Admittedly, Jessica Shellenberger's 100th victory behind the bench didn't showcase artistry in field hockey. But the coach and her Donegal Indians were mightily pleased to have it.
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The win, a 2-0 decision over District One third seed Springfield Montco at Hershey High School on Tuesday night, vaulted Donegal into the PIAA Class AA quarterfinal round.
The Indians (22-4) play again Saturday, when they'll meet District Six champion Indian Valley, at a site and time to be determined.
"It wasn't a very controlled style of hockey (Springfield) was playing," said Shellenberger, whose players honored her with flowers and presents after Tuesday's tilt. "They were crashing and hitting the ball and being physical. That was expected, but I don't think we responded very well to it.
"It's an unpredictable way to play, and that makes it difficult. Because the first time you see them set up, it goes this way; the second time it goes another way. And you've got young players on the field who aren't used to adjusting … it was just a little bit of a snowball at times of one problem after another."
The Indians came out looking a bit flat on the sticky Hershey turf. They didn't get their first lasting penetration into Spartans territory until about 18 minutes remained in the first half. From that point on, though, they had plenty of chances.
Laura Gebhart, Jenna Hunter and Katie Robinson in particular seemed to always be on the ball, driving it in or around the circle. Donegal had the advantage of a host of penalty corners and shots — eight and five in the half, respectively — but keeper Maggie Olson and the rest of the Spartans defense earned a shutout in the first half.
Less than two minutes after play began in the second half, the Indians rather emphatically announced they'd had enough.
Gebhart picked up the ball near the top right of the circle, drove nimbly through some traffic and blasted a shot, unassisted, past Olson with 28:08 left to play.
"(At the half, coach) mainly told us was to keep possession, and make really good low block tackles, especially coming up our right side," Gebhart said. "So the main thing was to do a little liftover to get through them, and to just keep communicating. … It worked."
While the goal gave the Indians the edge in the game, it gave the Spartans an edge to their play. Suddenly, they were all over the ball, pounding it toward the Indians' cage time and time again. For the next 20 or so minutes of play, they sorely tested the Indians' patience and defense.
"We were stuck in our defensive 50 for a good bit of time," said Gebhart, a junior midfielder. "But once we got things settled and a bit more under control, we started to attack more."
Finally, with about 10 minutes left in the game, the Indians got the first of their six corners in the half. Just like that, they retook control. And with just under seven minutes to play, Gebhart passed the ball to freshman forward Sammi Yoder, who beat Olson for the Indians' second goal.
"When you have a great player like Gebhart, who's able to step up and put her team on the board … sometimes you need that in a game like this, where things aren't going your way consistently," Shellenberger said. "You need a leader to step up and lead. She was able to do that, and it calmed the team. Then the second goal came, and I then I think we gained control."
Lehighton 1, Lancaster Mennonite 0: Echo Bretz knocked in a goal at 11:42 in overtime to lift the host Indians (23-0) over the Blazers (16-8). Abby Fry had the assist. Lehighton had 15 corners and 13 shots to Mennonite's five corners and three shots.
The Indians advance to face Crestwood in the quarterfinals Saturday at a time and place to be determined.
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