By Matt Corbett
SELINSGROVE -- With an ailing and battered lineup, and facing an opponent they've never met before, the Selinsgrove Seals will return to the basics for Saturday's PIAA Class AA quarterfinal.
District 4 champion Selinsgrove (21-1), making its eighth consecutive appearance in the state playoffs, takes on District 1 champ Archbishop Carroll at 11 a.m. at Hershey High School. Selinsgrove advanced out of the first round with a 3-0 victory over District 11 runner-up Southern Lehigh, while Archbishop Carroll, from the Philadelphia suburb of Radnor, defeated District 1 runner-up Sacred Heart 3-0 on Tuesday.
The Seals have never met the Patriots in PIAA play, and will be playing on an unfamiliar field on the artificial turf at Hershey High.
"We've never played (a team) from that district before, so we really don't have anything to go on," Selinsgrove coach Cathy Keiser said. "We weren't able to scout them, but we're ready for it, as ready as we can be. We're going to go with what we do and believe in it.
"We've tried (in the past) to adjust to other teams, but that takes you out of your game. We're not willing to do that. They're going to have to adjust to us. If it doesn't work out ... that's just the way it goes."
The Seals are hurting a little heading into Saturday's matchup. Starting senior goalkeeper Amber Wendt and junior forward Ashley Youngman missed practice Thursday due to illness. Keiser expects both to be ready for Saturday's game, but has contingency plans in place if they're not.
Of equal concern is the status of senior center back Gina Kellett, who took a stick to the face late in the first half of Tuesday's win over Southern Lehigh and left for further medical attention. She'll wear a protective mask Saturday, the same one she wore after suffering a broken nose during the 2008 season.
"She was uncomfortable with that at first, but she understands (why she has to wear it)," Keiser said. "It obstructs her vision a little bit; sometimes she has to look through (the sides) instead of the eye holes, so it affects her peripheral vision. But the more she wears it, the more comfortable she'll be with it."
Despite the physical ailments, Keiser likes where her team is at right now.
"The last two days we had very good practices. There are little areas we're working on to get better," she said Thursday. "It's the small stuff right now."
Archbishop Carroll got two goals from senior Meg McKee in Tuesday's win over Sacred Heart, and Patriots goalie Mia DePlato produced a shutout. But Keiser doesn't plan any extra coverage against McKee, nor any other change of plans.
"We're just going to go with our own style. We feel we're good enough to win if we play our game," Keiser said. "It's not any different from any other game. You mark every girl in the circle and play your own game."And if Kellett struggles with that uncomfortable mask, Keiser says her teammates are ready to fill the void.
"They're definitely comfortable with Gina at center back, and they're happy she's back," Keiser said. "But they're ready to step it up if they need to."
