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Penn State suspends starting DT Antonio Shelton for Minnesota game

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College Corner: Tunkhannock’s Sohns helping lead FDU-Florham field hockey

CLARKS SUMMIT &#8211; Abington Heights coach Errol Mannick was pleased with how well his team kept the ball off the feet of Kayla Fernandez in the first half of Tuesday&#8217;s District 2 Class 3A girls soccer semifinal.In the second half, Fernandez confirmed why Mannick found that so important.Fernandez and Sarina DeFinnis set up each other&#8217;s second-half goals and Jaydn Michael posted a five-save shutout to lead Berwick to its first championship game appearance in seven years with a 2-0 victory.It was the second straight shutout away from home against a higher-seeded opponent for Berwick, which will hit the road one more time to try to avenge its only two Wyoming Valley Conference losses in Thursday&#8217;s final at Dallas.Fernandez started and ended two successful transitions that led to Berwick goals.As the Lady Bulldogs made their way up field following a save by Michael, Fernandez dribbled toward the right corner, putting her in position to center to DeFinnis for the goal on a header early in the second half.Later in the game, Berwick came out of its own end following a goal kick and Fernandez used her speed to remain ahead of the pack while dribbling for more than 30 yards to finish a breakaway off a touch by DeFinnis.&#8220;Once she gets it, you&#8217;re going to be in trouble, so our goal was not to let her get it in the first place,&#8221; Mannick said. &#8220;I thought in the first half, we did a good job of that. In the second half, we got caught sitting behind her.&#8220;We don&#8217;t have the speed to match up with her. If you don&#8217;t win it off her in the first place, she&#8217;s going to give you some trouble, which is what happened.&#8221;On the other end of the field, Dia Cruz, Katie Starr, Abbie Seely, Leighton Force and Rachel Whitenight were making sure the Bulldogs were consistently winning the battles in the air.&#8220;That was the key to the game,&#8221; Berwick coach Paul DiPippa said. &#8220;I told them, &#8216;you win every ball in the air and I like our chances&#8217;.&#8221;DeFinnis made sure Berwick won the most important ball in the air on offense. Her shot off the Fernandez cross broke a scoreless tie 4:44 into the second half.Fernandez, a sophomore striker, said she has been working on her crosses and made sure this one was in the air longer and in a position more in reach of her charging midfielders.&#8220;Usually it&#8217;s behind me,&#8221; DeFinnis said. &#8220;It was a lot easier for me to get my head on the ball and just hit it as hard as I could.&#8221;Top-seeded Abington Heights, the Lackawanna League Division 1 champion, had a Riley Mulherin shot carom off the corner of the post and crossbar about three minutes after the DeFinnis goal. Once behind, 2-0, the Comets earned three corners kicks in the final 4:05, but never put another shot on goal.Dallas 6, Valley View 0Ali Francis became Dallas&#8217; all-time leading scorer as the Mountaineers blanked Valley View.Francis scored two goals in the game and now has 132 for her career. She got the scoring started 22:54 into the game off an assist from Emma Sweitzer. Liv Delevan followed with a goal at 11:35 off another Sweitzer assist to close out the scoring in the half.In the second half, Dallas scored on a Valley View own goal and unasisted goals from Delevan and Liv Maniskas.Jensen Meade made five saves to record the shutout.District 2 Class 3A SemifinalsBerwick 2, Abington Heights 0Berwick`0`2 &#8212; 2Abington Hts`0`0 &#8212; 0Second half &#8212; 1. BER, Sarina DeFinnis (Kayla Fernandez) 35:16; 2. BER, Fernandez (DeFinnis) 14:12.Shots &#8212; BER 12, AH 12. Saves &#8212; BER 5 (Jadyn Michael), AH 7 (Abigayle Steenback). Corner kicks &#8212; BER 3, AH 8.Dallas 5, Valley View 0Dallas`2`3`&#8211;5Valley View`0`0`&#8211;0First Half &#8211; 1. D, Ali Francisc (Emma Sweitzer), 22:54; 2. D, Liv Delevan (Sweitzer), 11:35. Second Half &#8211; 1. D, own goal, 18:28. 2. D, Delevan (UA), 12:54; 3. D, Liv Maniskas (UA), 5:20. Shots &#8211; D 23, VV 5. Saves &#8211; D (Jensen Meade) 5, VV ( Carroll) 16. Corners &#8211; D 8, VV 1.<style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom RobinsonFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div>

H.S. Soccer: Second-half goals lift Berwick to Class 3A title game