MECHANICSBURG — There’s something about these two teams in the postseason.
Eighty minutes is not enough to get a result.
For the second year in a row, Central Dauphin and Manheim Township played for the District Three Class 4A title, Saturday night at Cumberland Valley’s Eagle View Middle School.
For the second year it took overtime to decide a winner.
Central Dauphin’s Jazmine Zakhar chested Makenna Kirk’s cross into the net in the fifth minute of OT, bringing the Rams (21-0) to victory and releasing any residual demons from 2022 when it was the Blue Streaks, on Ava Byrne’s goal in the 109th minute, who prevailed in OT.
“When that goal went in the only thing I could see was one minute, 24 seconds (on the clock),” said Rams coach Chris Jones, recalling last year’s finish. “That one minute, 24 seconds has been burned in my brain for the last year. I told the girls, ‘Do we want to wipe the slate clean and move on from it?’ I think we’re moving on from it.”
Having qualified for the PIAA tournament, which opens Tuesday night, both teams are moving on. The Rams will host Central Bucks East, the sixth-place finisher out of District One. Township heads east to the Main Line to play Conestoga, the District One runner-up.
Saturday’s match was like a heavyweight prize fight. It certainly was the best game of the year, bar none. “What you hope for in a championship game is for two teams to go after each other like this,” Township coach Terry Law said. “Hands down the best game I’ve seen this year.”
The game played out as a tale of two halves. The Rams had the better of the first half with eleven chances, the best being Kayden Williams’ attack in the 18th minute.
She took control of the ball out near midfield, dribbling deep into the offensive third. Township keeper Marianthi Saxinger came out, Williams got around her and, with a wide open net in front of her, pulled her shot just outside the right post.
In turn, the Blue Streaks (21-2) had only five chances in the half, the best when Elaine Warfel volleyed an entry from the right wing. The ball sailed to the far post, hitting just inside the post. Rams keeper Samantha Widnick, initially startled, gathered herself and plucked the rebound on the “fair” side of the goal line.
The chances were 14-8 Township in the second half, with the Streaks heartbreakingly close to scoring on several occasions.
“I really thought we were going to get one,” Law said.
CD center back Isabella Zulli nearly put Township on the scoreboard in the 60th minute as she tried to clear Savannah Reed’s entry pass, inadvertently sending the ball at, and just past, the left post.
With 10 minutes to play Reed’s corner service came to Warfel at the far post. Widnick grabbed Warfel’s header for the save. With 4:40 to play Reed sent a cross to the far post. Ava Byrne went to flick it with her foot, her try going parallel to the goal line and out of play.
It was on to overtime and if the Rams were rattled, Jones calmed the mood as he gathered the team by the bench. “I’d say we were, like, devastated when (regulation) ended,” Zakhar said afterward. “We had a really nice talk. You gotta keep a smile on your face. You have to stay calm.”
The Rams got a corner, only their second of the match, four minutes in. Kirk’s service came into the box, but was initially cleared, back to Kirk.
“I made a run, but it didn’t quite go to the middle,” Zakhar said. “When (Kirk) got the ball back, she played it in a perfect placement. I was already on the run. I had to finish it.”
She finished it, and finished the game.
“It was just a great game,” Law said. “Unfortunately we didn’t put one away and they did. I wanted to play well tonight, and we did. I couldn’t be prouder.”
