Mount St. Joseph falls to Palmyra in PIAA-2A first round
HERSHEY >> Mount St. Joseph Academy already had quite a challenge going against District Three Champion Palmyra.
But without injured star Megan Maransky, the Magic’s task was next to impossible.
Palmyra, state finalists a year ago, raced to a 3-0 lead by halftime and earned an impressive 5-0 victory over Mount in the first round of the PIAA-2A Playoffs at Milton Hershey High School Tuesday night.
“They are super fast and they work really well together,” Magic coach Susan Boyer Wentzel said of Palmyra, which won 1-0 over Mount last year in the first round of states. “They have some great shooters and we had to run around trying to defend them.”
Mount, the fifth-place team out of District One, saw a tremendous season come to a close.
Lauren Wadas got Palmyra on the board less than five minutes into the first half.
Alexa Derr then set up Mia Julian midway eight minutes later and Wadas was busy again, assisting Maddie Hudson to make it a 3-0 gap at the break.
Abbey Mateer, set up by Julian, and then Julian, assisted by Hudson, scored in the second half to polish off the win for Palmyra, which will face either Archbishop Carroll or Upper Perk in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Mount suffered some misfortune before the game even started, when it knew Maransky would be unable to go.
“She scored the winning goal against Gwynedd Mercy on Friday (in districts) and later that night she said her head hurt and she didn’t feel good,” Boyer Wentzel said. “She went down on a tackle and none of us realized it was that bad. We didn’t have her for practice (on Monday).
“She’s been our clutch player for pretty much most of our games. She’s not the only one we have but she’s pretty much the feeder of all the plays.”
Mount was a resilient group in 2019.
“We had a lot of ups and downs this season and fought all the way back to see these guys again,” Boyer Wentzel said. “We still have a good group coming back next year so I’m looking forward to it.
“This junior class, even as sophomores last year, is a good corps. They work really well together and we also had some sophomores step up this year and fill some gaps. We’re not losing a whole lot and can build on what we have. They work really well together and they’re fighters.”
Palmyra 5, Mount St. Joseph 0
(1-5) Mount St. Joseph 0 0 – 0
(3-1) Palmyra 3 2 – 5
First Half
P-Lauren Wadas, 25:52; P-Mia Julian (Alexa Derr), 17:18; P-Maddie Hudson (Wadas), 13:08.
Second Half
P-Abbey Mateer (Julian), 29:43; P-Julian (Hudson), 24:15.
