trojans had a man advantage and the ball with less than three minutes left in a tie game.

In that situation, Hershey should have worked the ball and held its man advantage until it got a slam dunk shot.

Instead, the young Trojans tried an ill-advised shot early. It was blocked and the Raiders came up with the rebound.

The winning goal came with just over a minute left as Twin Valley prevailed, 7-6, to win the district title for a second consecutive season, while handing Hershey its first loss.

“That surprised me,” Hershey coach Corrie Anderson said. “I thought they’d hold the ball for the final shot (with only seconds left). But they went for the goal, which gave us time for a draw and a chance to get the ball back.”

The draw flew into the air and just over the stick of junior Oregon commit Hailey Russell.

The Raiders again came up with the loose ball and had little trouble running out the clock, as the tired Trojans chased.

Still, Anderson wasn’t displeased.

“We have a lot of sophomores and freshmen, who are going to learn from this game,” she said. “To be down a goal to Twin Valley is a great game between two very evenly matched teams.”

Hershey’s top scorer this season is sophomore Hanna Russell, who scored twice against TV.

“Hanna’s right around 80 goals on the season,” Anderson said. “When one of our girls gets to four goals in a game, we generally shut them down. I don’t believe in running up the score on anybody.”

That philosophy differs slightly from Anderson’s playing career at Hershey a decade ago. She scored 417 career goals, which was a state record at the time, with a season high of 114.

She then went to Millersville and suffered an injury her freshman year. She chose to retire from playing and concentrate on her nursing major.

The Hershey program, with three straight Mid-Penn Conference titles since she took over, is flourishing.

“My basic philosophy is, I prefer balanced scoring,” she said. “They don’t have to shut down just one scorer. We’ve got three players with over 50 goals this year and seven girls with 30.”

Also tallying a goal was Abby Hand, who opened the scoring to give Hershey an early 1-0 lead.

Russell would go on to score twice in a 30 second span to notch the game up 3-3 by halftime.

A second half goal from Russell and another from Meghan McDonald made it 6-5 late, but Hershey could not hang on to the lead.

PIAA Opening Round

Hershey outlasted host Danville 9-7 in the opening round of the PIAA 2A tournament on June 6.

A back-and-forth contest early, Avery Weaber and Hand each scored to give Hershey a 4-3 lead with under ten minutes in the first half. Hershey scored two more, as Weaber and Hanna Russell finished the half with two goals apiece.

Hershey led 9-4 with under ten minutes to play, but Danville scored three more goals to cut it close. The Hershey defense held on to move on to the state quarterfinals.

Hershey will face Mount Saint Joseph on June 10 with a time and site TBD.

Lower Dauphin

Cadyn Eismann and Katie Horwitz combined for eight goals in Lower Dauphin’s 19-11 loss against York Catholic in the D3 third-place game on June 1 at Kreiser-Hallman Field.

York Catholic struck first for a 1-0 lead, but Horwitz responded off a feed from Eismann. After going down 2-1, Horwitz and Eismann scored back-to-back goals to give Lower Dauphin a 3-2 lead. The lead didn’t last long as York Catholic scored twice to take a 5-3 lead midway through the half.

After a timeout, Eismann scored to bring the Falcons within a goal, off an eight-meter shot. The Falcons and Irish traded goals late in the half, but the Irish held a 9-6 lead at halftime.

York Catholic opened the half with back-to-back goals for an 11-6 lead, before Eismann scored twice to bring with LD within three. After both teams traded goals midway through the half, York Catholic scored five straight goals to secure the win.

“We continue to play competitive lacrosse, while sometimes coming up short,” head coach Bob Eismann said. “These are valuable experiences that will hopefully set us up for success next season.”

On June 6 in the opening round of states, Ashlyn La- Gray finished with six goals but the Falcons fell, 18-9, in the 2A bracket to host Mars.

Cadyn Eismann scored twice, adding four draw control wins and forcing three turnovers. Gabby Snedeker also tallied a goal.

“I am really proud of our players,” Bob Eismann said. “We were competitive in every game this season, exceeded everyone’s expectations. We return nine starters; our future is very bright.”