Kratz scores 4 goals, Mount St. Joseph tops Gwynedd Mercy in District 1-2A quarters

SPRINGFIELD >> In a District One 2A quarterfinal matchup, the No. 3 seed Mount St. Joseph Academy field hockey team rolled to a 5-1 victory over visiting No. 6 Gwynedd Mercy Academy Thursday afternoon.

Leading the way for Mount St. Joseph was senior Julianna Kratz with four goals in the win.

“It feels really special to get four goals against a good team like Gwynedd Mercy,” said Kratz. “My teammates set me up really good and I was just there to finish it.”

Gwynedd Mercy Academy scored first with a goal from Alaina McVeigh just seven minutes into the game.

Mount St. Joseph answered back seven minutes later with a goal from Megan Maransky to tie the game at 1-1.

Kratz later gave Mount St. Joseph the lead, her first goal to give the Magic a 2-1 advantage just before halftime.

With Mount up 2-1 lead heading into the final 30 minutes, Kratz notched her second goal just eight minutes into the second half.

Kratz later got the final two goals in exactly two minutes halfway through the second half to set the score at 5-1.

Gwynedd Mercy would not go down quietly heading towards the end of the game, but ultimately Mount St. Joseph walked away with the 5-1 victory.

With the win, the Mount St. Joseph field hockey team advances to the districts semifinals at No. 2 Villa Maria Academy 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

More importantly, the Mount St. Joseph team also clinches a spot in the PIAA-2A tournament.

“Our goal from day one was to make it to the state tournament,” said Kratz. “I think we are really excited for our next game, but we just got to keep doing what we’re doing and we’ll focus on states when we get there.”

First year Mount St. Joseph Academy head coach Sue Wentzel was thrilled for her team to make it so far in the postseason.

“I can’t tell you what it means to make it to the state tournament,” said Wentzel. “It’s unbelievable especially since this is my first year here.”

“Besides Kratz, there are so many strong players on this team and it really is a team effort,” added Wentzel. “I think this is well deserved and I believe that we are going to take it all the way.”

“So going into the next game, we have faced Villa Maria twice this season,” added Wentzel. “I can’t tell you how much we want to beat them because the point spread was one goal in both games in the last minute, so we are going to come at them strong.”

As for Gwynedd Mercy Academy, its hopes of reaching for the state tournament are still going as the top five teams in the tournament qualify. However, the Monarchs have to win two games to playbacks to make states starting Tuesday at home against No. 7 Bishop Shanahan at 3:30 p.m.