HUGHESVILLE -- If Danville is the team of the future, then what are we to say about the present?
The underclassmen-laden Ironmen, who entered the District 4 Class AAA playoffs just one game over .500, stunned defending champion and 2008 state quarterfinalist Milton 2-0 in the semifinals Monday at Spartan Stadium.
The fourth-seeded Ironmen (10-7-2), who will meet Selinsgrove for the title Thursday at a site and time to be determined, lost to No. 1 seed Milton twice in the regular season by scores of 5-0 and 3-0.
"We wanted a third shot at these guys," first-year Ironmen coach Tom Craig said. "I told the girls that if we got the first goal, it would take them out of their game plan."
Siobhan Bross and Korrin Hackenberg tallied the goals for the Ironmen. Bross' tally came from the run of play in the 30th minute, and Hackenberg scored on a penalty kick just before halftime.
Milton, the Heartland Athletic Conference Division I champion, finishes its season at 14-3-2. The Black Panthers see their run of three straight appearances in a district final end.
"It's about scoring and we didn't score," Milton coach Steve Thomas said. "My hat's off to Danville, because they did."
Danville started seven players Monday who are either freshmen or sophomores. One of those freshmen, Bross, opened the scoring when her shot from 25 yards hit the left post before bouncing back across the goal mouth and then into the side netting.
"I didn't think it was going to go in," Bross said. "That (goal) was big."
In the 37th minute, the Black Panthers' Mandy Metzger got a yellow card for a hand ball in the box. Hackenberg, who'd injured her ankle during a melee in the box on the preceding corner kick, took the penalty kick and buried it for a two-goal advantage.
"I couldn't really walk," Hackenberg said. "But then ... I thought this could be the last game of the season. I needed to go through the pain and kick the ball in the goal."
Down two goals at the break, Milton began to press in the second half. Metzger hit the crossbar twice in the second half, including once when Danville keeper Hayley Kay had slid to deflect a Caitlin Landis shot and was out of the play. Metzger's follow-up hit the bar and then bounced over and out of bounds.
"All we needed was a tap-in there," Thomas said. "But it happens: They're kids."
Landis, the two-time Daily Item Player of the Year and the program's all-time leading goal scorer, was taken down in the box in the 66th minute. The Black Panthers were given an indirect kick just outside the six-yard box. After Maggie Keiser touched it, Landis' shot was deflected. That would be Milton's last good opportunity to score.
"The game's about finishing and we didn't finish," Thomas said. "Danville had three quality chances, and they finished two of them."
High School Sports
High school girls soccer: Danville upsets Milton to rech District 4 Class AAA final
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