After a stroke of bad luck in the District 1 field hockey championship game, Mount St. Joseph Academy ended up with a very favorable draw for last Tuesday's PIAA state tournament opener.

After defeating Gwynedd Mercy Academy twice during the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies season (when the Mount finished second to Villa Maria), the Magic encountered the Gwynedd Monarchs a third time when both teams reached the finals of the District 1 Class 2A tournament.

In that November 2 clash at a neutral site, Gwynedd prevailed, winning on a penalty stroke in regulation time.

Seeded first out of District 1 for the state tournament, Gwynedd would play the fifth-seeded team out of District 3, Elizabethtown High School, while the Mount would face a fellow two-seed, District 12's Cardinal O'Hara High School. This wasn't a bad draw at all of the Mount, because while District 12 (a combination of the Philadelphia Catholic and Public League) is not known for producing strong field hockey squads, Central Pennsylvania's District 3 is a hotbed for the sport.

On Tuesday, in what was their final home game of 2024, the Magic rampaged past O'Hara, 12-0, while Gwynedd's season ended with a 2-0 loss to E-town.

Mount sophomore Tess Hankins recorded four goals and an assist and freshman Sara Massella had a hat trick, while senior Sienna Noh scored twice and three other Mounties penetrated the Lions' cage. With the victory, the Magic reached the 20-win mark for the season, with an overall record of 20-3.

Attacking from the outset on Tuesday, the Magic had sophomore Julia McGlynn send a hard drive a little outside of the left post. The hosts put their first goal on the board with three minutes and 26 seconds elapsed. Following a penalty corner, the ball was hit down near the right post, and there were several touches in front of the net before Massella tapped the ball in from near the left post. McGlynn scored on a long drive off of a corner insertion just over a minute later.

The O'Hara goaltender was called for covering the ball in the goalmouth with 8:31 left in the first quarter, resulting in a penalty stroke for Mount St. Joseph. Noh put the ball in at shoulder height on the right side to make it 3-0.

Hankins got going at 5:58, tipping the ball into the cage off of a drive by junior Alexa Durand. She then scored unassisted as she freed herself with a spin move in front of the goal.

Off of an MSJ corner insertion at 2:42, Noh drove the ball back down at the goalie. The keeper made the save with a leg pad, but Massella closed in on the loose ball from the left side and put it away.

Rushing to execute another restart as time grew short in the first period, the Magic had Hankins make the scoring tip off a drive by Paul with just six seconds remaining.

The Mount was up 7-0, and the score climbed to 9-0 by halftime after Hankins and Massella each scored again and the Magic had a number of reserves enter the game. The scoreboard still read 9-0 at the three-quarter mark, as the hosts got all of their JV players onto the field during the third period.

Needing to give the starters a little more exercise in light of the upcoming quarterfinal contest, the Mount sent them back out for the start of the final frame. The Magic closed out the contest with goals by Noh, Durand (Hankins assist) and junior Nora Massella.

The Mounties later learned that their opponent for the quarterfinal round would be Palmyra High School (located near Hershey), the third seed out of District 3. The Cougars won their PIAA opener by a 3-2 score over a team from the Wilkes Barre area, District 2 champion Crestwood High School.