Gracyn Catalanos OT goal lifts Mechanicsburg to PIAA 2A field hockey Championship over Palmyra

SILVER SPRING TOWNSHIP Mechanicsburg senior Gracyn Catalano knew when she received the ball in front of the net with the PIAA 2A field hockey title on her stick, the game was ostensibly over.

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Mechanicsburg defeats Palmyra 1-0 in the 2A field hockey state title game

I knew I had a teammate on post. I knew I had two options. I knew Wed be able to get it in at that very moment. Having numbers up, that’s a bug advantage in field hockey, she said.

Catalano, off a feed from Casey Tyrell who hauled the ball upfield, got a shot past Palmyra goalkeeper Haleigh Lambert with 30 seconds remaining in overtime to give Mechanicsburg a 1-0 Victory over the Cougars in the PIAA 2A field hockey Championship game Saturday at Chapman Field.

We were able to get possession after numerous Palmyra corners, Catalano said. We switched fields and our defender (Tyrell) was able to run it up with the give and go and I put it in the back of the cage.

The Victory was sweet for the Wildcats. Not only does it mark the first PIAA state team championship in school history, it came against the Mid-Penn Conference Colonial Division foe that beat them twice this season.

Mechanicsburg (21-4-1) was 0-2-1 against Palmyra (21-3-2) this year, including a 2-1 loss in the District 3, Class 2A semifinal. The Wildcats qualified for the state tournament as the third-place team from District 3.

We obviously peaked at the right time, said Mechanicsburg head Coach Tonya Brown. Hershey won the division, (Palmyra) won Districts and now we won the state. It says a lot about the division. When we lost to Palmyra in the District semifinal, I said to the team that this happens for a reason.

We don’t know what the reason is at that point in time and here is the reason. We got to come to the states. I talked about how Lower Dauphin, Hershey and Palmyra have lost in Districts and come back in the states. I thought we could do it from that point on. I can’t put this into words, to be honest with you. Im overwhelmed, Brown said.

Both teams had their share of opportunities to break the game open in regulation time.

Mechanicsburg’s Cam Standish, a Division I commit to Ohio State, was robbed of a goal at the 5:20 mark of the third quarter, when Palmyra goalkeeper Haleigh Lambert stopped a point-blank penalty stroke.

Later, a Wildcat shot got past Lambert, banged off the post, and came back into play with 12 minutes remaining in regulation.

Their goalie had a great game, Brown said. Legit, normally, that (penalty stroke would have gone in. We were very fortunate. Our defense stood strong. They had a lot of chances but so did we.

Palmyra also had numerous chances against Wildcats goalkeeper Lexi Ray who turned away several shots in the waning minutes of regulation and overtime.

We knew that nothing was guaranteed in this game, since Palmyra is an amazing opponent. We only beat them one other time in program history, Catalano said. Since they were a senior-heavy team, to come out with this win, the last game well played together, to go out with that bang, is like, the best.

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