Big second half puts Villa Maria in state final

The entire first half went by, and a good chunk of the second half came and went, and one began to be concerned that Villa Maria (21-1-1) might be denied a trip to the state finals in a game it controlled, but couldn’t score.

Finally, with 11:24 to play, freshman Lindsay Dickinson put the Hurricanes on the board. That opened the floodgates as Megan Vermeil added a pair of goals to give Villa a 3-0 win at Emmaus High School. The loss was the first first of the year for Moravian after 22 straight triumphs.

The win gives the Hurricanes a slot in Saturday’s state title game — Villa’s third trip to the finals in four years. The Hurricanes will play District 2 champ Crestwood, who advanced with a 3-0 victory over Oley Valley, at the Zephyr Sports Complex at noon. Crestwood will be playing in its third straight title game, one of those contests was a 2-1 overtime victory over the Hurricanes in 2012.