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Published
November 10, 2009 06:20 am - History suggests that the Selinsgrove hockey team
may well advance to the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals, perhaps even to
the state semifinals.

Matt Corbett's column on high school
field hockey: Can Seals produce a date with destiny?

History suggests that the Selinsgrove
hockey team may well advance to the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals,
perhaps even to the state semifinals. The question is, can they
reach that elusive state championship game?

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The seal-of-consistency Seals are now in
their eighth consecutive state tournament. At 20-1 -- with the only
loss coming on the road against District 11 powerhouse Lehighton --
these Seals are on par with some of the great Selinsgrove teams of
the past eight years, including the 2006 and '07 teams that went
unbeaten until losing their first -- and only -- games during the
state tournament.

Selinsgrove, the five-time defending
District 4 Class AA champion, will take on District 11 runner-up
Southern Lehigh today at Bucknell's Graham Field at 5 p.m. in a PIAA
first-round game.

To be honest, states haven't been kind to
the Seals. In those seven previous state appearances, Selinsgrove
reached the state quarterfinals four times before falling. In two of
those years (2002 and 2004), Selinsgrove lost in the first round.
And in 2006 -- the first of the Seals' two consecutive undefeated
regular seasons -- Selinsgrove reached the Class AA semifinals
before losing to Wyoming Seminary 3-1, which went on to win the
state title that year.

Last year, Selinsgrove knocked off
Lehighton 3-2 in double overtime in the first round before falling
to District 1 runner-up Christopher Dock 1-0 in the semis. This
season Selinsgrove was again the class of District 4, rolling
through the regular season and the D-4 tournament without a loss.
How do the Seals' chances this time around compare to previous
seasons?

The question was posed to Selinsgrove
coach Cathy Keiser, who was understandably reluctant to look beyond
today's matchup against the Spartans -- who lost to Lehighton, the
only team to defeat the Seals, 5-0 in Saturday's D-11 final -- a
game Selinsgrove assistant Roz Camp was able to scout. Still, Keiser
offered an interesting perspective on this year's squad compared
with those of the recent past.

"I think (this year's team) is right there
with them. We're really strong down the middle and in the midfield,
and they support each other so well," Keiser said. "We've had
(similar talent) in the past, but talent is never enough. These
girls support each other on and off the field. We feel we have the
motivation and teamwork to get there.

"I just have a good feeling about this
year."

And there is reason for that good feeling,
the primary one being balance. The Seals don't have a Morgan
Fleetwood, the program's all-time leading scorer, who graduated in
2007 and is now plying her trade at Indiana of the Big Ten. There's
no Danica Deckard, now seeing playing time as a freshman at Ohio
State. Instead, there's a group of seven or eight players -- ranging
from forwards to midfielders to backs -- who can put the ball in the
cage. If you concentrate too much on one or two, you run the risk of
leaving open seven or eight.

"(The scoring) is very balanced. They
really don't care about who finishes," Keiser said. "They're more
concerned about setting it up."

And that might be the key. The Seals still
play their full-field, high-octane game at top speed, as they have
since they began playing on the artificial turf at Harold L. Bolig
Memorial Field in 2004. But more options produce more opportunities,
and these Seals are full of options.

No one is looking past Southern Lehigh
today. As Keiser noted, "Once you get to states, all the teams are
good."

But asked if the Seals would relish a
rematch against Lehighton -- which would happen only in the state
final -- Keiser was emphatic.

"Why wouldn't we? It was a 1-0 game, and
we didn't play our best that day," she said. "We'd be thrilled to
see them again."

n E-mail comments to
[email-masked].

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Matt
Corbett's column on high school field hockey: Can Seals produce a
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