No. 1 Warwick casts spell on No. 4 Palmyra in District 3 Class 2 A semifinals, wins 3-1 to advance to title game

The Warwick field hockey team treats the circle like it’s a revolving door.

 

Once they’re inside it, they look for a shot. And, if that shot doesn’t work, they try again using a trick.

 

That unselfish chemistry and constant ball and player movement creates a synergistic lethal potion, which has helped to propel the Warriors to the 2024 District 3 Class 2A title game on Saturday. 

 

Warwick is the No. 1 seed in the 2024 District 3 Class 2A bracket. They outlasted No. 4 Palmyra 3-1 at Warwick on Wednesday night. The last time Warwick played in the finale was in 2013.

 

“We really try to get off as many shots as we can so then we can deflect them, and get gritty in the circle,” captain Addy Zimmerman said. “We’re just trying to get them in. It doesn’t have to be pretty.”

 

However, the goals were pretty, especially the second one scored at the start of the second quarter. The first goal of the game came quickly with just over three minutes in.

On a corner, Warwick’s Bree Zoccolo weaved in and out of Palmyra’s corner defense. Despite the Cougar’s diving defensive efforts, she was able to find a gap and put the ball away.

 

Palmyra struggled to find options in the midfield throughout the first 15, but improved in the second and third quarters.

 

At the start of the second, a Warwick duo teamed up to produce a show-off goal by Kenzie Ellis. It was a deflected shot that went above the goalie. She was assisted by Taylor Hess, who smashed the ball toward cage.

 

“We’re really happy,” Zimmerman said. “We knew that Palmyra is a really, good team. So, we knew that we had to give it our all to make it to the finals.”

 

Zimmerman, as defensive center mid, helped her squad a lot during the third quarter. Palmyra found an attack rhythm but couldn’t crack the cage. They went on a seven- or eight-minute run that featured near miss, after near miss.

 

But, even under increased defensive pressure, Warwick only allowed Palmyra five or six shots on goal. The teams were even in corners, each earning nine.

 

The game plan for Saturday’s district championship is to “spread the field, so we can find the gaps in the middle and use our speed out wide,” Zimmerman said.

 

Warwick is scheduled to play at 1 p.m. Saturday against No. 7 Northern York at Memorial Park in Mechanicsburg. It will be a clash between the Mid-Penn Conference and the Lancaster Lebanon League.

 

“What’s tough, I think, about playing against us is that it’s not just one kid, or one area that we attack, we can go right, middle, or left,” Warwick head coach Ron Stief said. “We encourage our kids to go left sometimes. Calli Martin, on the left side, has got as good of a stick as any around. Kenzie Ellis has about 10 goals now from the left side. That multidimensional attack is what we try to do. Karys Craver stirs the pot. She gets things going.”

 

Stief said he was “really pleased” with how his girls “weathered the storm” when Palmyra’s attack was focused.

 

“They had us back on our heels,” he said.

 

Warwick’s third quarter mood was stifled slightly when Palmyra’s AJ Walker landed a penalty stroke to make the score 2-1.

 

“I hate a 2-0 lead,” Stief said. “It’s so dangerous. When they scored the stroke, you saw us get a little deflated, but then we picked it up. The next goal matters. Our leadership and maturity took over. Last year, I don’t know if we would have responded and won the game, because honestly our kids were younger and hadn’t been in that situation before.”

 

Stief often repeats that Warwick was a powerhouse program for about 30 years from the late 1980s on. That was under the leadership of his predecessor Bob Derr, who coached the program to seven district championships, three state championships, and numerous Lebanon-Lancaster League Section 1 titles.

 

“Warwick is Warwick because of Bob,” he said. “We’re now falling in line with a legacy program. But the girls haven’t seen it. We’re starting to get there. There was a 30-year period where Warwick was near the top one or two.”

 

One of the reasons for that success, he said, is allowing them to have fun and be creative. It’s not about stats.

 

“Addy scored a goal this year and said, ‘I don’t care if I scored a goal or not,’” Stief said. “It’s serious. She just wants to win and play winning hockey. If we have this kind of kid, we’re going to do something solid. I think goals are nice, each game is different. This game unfolded differently than our last tough game with Manheim Township. I’ll take a 3-1 win. I won’t go back and get upset if we don’t get more corners. But, it will help us to see that we need to work on it. I don’t want to overcoach these kids.”

 

Palmyra had its chances, but they weren’t able to break the spell of not finishing on scoring opportunities.

 

“I think they did a really great job of spreading us out,” Palmyra assistant coach Kristi Costello said. “Our lines were disconnected, which is why they exploited us. I think we cleaned it up in the second half. We talked about where our spacing needed to be and I get it, I mean, our players were under so much pressure because they’re so fast. I get it that they wanted to hang back, but that caused our lines to become so spread and their through balls worked.”

 

The Cougars are going to work on their small game and small passes for the PIAA state tournament that begins next week.

 

“They were the better team tonight,” Costello said. “And, we wish them the best on Saturday. Hopefully, we can continue playing and see them again. We had opportunities. Our corners were much better, good shots, but we need that person to step up and be that finisher. Moving forward, they can visualize some of those goals, going in, and finishing them next time.”

 

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Photo: 2024 District 3 Class 3A semifinals, Palmyra at Warwick, Bob Benscoter

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