Shots were few and far between for Palmerton, as the fifth-seeded Blue Bombers were eliminated by No. 1 Southern Lehigh 2-0 Thursday in the semifinals of the Colonial League field hockey tournament.

Palmerton managed only four shots in the game, and the Spartans just five - but their first two hit the back of the cage.

With 7:17 left in the first quarter, Reese McIntosh knocked the ball into the right corner of the goal for the Spartans’ first shot of the game. It came soon after McIntosh fed Cassidy Clausnitzer in close, but no shot was taken.

The Spartans dominated the opening minutes, however Palmerton’s Ruby Walters did manage a shot that was kicked out by Southern Lehigh goalie Macey Reese.

The final minutes of the first quarter featured offensive rushes by the Spartans, who sent four - and sometimes five - attackers toward the Bombers’ goal, but they couldn’t add to their lead.

Southern Lehigh (14-3-1) continued to dominate field position at the start of the second quarter. Then, with 13:29 to go before intermission, a Palmerton player was whistled for a foul that set up a penalty shot for Lana Hughes, who buried the goal for a 2-0 Spartan lead.

Bomber head coach Meg Leadbetter sent her team captain to ask the official the reason for the foul.

“No reason was given,” said Leadbetter, “and of course giving them a shot to score from that close in certainly changed the nature of the game by 100%.”

Down by two at the half, Leadbetter made no adjustments

“We just took a while to get our feet moving and they caught us a bit off guard,” she said. “I trust our girls that we started, though we did play a few others to try to generate a little more speed.”

The Bombers (10-7) dominated play early in the third quarter, but the Spartans withstood the pressure and soon changed the level of the playing field into their favor with pinpoint passes and skilled stick handling. Their attack generated three straight corners within a span of two minutes.

For Palmerton, the goal that would have tightened the game would never come, as the Spartans dropped as many as eight players back on defense to protect their two-goal advantage.

With 8:25 left in the fourth quarter, Celeste Hoffman picked up a loose ball and broke through the Spartan defense enough to find the stick of teammate Sydney Frantz. She rifled a shot that got through everyone, but it rolled just to the right of the goal post.

Southern Lehigh finished the game with six corners, while Palmerton failed to get a shot off from its 11 corners. Leadbetter was well aware of what her team was up against. The Bombers lost to the Spartans 2-1 back in September.

“They are a very disciplined team, and they’re tough to score on,” she said. “We just couldn’t get much of a passing game going to put pressure on their defense.”

TITLE TIME

... Southern Lehigh will now face Northwestern in the title game. The Tigers upset second-seeded Wilson 3-2 in the first game of the doubleheader held at Northern Lehigh.

WHAT’S UP NEXT?

... Palmerton now moves into the District 11 Class A tournament, where the Bombers will attempt to defend their title they won a year ago.