LEWISBURG -- One of the characteristics of a championship team is the ability to make adjustments. Boy, did Selinsgrove ever adjust on Wednesday.
After a scoreless first half, the Seals adjusted to the tune of five second-half goals in rolling to their fifth consecutive District 4 Class AA title with a 5-0 victory over previously unbeaten Bloomsburg at Bucknell University's Graham Field.
The Seals (20-1), seeded No. 2 in districts, will make their eighth consecutive trip to the PIAA Class AA tournament beginning next week. Selinsgrove will take on the second-place team from District 11 on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. Top seed Bloomsburg (19-1), making its first appearance at states, will play the runner-up from District 3, with the site and time pending.
The Panthers' game plan was simple enough: pack the circle with enough players to create multiple layers of defenders between the cage and Selinsgrove's bevy of goal-scorers. It worked for a half, but the Seals made the necessary changes during the five-minute intermission.
"We talked about creating more corners and more breakaways," said Seals coach Cathy Keiser. "Our forwards needed to be more active, and we needed to be quicker on our free hits. We just needed to create more space and move more in the circle.
"My assistants (Roz Camp and Cheri Long) do a great job of seeing what's going on. Having more eyes is certainly helpful."
The shift in strategy paid off almost immediately, when Hope Burke converted off pads just a minute and a half into the second 30 minutes on a play that began with a free hit from the Bloomsburg 28.
"You struggle so much for that first goal, and then after that they start believing in themselves again," Keiser said.
Ashtin Klingler made it 2-0 at the 20:30 mark off an assist from Gina Kellett on the last of four consecutive Selinsgrove corners. The Seals produced 16 of their 20 corners in the second half.
Just a minute later, it was 3-0 when Candice Smith scored off an assist from Rachael Lawton -- again, off a corner.
"Before the game we discussed how the first 15 minutes were crucial, and I can't say enough about how we played in the first half. We couldn't leave anybody inside the 25 open. We had to mark them, and everybody stepped up," said Bloomsburg coach Chuck Baker. "The problem was the first 15 minutes of the second half. We had a lapse of about seven to eight minutes there, and (Selinsgrove) had more people crashing the cage in the second half. It's hard to pick up that many loose people."
The Seals made it 4-0 at the 14:20 mark when Klingler scored off pads following a free hit from the right side, and Coli Deckard added the final score with just under a minute remaining off an assist from Smith.
"We knew we were controlling the game (in the first half)," Keiser said. "We just had to step it up in the second half."
Baker noted how the game changed following Klingler's first goal, the second of the game.
"Their first two goals were scrambles in front of the cage. After (it became 2-0), our game plan had to change after that," he said.
Panthers goalkeeper Chelsi Oxenrider finished with 24 saves on 29 Selinsgrove shots, including a barrage of 19 in the second half. Seals keeper Amber Wendt finished with five saves, including two sprawling saves on one-on-one opportunities in the second half that preserved the shutout.
Before their halftime adjustment, the Seals were frustrated by long stretches of possession but nothing to show for it.
"They just loaded everybody in the circle," Keiser said. "We tried to create some things, but we're just not used to seeing a team stuff the circle like that."
Baker said the Panthers' experience against a perennial power will serve them well next week.
"(Selinsgrove is) a quality team, a quality program," he said. "We realize now that we can compete against a team of that caliber. We're in a new place we haven't been before."
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