With the score tied, the momentum in Spring Grove's possession and her team still a goal away from securing at least a share of the Division I title, Central York coach Liz Critchfield reminded her team how good she believes they are.
"I told them that Central is up here and we need to stay up here," Critchfield said, holding her hand about five feet above the ground. "We're the No. 1 team here in York County. Everybody is a good team, don't get me wrong, but these girls played hard."
Senior Kim Podolsky (above) went on to score a goal in double overtime to give the Panthers the 2-1 victory and a piece of the division title. It was the culmination of Central's strong play in the extra sessions, and not unlike what the Panthers have achieved over the second half of the season.
Central turned things around after a 2-4 start, going 11-0-1 since to take a 12-game unbeaten streak into next week's YAIAA tournament.
During that 12-game stretch, the Panthers have allowed a total of 11 goals and have scored three or more goals themselves nine times. Their only league loss came in the first game of the season when they lost 2-1 against South Western.
Podolsky said that loss stung and gave the Panthers a bit of a wake-up call.
"It started right after that game," Podolsky said. "We lost to South Western and we said: 'You know what girls? It's time to just focus." I know we went into that game thinking we had it won and you should never go into a game thinking that. Right after that we just changed our mentality and started working hard at practice and we've been doing well ever since."
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