Annie Amentler’s early goal sends Hazleton Area to first-ever District 2 field hockey title game (2024)

HAZLETON — Before anyone at Harman Geist Stadium could barely blink, Kara Sanford rocketed a scalding shot toward the cage.

Her teammate Annie Amentler tipped it in.

It turned out to be the only thing the Hazleton Area Cougars needed to tip history in their favor.

Amentler’s goal 32 seconds into the game Thursday lifted Hazleton Area to its first-ever District 2 playoff victory with a 1-0 win over Wyoming Valley West, and sent the Cougars into their first Class 3A district title game Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Wyoming Seminary. Hazleton Area will face Coughlin, 7-0 winners over Delaware Valley.

“It feels awesome,” Amentler said. “It turned out exactly how we’d hoped.”

The Cougars won just one other postseason game in their history, but that was a play-in game to reach the District 2 tournament – where they lost in the opening round. And just last season, Hazleton Area came oh-so-close to reaching the district championship before falling 2-1 to Valley West in overtime in this same semifinal round.

But the Cougars weren’t about to have their dreams of playing for a district title stopped short this time.

“There’s no better feeling than this,” Sanford said. “We worked so hard to get to this spot.”

Sanford didn’t waste any time making her mark, sending a wicked, rising shot toward the center of the crease.

“It was awesome,” Amentler said. “Her shot came off so well. It was a really hard shot. I think when I tipped it, my eyes were closed.”

When they opened, the Cougars were celebrating her re-directed shot that changed Hazleton Area’s fortunes for good.

“Oh my gosh, that was just the greatest goal ever,” Sanford said. “I saw Annie and I pushed it to her. That one shot was the game.

“That’s all we needed.”

From there, it became a defensive struggle for the rest of the game.

Hazleton Area goalie Margaret Fulton fended off 10 Valley West shots, while the Spartans made nine stops on goal.

“I thought we were going to come back,” said Valley West coach Linda Fithian, whose Spartans split with Hazleton Area during the regular season and won the last time the two teams met at Harman Geist. “I thought it would go into overtime, maybe, like last year. I credit Hazleton’s defense. They played an awesome game. It’s a playoff game, the intensity’s a lot higher. And they’ve never been there (to the district finals).

“They had that extra little zip to them tonight and we didn’t.”

Now, Hazleton Area will zip into the Class 3A district finals against an unbeaten Coughlin squad to determine which team advances to the PIAA tournament.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Hazleton Area coach Mary Kelly said. “We talked about the team effort. We had to do it tonight for us. We believe in ourselves.We had to do it to get everyone else to believe in us. The girls were really juiced up.

“They wanted this very badly.”

Coughlin 7, Delaware Valley 0

WILKES-BARRE — Little more than three minutes into the district playoffs, Brigid Wood effortlessly slammed the first goal into the cage.

It got even simpler from there for Coughlin.

Wood’s wicked shot triggered a spree of six goals in just over 10 minutes for the Crusaders, who cruised into the District 2 Class 3A finals and got a chance to rest their starters through the game’s final 10 minutes.

“We were really excited,” said senior midfielder Savanna Robinson, who assisted on the team’s final two goals. “We knew it was either win or go home.”

Going home was never an option for a Coughlin team that rolled to the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 title and the top seed in districts with a 12-0 record.

Kyra Wozniak and Katie Anderson both scored two goals as Coughlin built a 6-0 lead in the 14th minute of the first half. Wood added an assist and finished the Crusaders’ scoring spree with her second goal off a feed from Robinson with 5:44 to play in the opening half.

“It was kind of even,” Coughlin coach Colleen Wood said. “Most every one of the forwards and mids had a piece of the scoring. That’s what’s nice.”

The Crusaders showed no signs of letup playing a Delaware Valley team they’d already beaten twice during the season.

“We have to play everybody hard,” Robinson said. “We pep each other up.”

Now Coughlin will face another team it’s gone 2-0 against when it meets Hazleton for the district championship Tuesday.

“It’s tough having that target on your back,” Colleen Wood said. “The face we have 11 seniors, that’s just motivation to keep your season going.”

Hazleton Area 1, Wyoming Valley West 0

Wyoming Valley West`0`0`—`0

Hazleton Area`1`0`—`1

First half — 1. HAZ, Annie Amentler (Kara Sanford), 0:32.

Shots — WVW 10; HAZ 10. Saves — WVW 9 (Nikki Hartzel); HAZ 10 (Margaret Fulton). Penalty corners — WVW 5; WVW 6.

Coughlin 7, Delaware Valley 0

Delaware Valley`0`0`—`0

Coughlin`7`0`—`7

First half — 1. COU, Brigid Wood 3:21; 2. COU, Kyra Wozniak 4:13; 3. COU, Katie Anderson (Hannah Rushkowski) 9:45; 4. COU, Anderson (Wood) 11:47; 5. COU, Wozniak 11:52; 6. COU, Kalie Reed (Savanna Robinson) 13:37; 7. COU, Wood (Robinson) 24:16.

Shots — DV 3; COU 7. Saves — DV 0 (Sophia Festa); COU 3 (Megan Novak 3, M’Kensie Lee 0). Penalty corners — DV 1; COU 7.

Amentler’s goal 32 seconds in sends Cougars to first-ever District 2 title game