EMMAUS Ashleigh Thomas moment came midway in the second half.

The junior was in open field with only the goalkeeper standing in her way. As Oley Valley defenders chased her down from behind, the junior was able to get off a shot. It went wide and high.

The missed opportunity stung, so when Thomas collected a rebound off the keepers pad on a penalty corner, there was no way that ball wasnt going to find the back of the cage.

It was a little disappointing working it all the way up, Thomas said. I got so psyched. To mess it up right at five yards was kind of upsetting. It just gave me that much more drive to work together with my team and try to get that goal back.

Thomas redemptive goal gave the Comets (23-0-1) the breathing room it needed and paved the way to a 3-0 win over Oley Valley in the semifinals of the PIAA Class 2A Field Hockey Championships at Emmaus H.S. Tuesday night.

The win sends Crestwood into the finals for the third straight year. They will face Villa Maria, the No. 1 seed from District 1 and 3-0 winners over Moravian Academy. The championship game is slated for noon on Saturday at Zephyr Sports Complex in Whitehall.

Im so excited, Thomas said. Even if we make it to the same point, it still gives you that excited feeling. Im so excited.

After a sluggish start in their quarterfinals matchup against Selinsgrove, the Comets came out with much more energy.

Crestwoods first goal came at 6:06 in the first half on a busted penalty corner. Jordan Olenginski took advantage of a feed from Sarah Macko to put the Comets on the board.

From there, it was all about the Crestwood defense. Cara Jarmiolowski made a strong defensive stop on the goal line early in the second half, while Katie Karpinski and Lauren Rowski help to hold an Oley Valley offense that scored 105 goals this season scoreless. The Lynx finished with five shots on goal and four penalty corners, in comparison to Crestwoods 11 shots on goal and nine penalty corners.

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Comets heading to state finals