Dallastown's Maggie Noll breaks free late to beat Red Lion

For the first 49 minutes, the Dallastown and Red Lion field hockey teams were locked in a scoreless tie at Horn Field.

Then a simple realignment by the Wildcats on their corner shot formation changed everything.

Maggie Noll scored two goals down the stretch, and Dallastown earned a 2-0 YAIAA Division I win on Thursday afternoon.

The victory keeps Dallastown atop the Division I standings with matches at Dover, against South Western and at Spring Grove remaining. The Wildcats have shared or won outright 11 of the past 12 Division I titles and won back-to-back league tournament crowns in 2012 and 2013.

Dallastown (13-1, 10-1 Division I) dominated play throughout much of the 60 minutes, but had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard as the match entered the final 11 minutes.

On the sixth of the Wildcats' seven second-half corners, the senior Noll finally found the back of the cage off an assist by senior Danielle Ludwig.

"We usually have Maggie stay on top (on the corners), but sent her inside," said Dallastown coach Jeri Myers. "I think that made the difference. They were keying on her to take the shot up top. Now, we'll give the shot to somebody else, put Maggie inside and let her use her skills inside."

Noll scored again off the last Dallastown corner of the match with 3:35 remaining. It was on the same play with Ludwig assisting once again.

"After the first one, we thought, 'Well, we'll try it again,'" Noll said. "Coach Myers told me I wasn't going to be up top because (Red Lion) they are going to be on you. She told me to go inside and said I was going to score. I went inside and that's what happened."

Red Lion (9-5-1, 8-4) was held without a shot on goal in the match and had two corners, both coming together midway through the second half.

"We knew we were dominating," Noll said. "Coach Myers reminded us to keep working and not let down. 'It's going to come. It's going to come.' We were a little shaken because we hadn't scored yet. We are not used to that. But we kept pushing until it happened."

Red Lion goalie Jena Everett made nine saves for the Lions, who lost a heartbreaking, 1-0 match at Dallastown the first time the two teams played on Sept. 21.

"Dallastown created the corners and we did not have many shots in this one," said Red Lion coach Carol Gillmen, who is a former player of Myers' at Dallastown. "We just were not able to create that offensive punch. The difference was midfield play. Dallastown was able to possess the ball and send the big ball forward. They were able to draw the corners and that's a big part of hockey. Getting up the field, into the attacking circle and getting quality shot attempts."

Dallastown 2, Red Lion 0

Dallastown02—2Red Lion00—0

Second half — 1. Dt, Maggie Noll (Danielle Ludwig), 10:52. 2. Dt, Noll (Ludwig), 3:35.

Shots on goal — Dt 11, RL 0.

Corners — Dt 11, RL 2.

Goalies — Dt, Syd Terroso (0 saves), Phoebe Glattacker (0 saves). RL, Jena Everett (9 saves).