Hopkins’ overtime goal lifts Conestoga to PIAA-3A quarters win over Manheim Township

EXETER TWP. >> Every once in a while, the stats don’t tell the whole story. Sometimes, the stats just plain lie. Conestoga flat out dominated every statistical category during the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal against Manheim Township. Well, every category but one, and that is the one that matters most — the score.

The Pioneers might not have dominated the score like they did the action, but thanks to a goal from Keating Hopkins late in the second overtime, Conestoga (21-2) had all the margin they needed in that category, gutting out a tight 2-1 win over a Manheim Township (18-6) squad that just wouldn’t quit.

With the win, the Pioneers advance to Tuesday’s semifinal round, where they will face District 3 champ Lower Dauphin, a 2-1 overtime winner over Great Valley Saturday, at Exeter Twp High School. Game time is slated for 6:30 p.m.

“I am just so glad this is finally over,” said Hopkins, through tears of joy. “I honestly had no idea the ball was coming. I thought the goalie had another save. But I knew we’d be able to do it, the way we’d be dominating the whole overtime. We had so many corners, at least one of them had to go in eventually. I’m just thrilled to be back in semifinals, closer to the goal of a state championship.”

But it sure wasn’t easy.

“For whatever reason, we were just having trouble finishing,” said Conestoga coach Regan Marscher. “But the girls didn’t let it get to them and just kept plugging away. No one got frustrated, and just knew we’d eventually find a way to get it done.”

Despite holding a 9-1 advantage in penalty corners over the course of the first half, the Pioneers went to the break at halftime down 1-0, as the Blue Streaks were able to convert on their lone corner try, getting a goal from Maddy Wagner, with an assist.

“Given how much we dominated, it was unfortunate that we gave up that first goal,” said Marscher.

“Dominated” might be underselling it a bit. The vast majority of the game, was spent on the Pioneers offensive half of the field, and Conestoga finished the game with a 27-4 advantage in penalty corners, while outshooting the Blue Streaks 24-7. But thanks in large part to the play of goalie Zoe Caloviros, who had 22 saves on the day for the Blue Streaks, the game stayed even most of the day.

“That goalie did an amazing job for them,” said Marscher. “She deserves a ton of credit for their effort. She really kept them in the game.”

Conestoga finally got on the board early in the third period when Alyssa Mullin made a beautiful pass in front on Calovirus to Kate Galica, who slammed home the equalizer.

“This game meant so much to us all, especially the seniors,” said Galica, who will be playing lacrosse at the University of Virginia next year. “Especially for me, since I’m not playing in college. I didn’t want this to be my last field hockey game, and none of us were going to let this be the end of our season.”

The Pioneers had plenty of opportunities to end it in regulation, forcing 12 corners after Galica’s goal. Then another five in the first period of overtime, including a pair with the clock at 0:00.

Finally, with time ticking away in the second overtime, and the game looking like it might be going to penalty strokes — a tough proposition for the Pioneers given the play of Caloviros in goal — Hopkins came through with her heroics, converting a corner with 1:50 showing on the clock.

Conestoga 2, Manheim Township 1
Manheim Twp 0 1 0 0 0 0 — 1
Conestoga 0 0 1 0 0 1 — 2
Goals: Manheim Twp — Wagner, Conestoga — Galica, Hopkins.
Goalie Saves: Caloviros (MT) 22, Lepore (CON) 6