What could be better than starting off the field hockey season with a matchup between the last two PIAA Class AAA champions?
Well, winning that game.
Lower Dauphin, coming off of its 2012 state title, defeated 2011 champ Hempfield 3-0 on Friday, the opening day of the season.
Aliza Mizak, Devyn Barry and Anna Smuda all scored for the Falcons, who easily could have won by more. They had a 24-3 advantage in shots and a 17-3 advantage in corners.
The last time these two team had played was in last year's District 3-AAA third place game, won by the Black Knights 4-3. Hempfield finished as a state semifinalist last season.
Palmyra dominant early
Although Lower Dauphin won the banner game of opening day, it would be hard to top Palmyra's opening weekend.
The Cougars defeated Lampeter-Strasburg 8-0 on Friday without allowing a goal or a corner. Then they beat Hempfield 4-0 on Saturday.
"I'm very pleased with our ball movement and how we're taking care of fundamentals," Palmyra head coach Kristi Costello said. "Our team as a whole is playing really good defense. It starts with the forwards and trickles back."
Hempfield, meanwhile, is showing signs of some growing pains with a younger roster than its had the last two years.
"[Our opponents] are a lot of it, but we're also a very young team this year," Hempfield head coach Julianne Bojanic said. "We lost six seniors and only have two this year."
Boiling Springs scores at will
Boiling Springs outscored its opponents 21-0 in its own tournament on Saturday, defeating Spring Grove 10-0 in the opener and Bermudian Springs 11-0 in the final.
Mary Spisak scored three gaols and had three assists in the opener, then topped herself with four goals and an assist in the championship.
Spisak was not the only one to put up big numbers for the Boilers. Shannon Piccolo had three goals in the opener, and Shannon Susi had four assists in the final.
Other top scoring performances
Spisak's four goals in one game led the midstate this weekend, but there were other hat tricks.
Annville-Cleona's Alex Siebecker was the first to break through with three goals, getting her tallies in a 5-0 win over Lancaster Country Day on Friday.
On Saturday, Gettysburg's Andrea Uhlig scored three times in a 4-3 overtime loss to Camp Hill. Sydney Newman's goal in the extra period spoiled the hat trick.
Thoughts on judge's ruling
Last Wednesday, Commonwealth Court Judge Kevin Brobson ruled that the PIAA could ban boys from playing in traditionally girls' sports without banning girls from traditionally boys' sports.
The PIAA has not actually taken any such action at this time, and the soonest that anything on the field could be affected would be next year. But with some field hockey teams in Pennsylvania having boys on the roster, the ruling caught some attention.
Three coaches gave their opinions:
"I don't agree with it because they should have as much opportunity as the girls, and girls should have the opportunity to play boys sports. ... If you want competition, then you put your best players out there, whether they're boys or girls." - Susquehanna Twp. head coach Jess Reitzel, who has a male goalie on her roster
"That's a great ruling. I've always said that girls' field hockey should be for girls." - Lower Dauphin head coach Linda Kreiser
"I have mixed feelings. It's a shame there isn't a place to cultivate mens' or boys' field hockey, but there has been instances where its changed the game and instances where it hasn't. ... If that boy on a team isn't playing under control, that's a coaching responsibility as well." - Hempfield head coach Julianne Bojanic
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