BY JEFF FALK
MYERSTOWN – The better team doesn’t always win. Just like the team that wants it more doesn’t always win.
There’s an old playoff adage ‘survive and advance’ that glorifies the bottom line. But it is never not about the effort.
On a blustery Monday night at Elco Stadium, the Raiders’ girls’ soccer team emerged victorious from its District Three Class AAA postseason opener without putting its collective best foot forward. Despite being out played and out hustled by a spirited Twin Valley squad, Elco advanced by out scoring Twin Valley 4-2 in penalty kicks.
After 80 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of golden-goal overtime ended in a two-all draw, Elco employed superior skills to advance. With the help of the crossbar, Raider goalkeeper Emma Strickler turned aside Twin Valley’s first two PK attempts, while teammates Ryelle Shuey, Emily Bidelspach, Julia Nelson and Monica Arnold were all making good on their shots.
So the now 19-1 and fifth-seeded Raiders lived to fight another day. That day will be Thursday, in the quarterfinals of District Three Class AAA tournament, against fourth-seeded Manheim Central, which shaded Lampeter-Strasburg 2-1, at 7 p.m. at Cedar Crest’s Edward and Jeannie Arnold Field at Earl Boltz Stadium.
Twin Valley, the 13th seeded, ended its campaign at 13-7-1.
With the Twin Valley bench up and cheering each other on and the Raider bench sitting on their hands, Twin Valley out shot Elco by a total of 16-10. Twin Valley also enjoyed a 9-6 advantage in corner kicks.
“That’s a tough question,” said Elco head coach Derek Fulk, when asked if the better team won. “I don’t know. I thought they (Twin Valley) played very well. I thought they did a nice job of game planning us. I think we’re possibly the better team. But they (Twin Valley) deserve a lot of credit.
“I thought they (his players) looked lethargic,” continued Fulk. “I don’t know if it was the weather or the wind or what. I thought they looked disinterested. I don’t know. We were getting really gapped between the midfielders and the defenders, and it was causing us huge problems.”
Facing a 2-1 deficit early in the second half, the Raiders came up with the equalizer courtesy of a well-placed right-footer from sophomore Ryelle Shuey. From the left side of the field 30 yards out, Shuey drove a ball that beat Twin Valley goalie Jordan de Garay to the far side of the net.
“Part of it was the situation of the game,” said Fulk. “A 12-seed playing a five. They (Twin Valley) knew we were 18-0 during the regular season. It’s one of those situations where you give them momentum and it can go a long way.
“But how do you feel that way at this point of the season?” Fulk continued. “There should’ve been plenty of motivation. I’ll have to look into that.”
Elco opened the scoring 16:43 into the match when Shuey was given way too much time and way too much space. Sent ahead by Bidelspach, Shuey took a couple of touches in the middle of the field before unleashing a 20-yarder that found the left side of the frame.
“She’s a special player,” said Fulk of his striker. “She really makes things happen. I’m just glad she’s only a sophomore. Rye played well, and Emma played well, but other than that, there weren’t many positives.
“I would’ve hated to lose in overtime,” added Fulk. “I guess so (that it’s about surviving and advancing). It wasn’t our best effort. But that’s one good thing.”
But it took Twin Valley exactly 59 seconds to answer Shuey’s tally, and then it owned the better of the play the rest of the way. Accepting a feed from Nadia Ziegler, speedy Twin Valley forward Natalie Dorsheimer used her right foot to beat Strickler low to the far side.
“We knew they were really quick up top,” said Fulk of Twin Valley. “But it’s survive and advance right now. The scary part is that this is two games in-a-row now where we haven’t played well.
“Obviously, the penalty kicks are something we do a lot of at practice this time of the year, for this situation,” Fulk added. “Emma (Strickler) does a great job in penalty kicks. She’s big and athletic. Our kids were very calm and collected.”
Twin Valley had forged its 2-1 edge 6:08 before halftime thanks to a ball played to the Raiders’ right goal post by Hannah Oxendine, from her side of midfield. Teammate Madyson Burns showed good speed in beating Strickler to the ball, and got enough of it to slide it past her and dribble it into the net.
“We’re going to face a very good team in Manheim Central,” said Fulk. “Our technical ability has to be better if we’re going to play with these teams.
“Now it’s probably survive and advance,” continued Fulk. “You hope you play well and give a good showing. Hopefully we’ll put forth a much better effort on Thursday. If we don’t, we’ll probably be going home.”
To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com.
2016 Elco Girls’ Soccer Results | |||
Date | Teams | Score | |
9/02 4:00 pm |
Elco at Tulpehocken |
4 1 |
|
9/03 11:00 am |
Elco at Conrad Weiser |
3 0 |
|
9/07 4:00 pm |
Elco at Lancaster Catholic |
4 0 |
|
9/09 4:00 pm |
Lebanon Catholic at Elco |
1 9 |
|
9/10 5:30 pm |
Cedar Crest at Elco |
0 1 |
|
9/13 7:00 pm |
Lancaster Mennonite at Elco |
0 5 |
|
9/15 7:00 pm |
Elco at Donegal |
2 1 |
|
9/17 7:00 pm |
Northern Lebanon at Elco |
0 4 |
|
9/20 7:00 pm |
Pequea Valley at Elco |
1 2 |
|
9/22 4:00 pm |
Elco at Annville-Cleona |
3 2 |
|
9/26 7:00 pm |
Elco at Middletown |
4 0 |
|
9/28 7:00 pm |
Lancaster Catholic at Elco |
2 5 |
|
9/30 7:00 pm |
Elco at Lebanon Catholic |
||
10/03 7:00 pm |
Elco at Lancaster Mennonite |
2 1 |
|
10/05 7:00 pm |
Donegal at Elco |
0 1 |
|
10/07 4:00 pm |
Elco at Northern Lebanon |
2 0 |
|
10/10 7:00 pm |
Elco at Pequea Valley |
3 0 |
|
10/12 7:00 pm |
Annville-Cleona at Elco |
0 4 |
|
10/15 10:00 am |
Hempfield Elco at Manheim Central |
5 0 |
|
10/24 7:00 pm |
Twin Valley at Elco |
2 3 |
PIAA District Three
Class AAA Power Rankings
|
Final Lancaster-Lebanon Leage SECTION THREE Standings | ||||||||||
League | Overall | |||||||||
W | L | T | PCT | W | L | T | PCT | PS | PA | |
Elco | 13 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 94.74 | 60 | 15 |
Donegal | 9 | 3 | 1 | 73.08 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 61.11 | 45 | 18 |
Lancaster Mennonite | 9 | 3 | 2 | 71.43 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 62.50 | 39 | 14 |
Lancaster Catholic | 6 | 8 | 0 | 42.86 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 50.00 | 31 | 19 |
Pequea Valley | 5 | 7 | 1 | 42.31 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 53.13 | 29 | 22 |
Annville-Cleona | 5 | 8 | 0 | 38.46 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 47.06 | 57 | 26 |
Northern Lebanon | 3 | 10 | 0 | 23.08 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 18.75 | 20 | 37 |
Lebanon Catholic | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 6.67 | 13 | 64 |