By Matt Corbett
HERSHEY -- It doesn't get any more dramatic than this.
With Selinsgrove down to the last half-minute of its season, the Seals summoned the some-how, some-way willpower that characterizes miracle finishes. Hope Burke put in the tying goal with just 31 seconds remaining in regulation, and Ashtin Klingler provided the game-winner nine minutes into overtime as Selinsgrove rallied to defeat Donegal 2-1 in a PIAA Class AA semifinal thriller Tuesday at Hershey High School.
The incredible finish puts Selinsgrove in the state final for the first time. The District 4 champion Seals (23-1) will tangle with a familiar foe -- District 11 champion Lehighton -- for the state title Saturday at the Zephyr Sports Complex in Whitehall, near Allentown, at noon.
Lehighton was the only team to beat the Seals this season, winning 1-0 at home Oct. 17. The Indians and Seals also clashed in last year's PIAA first round, with Selinsgrove pulling out a 3-2 victory in double overtime.
But on Tuesday evening, it was all about the Seals advancing to their first state final, and in spectacular fashion.
"Wow. What do you expect me to say? It's just amazing to think of it," Selinsgrove coach Cathy Keiser said about her program's first trip to the biggest game of her long and successful coaching career. "But we knew it was possible with this group. They believe in each other, and there's just such a great chemistry with this team."
For the longest time, however, it didn't look like it was going to happen. District 3 champ Donegal (22-5) parlayed a penalty corner into a 1-0 lead just eight and a half minutes in, when Mary Lynam scored off pads after Amber Wendt made the initial save, with the assist going to Olivia Leaman.
The Indians maintained that slim lead for the next 51 minutes, though both teams had their chances. With just under eight minutes left, the Indians earned two corners, and it took a diving save by Wendt (eight saves) on the second to keep the deficit at one.
At just under five minutes, the Seals began to produce the type of offensive pressure borne of desperation. Keiser called a timeout with 2:42 left in regulation, and the next two minutes were marked by a series of turnovers. When the Seals finally got the ball back into the Indians' side of the field, there was less than a minute left. Klingler crossed from right to left to Coli Deckard, whose shot was blocked by Donegal keeper Jess Garber. Paige Bordner came up with the loose ball and pushed it to Burke, a senior captain, who punched it in from the left side for the tying goal with just 31 seconds remaining.
The goal set off a roar from the Selinsgrove fan base, and the Seals came off the field pumped up and looking forward to overtime.
"They knew they had to do it, and they did it," Keiser said. "That gave us the momentum heading into overtime."
Donegal coach Jessica Shellenberger foresaw her team's demise at that pivotal point.
"I could see it in the overtime. That goal was a huge momentum shift," Shellenberger said. "We were tired, and I saw (the winning goal) coming. I had already made peace with it."
Shellenberger credited the grit of Selinsgrove's senior class in coming up with the tying goal.
"They have (all those) seniors, and they were motivated because they didn't want their season to end," she said. "That's tough to contend with."
The seven-on seven overtime was wide open, with Donegal earning three corners over the first seven minutes. But the Selinsgrove defense was stalwart, and the Indians managed just one shot on cage during that period
Then it was Selinsgrove's turn to take the offensive, with the Seals earning three consecutive corners beginning with just under eight minutes left in overtime. On the third, the entry pass from Ashley Youngman -- who scored the game-winning goal in Saturday's 2-1 overtime win against Archbishop Carroll in the quarterfinals -- went to Burke at the top of the circle. Burke quickly fed Klingler to her right; Klingler dribbled right until she had an open look, then drilled a low slapshot from 15 yards out that found the center of the cage.
The Seals on the sideline rushed the field in celebration, piling on the players already there.
"I just had the feeling that this is the one.' We kept our composure and pulled through," Klingler, another senior captain, said of her winning shot. "We practice seven-on-seven every day, and we know we have a strong seven-on-seven team. We trust each other."
Keiser credited her seven seniors -- Burke, Klingler, Wendt, Gina Kellett, Molly Aucker, Lauren Markley and Katie Walborn, all of whom played key roles Tuesday -- with delivering a victory that appeared improbable until the final half-minute of regulation.
"Our seniors ... they really stepped up their level of play," Keiser said. "All of them stepped up and gave everybody a push.
"I've never had a team with this much desire. And they're loving it."
The love story will have an incredibly happy ending if the Seals can produce one more win Saturday.
