Weekend tournaments are an interesting subplot in the larger story of the field hockey season.
The tourney games do not count towards league standings, although they do count towards district power ratings. They guarentee teams two games in one day, which never occurs any other time when schedules are put together.
While the nature of the tournaments might be different from regular season or even postseason games, one thing remains consistent. Good teams usually win them.
This past Saturday, Boiling Springs, Lower Dauphin and Palmyra all won their own tourneys, and all showed why they are contenders for division titles and playoff success.
Boiling Springs takes battle of unbeatens
The Bubblers, who entered their tournament with an 8-0-1 record, edged out Mechanicsburg 1-0 in the first round and faced Northern in the finals. The Polar Bears were 9-0 after downing Carlisle 4-0.
After Shannon Susi scored the first of her two goals just 1:27 into the game, Boiling Springs never trailed. Mary Kate Spisak also had a pair of goals for the Bubblers, who are 11-0-1 after adding on a non-league win over Biglerville on Monday.
Although Northern fell from the unbeaten ranks on Saturday, the day was not a total loss. The Polar Bears had goals from Steph Strock, Meghan Gallagher, Brooke Sheibley and Devon Hake in the win over Carlilse.
Lower Dauphin scores at will
The Falcons started their tournament against District 7 rep North Allegheny. The Tigers have had success against teams in the western half of the state, but nothing went their way on Lower Dauphin's field.
At halftime, the Falcons led 8-0, only once going more than four minutes without a goal. Lower Dauphin went on to win 10-0.
The championship game against perennial District 3 contender Warwick figured to be more competitive, and it was, but not by much.
Lower Dauphin won 6-1 over the Warriors. Abby Julius had two goals and two assists as the Falcons took a 4-0 lead in the first half. Morgan Bitting also had two goals in the game.
The Falcons won five games in five days, having beaten Susquehanna Twp. on Tuesday, Middletown on Wednesday and Mechanicsburg on Thursday leading up to the tourney. Those scores were 5-0, 11-0 and 5-1, respectively.
In the other first round game, Warwick defeated Cumberland Valley 3-2 in overtime. The Eagles bounced back with a 3-1 win over North Allegheny in the consolation game. Taylor Nesmith scored twice in the first half to put Cumberland Valley ahead to stay.
Palmyra continues to cruise
With Northerns loss, listed above, Palmyra is the only team in the Mid-Penn with a perfect record. That was never put in much jeopardy in the Cougar Classic.
Kiley Gallagher scored two goals for Palmyra in a 5-0 opening-round win over Ephrata. Then Erin Huffman scored twice in the finals, a 9-0 victory over Greenwood.
Nicole Berger made five saves combined for the double shutout.
Palmyra is now 10-0, and has outscored its opponents 60-4 so far this season.
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