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First Posted: 11/18/2013
Rebecca Schulman received the pass as she broke into the circle in the clear.
Schulman tried to quickly get off a reverse chip shot in an attempt to break a tie late in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class AA field hockey championship game.
When Schulman was unable to pull off the difficult shot on the move, she did not panic. She gained control of the ball as she moved left, turned and sent it to the far post.
Gabby Grossman was headed to the spot where she could redirect the pass into the cage with three minutes remain and lift Wyoming Seminary to its sixth state championship with a 2-1 victory over Crestwood pn Nov. 16 at the Zephyr Sports Complex in Whitehall.
“Rebecca Schulman had the ball on the wing and was dribbling it,” Grossman said. “We’ve been working on it all year and I knew she has a great hit.
“I knew what my job was, which was to get in and go for the tip. I cut in right when I saw her hit it.”
The two Shavertown residents combined on the play that decided the state championship, completing a season in which players from the Back Mountain were prominent in helping Wyoming Seminary to the state championship.
“I was going for the reverse chip. I thought I could make that, but I missed so I got the ball, turned it around, took a quick shot and Gabby Grossman was right there on the post, right where you’re supposed to be,” said Schulman, who originally received the pass from Morgan Malone. “She tipped it right in. It was perfect execution. I’m so proud of her.”
Schulman scored the first goal to help Wyoming Seminary recover after Crestwood moved in front early in the second half. The Blue Knights avenged losses in the regular season and the District 2 championship game and ended a 39-game winning streak by Crestwood, the defending state champion, to win their third state title in four years.
“It was a great win,” Schulman said. “It was so exciting winning and finally beating Crestwood and ending their winning streak. It’s a great feeling.”
Mallory Lefkowitz and Malone combined for more than half of the Wyoming Seminary goals during the season, but were shut out in the final.
“Scoring was our issue,” Wyoming Seminary coach Karen Klassner said. “They concentrated on taking Mal and Morgan out of our game. We needed other kids to step up for us to win the game. And they did, Grossman and Schulman really stepped up.”
Half of Wyoming Seminary’s starting field players are Back Mountain residents.
Schulman and Grossman were joined by Alexis Quick, also from Shavertown, and Isabella Del Priore and Molly Turner from Dallas.
Quick was the team’s third-leading scorer with seven goals and seven assists. The junior forward was selected as a second-team Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1-AA all-star.
Schulman, a senior forward, tied Quick for third on the team in goals and picked up her first assist on the state-title winning goal.
Grossman, a sophomore forward, was sixth on the team with six goals and three assists.
Del Priore, a junior defender, made a key defensive save with eight minutes remaining and the state final tied, 1-1.
Turner, a senior who played both midfielder and defense, was another second-team division all-star.
Katie Stemrich, a junior defender from Sweet Valley, was one of the team’s key reserves.
Other Back Mountain players on the team were freshman forward Carly Clemente and freshman forward/back Payton McCormick from Dallas, unior forward/midfielder Corinne Conyngham and freshman forward Sarah Schulman from Shavertown.