Dock Mennonite downs Archbishop Wood, advances to PIAA-1A quarterfinals

CHELTENHAM >> Dock Mennonite struck twice — early, and never lost a grip on its PIAA-1A opener with Archbishop Wood.

“It’s really exciting because as long as I’ve been here, we haven’t gone this far,” said Olivia Zaskoda, a midfielder for Dock. “It’s just exciting to play and keep going.”

The 2-0 win advanced the Pioneers to Saturday’s quarterfinals, against Bloomsburg or Wyoming Area.

“This is big,” Dock coach Michelle Waldspurger said. “It’s a young team. I have one senior (Lydia Longacre). The girls are playing great – they’re pumped.”

The Pioneers gained control right away on Tuesday afternoon at Arcadia University, with Zaskoda knocking one in to make it 1-0 a little over eight minutes into the contest.

“I inserted it to Celeste (Derstine), she took a shot, and I was on the post. I ramped it up so it went in,” Zaskoda described afterward. “I think it’s really important (to start fast) so you know that you have that goal, and you want to get another one.”

Dock did just that, this time off the stick of Eden Schrag. The Pioneers led 2-0 with 4 minutes, 49 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Pioneers were then able to limit Wood’s scoring chances and stayed in control.

“We did keep possession real well today,” Waldspurger said. “We are a turf team so that does help. Things are coming together well.”

Longacre and Ainsley Moyer helped lock things down defensively for Dock and Derstine was key on the forward line.

Dock had a 14-3 advantage in corners and a 13-1 edge in shots.

Still, Wood, which captured its first District 12 title this fall, kept battling in the third and fourth quarters, trying to get within a goal.

“The first six minutes killed us, but we played them 0-0 the rest of the game,” said Vikings coach Jennifer Konow, who directed the squad to its first states appearance in over two decades. “I would have loved to see one or two sneak in for us but unfortunately it didn’t go our way.

“We have a really young team so we’re looking forward to coming back next year. Dock’s a nice team – hats off to them, they came out ready to play. And they got us back on our heels.”