MECHANICSBURG- Every high school athlete deserves a shining moment. Whether it be a State Championship, overtime game, or a regular season JV Basketball game that you hit the buzzer-beater, every high school athlete should have a moment they look back on and tell their kids about down the road. Gracyn Catalano had her shining moment on Saturday afternoon, as she scored the golden goal that lifted the trophy for Mechanicsburg, the PIAA trophy.
For the first time ever, the Mechanicsburg Wildcats had a dog in the fight for a PIAA Championship trophy. No team, in any sport, had reached the PIAA State Championship until Mechanicsburg reached the final, facing a decorated Palmyra team, who have been in the PIAA Championship game 9 times before.
Palmyra and Mechanicsburg were no strangers to each other, though, as the teams faced each other twice in the regular season, and once in the PIAA District 3 Semi-Final match-up, earlier this postseason.
Palmyra had taken home two wins against the Wildcats, and most recently in the PIAA District 3 tournament, when the Cougars beat the Wildcats in the District 3 Semi-Final game, advancing Palmyra to the District final. After playing the Cougars four times, Catalano still doesn’t see a rivalry forming between the two.
“I wouldn’t say so. Especially like in the league that we play in, everyone is competitive. Everyone’s good like Palmyra, Hershey, LD, everyone’s good.”
Catalano will go down in school history for scoring the goal to bring Mechanicsburg’s first ever State Championship win. Not only did the Wildcats win, but did it dramatic fashion. As a wave of nervousness hit both sidelines, the game went to overtime, a ten minute period, and most people had seen the OT coming before halftime, because both teams played a defensive game, and after 9 minutes and 30 seconds of the first overtime, fans, players, and folks were gearing up for another overtime period at Cumberland Valley’s Chapman Field. Right as fans were about to take a stretch break and gear up for overtime number 2, suddenly Gracyn Catalano is sprinting downfield, ball on stick, and connected with the goal, sending Mechanicsburg fans crazy, and declaring a winner in the long, tightly contested game.
“I was just like, please, don’t mess this up.”, Catalano said postgame.
Catalano also spoke about how this Mechanicsburg community has rallied around the team, and how the team has embraced the community:
It’s crazy because we didn’t do it just for us. We truly did it for our community, and everyone was behind us on this.”
Комментарии