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Paced by two goals from Lindsay Janoskie and a strong second half, the top-seeded Paint Branch field hockey team pieced together a 3-0 win over fourth-seeded Blair Tuesday in a 4A South Region semifinal contest in Burtonsville.
Janoskie scored the match's first goal with about five minutes left in the first half off a restart and through passes from Rachel Heiss and Heather Jenney. Janoskie and Jenney punched in a goal apiece in the second half to lift the Panthers (14-2) to Thursday's regional final, where they will face third-seeded Magruder, a 2-1 winner against seventh-seeded Whitman (8-6) Tuesday.
The regional final will be played at 7 p.m. at Blair High.
The Blazers finished with an 8-6 record.
"The first 20 minutes were back-and-forth," Paint Branch coach Dan Feher said. "I think our conditioning held up. The last 15 minutes, we got stronger, which is a testament to the hard work the girls have done. We really turned it on in the second half. We were able to take over the game a lot with our ability."
Magruder advances
The Colonels (10-6) took a 2-0 lead off of goals from Colleen Harwood and Tori Meyers and then, after enduring a goal by Whitman's Celeste Pilato, held the Vikings off to advance to the 4A South Region final.
"I know they're on a roll," said Magruder coach Kathy Mulholland of Paint Branch, which earned a 2-1 overtime win against the Colonels earlier this season. "It was a good, even match [the first time]. Hopefully, we can finish out better than we did that day."
Cougars, Bengals will square off for 3A title
Top-seeded Quince Orchard continued its run back to the state playoffs with a 3-1 win against fourth-seeded Clarksburg Tuesday afternoon to advance to Thursday's 3A West Region final. The Cougars reached the 4A state final a year ago before falling to juggernaut Severna Park.
Leah Hunsinger posted two goals and Maddy King added a score for Quince Orchard (13-3), which will play second-seeded Blake (7-7). The Bengals, who are clearly playing their best field hockey of the season, crushed third-seeded Einstein, 5-0, behind 4 assists and 1 goal from Justine Allen.
"We attacked pretty quick and scored in the first minute," said first-year Blake coach Patrick Howley, whose team fell, 3-2, in overtime to Quince Orchard to start the season. "We had it in front of their goal the whole time. They only got inside our 25 once. We had 20 shots on goal. My team has only gotten better as the season has gone on."
Clarksburg, which won the program's first playoff game last week, finished the season with a 7-9 overall record. Katie Bertrand, the team's top scorer, posted her squad's lone goal.
"We set some goals at the start of the season and one of those goals was to win a playoff game," said Coyotes coach Sissy Natoli. "We were able to get that goal. It was good to see the girls play with confidence."
Falcons soar to region final, will face Century
Poolesville's first appearance in the 2A West Region playoffs has been a successful one so far with two wins in two matches for the second-seeded Falcons (11-2). The latest victory was a 1-0 decision over third-seeded South Carroll Tuesday in a regional semifinal contest.
"It was a great game to coach and watch," Poolesville coach Regina Grubb said. "It was very intense and went back and forth. Both teams had seven corners and we were able to capitalize on one of them."
Dakota Bierly notched that game-winning goal that propelled the Falcons into Thursday's region final against top-seeded Century. The match is slated for 3 p.m. at Century.