HUNTINGDON — Rebecca Bonness recorded a goal and an assist as the State College Area High School field hockey team defeated Mifflin County, 3-1, to win its fourth straight District 6 Class 3A championship on Oct. 16 at Juniata College.
The win improved the Lady Little Lions record to 7-11 and qualified them for the District 3 tournament. State College was scheduled to meet Central Dauphin after the Gazette’s press deadline on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at Lower Dauphin High School.
“It feels surreal winning not just this District 6 title, but three in a row with me and my staff. Our girls work so hard day in and day out, so we are just really proud this accomplishment,” State College coach Bethany Mink said. “Mifflin County always makes for an exciting game. I feel for us, we have experience playing in these high energy, high stake games. We have strong leadership in the senior and junior classes and in preparation for this championship game.”
Libby Fortin scored what turned out to be the deciding goal with a second-half goal that answered a tally by Mifflin County’s Hailee Sheetz that tied the match at 1-1. State College got the ball upfield to earn a corner. Bonness swept to Maddie Tambroni when then dished off to Sarah Shallenberger. Shallenberger fired toward net, enabling Fortin to redirect for the go-ahead score.
Bonness added insurance with 4:18 left when she took a hard shot into the left post after receiving a pass from Leah Moyer.
Bonness also delivered on the final pass leading to Lizzie Paterno’s goal that opened the scoring at the 24:57 mark of the first half. That was the only scoring before the intermission. Sheetz netted the equalizer at 18:29 of the second half.
“The team made a statement when Mifflin County scored to tie the game 1-1 and, within 2 minutes, we took the ball down, earned a corner, and executed it perfectly to take the lead once again,” Mink said. “My staff and I had complete confidence in them the entire game, but that moment, we knew there was no backing down from them.”
Bayla Furmanek registered two saves for State College, whose defense was able to keep Mifflin County from mounting many threats. Mifflin County’s Colette Beeler stopped eight shots.
“We passed the ball really, really well. We looked for our teammates, we looked to make each other look good. Our finishes on goal, some of the best we have produced all year, and Mifflin County’s goalie, Coletta Beeler is phenomenal, so the fact we were able to finish at the level, just really great,” Mink said.
The Lady Little Lions had split a pair of regular-season encounters with the Lady Huskies. State dropped a 1-0 decision in Lewistown on Sept. 11 but got revenge with a 4-0 victory on senior night at the North Turf Field on Oct.
2.
This will be the third time this season State College has faced off with Central Dauphin this year.
The Lady Little Lions came up on the short end in a pair of Mid-Penn Commonwealth contests, falling 6-2 on the road and 6-1 at home.
“We know this is one of the top districts in PA for producing great field hockey players. We know the work ahead for our game Wednesday, and my coaches and I are very exciting to see them go to work Wednesday versus Central Dauphin,” Mink said.
