She was trying to send a message to the Trojans, right?
Well, not exactly.
“I couldn’t find my Under Armour,” said Bowman.
The message was delivered anyway.
Bowman led a strong defensive charge and four different Mountaineers scored a goal in a 4-1 win against Nanticoke in a District 2 Class 2A quarterfinal game on Wednesday.
The No. 4-seeded Mountaineers (10-6) will play top-seeded Wyoming Seminary (14-1) at 7 p.m. Monday at Klassner Field in Kingston. The Trojans end their season with an 8-7-1 record.
While many fans wore winter jackets, hats and gloves while bundled under blankets, the two teams battled for 60 minutes through a 38-degree temperature and a gusting, biting wind.
“I was a little cold,” said Bowman with a smile, while shivering through a postgame interview. “The weather didn’t affect us. We practice all of the time in cold weather, so that helps. We also run on our own on the weekends and it’s usually cold, so you get used to the weather.”
Dallas used a quick transition from defense to offense to take a 1-0 lead on a Tara Puffenberger goal with 10:17 remaining in the first half. The Mountaineer senior didn’t play during the regular season meeting between the teams – a 2-0 win by Nanticoke.
“Dallas has a very good team,” said Trojans head coach Lori Dennis. “Puffenberger spreads the wealth around. When she plays well, everyone around her plays well.”
The Mountaineers struck again before the halftime whistle sounded. This time, senior Nicole Clemson took a pass and found the back of the cage for a 2-0 lead with 5:38 remaining.
Nanticoke had an excellent scoring opportunity late in the first half. With less than 30 seconds remaining, Katie Nearhouse blasted a nice shot toward the left corner of the goal, but the ball struck the side of the cage.
Dallas took advantage of an open goal to make it 3-0. Nanticoke freshman goalkeeper Alexis Gorski made a tremendous split-save, but the ball bounced off her leg pad and Mountaineer sophomore Sara Martin tipped in the rebound with 9:49 left in the game.
“We’ve really been really working hard on the play of our forwards and playing well inside the circle,” said Dallas head coach Kylie Rosengrant. “We know teams are going to be marking Tara tightly. We’ve been working on opening other options that will give our other forwards scoring opportunities like they had today.”
Nearhouse struck quickly following Martin’s goal, finding the back of the cage with 7:30 remaining. Dallas sophomore Danielle Krawetz closed out the scoring on a goal with 1:18 left in the game.
“We need to keep giving it 110 percent in every practice and every game,” said Bowman. “We played good against Seminary last time. We need to play better this time.”
 
| Nanticoke |
|
|
0 |
1 |
— |
1 |
| Dallas |
|
|
2 |
2 |
— |
4 |
First half: 1. DAL, Tara Puffenberger, 10:17; 2. DAL, Nicole Clemson (Puffenberger), 5:38. Second half: 3. DAL, Sara Martin, 9:49; 4. NAN, Katie Nearhouse, 7:39; 5. DAL, Danielle Krawetz (Clemson), 1:18.
Shots: DAL 10, NAN 5; Saves: DAL 3 (Meghan Martin), NAN 6 (Alexis Gorski); Corners: DAL 7, NAN 11.
Crestwood 4, Northwest 0
Jenna DiSabatino scored midway through the first half for the only goal the Comets would need to triumph in a District 2 Class 2A quarterfinal game.
DiSabatino also added an assist on one of Jenna Chrismer’s two goals. Cassie DiSabatino also scored for Crestwood, which got a shutout from Kylie Licata on four saves.
 
| Northwest |
|
|
0 |
0 |
— |
0 |
| Crestwood |
|
|
3 |
1 |
— |
4 |
First half: 1. CRE, Jenna DiSabatino, 20:38; 2. CRE, Cassie DiSabatino (Kayla Gluchowski), 14:50; 3. CRE, Jenna Chrismer (J. DiSabatino). 9:48. Second half: 4. CRE, Chrismer, 25:47.
Shots: NW 4, CRE 20; Saves: NW 18, CRE 4 (Kylie Licata); Corners: NW 6, CRE 8.
