In the preseason the Salisbury players agreed upon warmup T-shirts with the phrase ‘not done’ on them.

Well, coach Jane Brennan’s team is ‘not done’ yet in 2025. At least not for another couple of days.

Senior Sarah Beckage, junior Ellie Schneider and the rest of the high-flyin’ Falcons made certain of it in Tuesday evening’s PIAA Class 2A first-round clash opposite Harriton.

Beckage broke a scoreless tie with 6:24 remaining and Schneider converted a penalty stroke 108 seconds later as the District 11 champions earned a 2-0 home win over the No. 3 seed from District 1.

Salisbury (20-2) continues to play on in the state playoffs. The Falcons meet District 3 runner-up Warwick on Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

“We came into this season with the theme ‘not done,’ ” said Brennan, who in her ninth season as Salisbury’s coach has directed the program to its first-ever District 11 championship.

“It’s on their warmup T-shirts … so, they continually remind themselves that they don’t want to be done. This group has been together for a really long time. And they don’t want to be done. Is it icing on the cake? Sure. People say you’re playing with house money, it’s gravy. But now every step has made them want that next step even more.”

The Falcons were the aggressor from the get-go vs. Harriton.

They got the better of the play in the first half, and they kept the pressure on throughout the third and fourth quarters. But while Salisbury was getting the better of it, the Falcons couldn’t mark up the scoring column for the first 50-plus minutes of action.

Finally, on a penalty corner inserted by senior Gwyn DeFazio midway through the final period of regulation, Beckage waited patiently on the weak side until the ball found her stick. Goooooooal.

“Ellie Schneider hit it right across and it popped off my stick and I was lucky enough to put it in,” Beckage said. “The whole game on corners, there was really no one on me.”

With the home crowd still in a frenzy, Salisbury quickly added a second tally.

“Kendra Morgan got us that stroke,” Beckage said, “and we trust Ellie with all of our heart on those strokes. She came through.”

The Falcons finished with 10 shots on goal compared to one for Harriton.

Brennan, even though it remained 0-0 late into the contest, remained confident the break-through was coming. She was proven correct.

“We made some switches up front and we were a little more offensive. We had a good talk at halftime,” said Brennan, whose roster consists of 13 players that attend Salisbury High School and eight that go to Allentown Central Catholic. Salisbury has a PIAA-sanctioned cooperative agreement with Central Catholic for field hockey.

“I think we knew that it was going to go, it was just a matter of when. The girls kept banging on the door, and we tell them the more you bang on the door, it’s going to open eventually. And it did,” Brennan said.

The shutout win was the third straight for Salisbury, which started the season 16-0.

The top-seeded Falcons routed Pocono Mountain East 10-0 in the District 11 semifinals, then earned revenge in a 2-0 whitewash of Southern Lehigh in the final. Southern Lehigh had defeated Salisbury 2-0 in last year’s district championship contest.

Brennan credited senior center back Meredith Kelley with spearheading Salisbury’s defense during the postseason run.

“Our defensive players mesh really well and their communication in the back is like nothing I’ve had before,” Brennan said. “The fact that they know where everyone is and how to man-mark opponents has made all the difference. They also know to recover for each other.”

And even though Harriton (15-7-1), which as the No. 8 seed in the District 1 playoffs upset top-seeded Springfield, was a totally unfamiliar opponent, Brennan thought her Falcons were well-prepared for the task.

“We watched video of three of their games. We knew who to watch, who to man-mark. As I tell our girls all the time, it’s always important to do your homework,” Brennan said.

Now, it’ll be up to Brennan and her Falcons to do some homework on a tough Warwick squad. The Warriors thrashed District 2 runner-up Dallas 8-0 in a PIAA first-round matchup Tuesday.

Salisbury is hopeful it is ‘not done’ as it next enters into more unchartered territory – the state quarterfinals.

“It feels amazing,” Beckage said. “We’ve never gone this far in our field hockey history. We’re so happy to be the team to do this here at Salisbury.”

PIAA FIELD HOCKEY CLASS 2A FIRST ROUND

SALISBURY 2, HARRITON 0

Harriton 0 0 0 0 – 0

Salisbury 0 0 0 2 – 2

Harriton – SOG: 1. Corners: 1. Saves: Maya Gavrin 8.

Salisbury – SOG: 10. Corners: 8. Saves: Caroline Gedney 1.

Michael Blouse is a freelance writer.

https://www.mcall.com/2025/11/04/piaa-2a-field-hockey-salisbury-downs-harriton-with-late-surge/