BY JEFF FALK

SOUTH LEBANON – When you hear that a team is having success under a first-year head coach, the first thing you think is that there’s been a smooth transition, that the players and new coach have become comfortable with each other quickly. Your second thought is that the cupboard wasn’t left bare, that some talent remained with which to work.

Cedar Crest has enjoyed a certain level of field hockey success under rookie head coach Angela Springboard this fall. What remains to be seen is whether or not the Falcons will be rewarded for that success.

On an overcast Tuesday afternoon at Ed and Jeannie Arnold Field at Earl Boltz Stadium, Cedar Crest hit a bump in the road on its push towards the postseason, during a 4-1 home loss to Manheim Township. After they had tied the score at one midway through the first half, the Falcons’ defense deserted them.

The result made Cedar Crest 8-6 overall and 4-3 in Section One of the Lancaster-Lebanon League. With four regular-season games remaining, the Falcons are still very much in contention for District Three Class AAA and Lancaster-Lebanon playoff berths.

With the outcome, Manheim Township moved to 10-5 on the year and 9-1 in Section One. The first meeting between the two sides, back on September 12th in Neffsville, went to the Blue Streaks by a count of 2-1.

“It’s been smooth, because they know me,” said Springborn of her new charges. “I’m not a stranger to these girls. I was their consistent coach. I was the person they came to in school. It’s been a smooth transition because there’s also been a lot of respect.

“I’m along for the ride,” continued Springborn. “I’m on their coat tails. I can tell them what they’re doing wrong, but they’ve got to make the adjustments. It’s their talent. However far they want to go, I’m with them. They just have to want it more than the other team.”

After the visiting Blue Streaks had jumped out to a 1-0 edge on a Sophia Rockwell tally midway through the opening half, the Falcons produced the equalizer seven minutes later, courtesy of a big blast by prolific Hanna Lewis.

Off a Crest corner, the ball was inserted to the top of the circle. Emma Holzman’s touch pass found Lewis, who ripped a shot inside the left post of the Blue Streak cage. It was Lewis’ eye-popping 22nd tally of the campaign.

“She’s a strong player, no question,” said Springborn of the Lafayette-bound Lewis. “She’s a great scorer, but she’s not the only member of the team. She has a strong hit. I was just thinking about that (the Cedar Crest record for goals in a season), but I really don’t know. I need the rest of my team showing up. We can’t rely on one person.

“We came out in the first half,” added Springborn, “and we lost it in the second half. We did not finish in the circle. We can create in the midfield, but we can’t finish in the circle.”

The score was tied at one for exactly 2:01 of game clock, before Katie Labezius gave Manheim Township the lead for good. Off a corner, Labezius stayed with a rebound and deposited the ball inside the near post.

Teammate Rea Fox drew an assist.

“Today was a very important match,” said Springborn. “We’re in a battle for districts. They (her players) practice so hard, and here they are. It’s heart-breaking for them. But today was huge.

“They (her players) did really well defensively,” Springborn continued. “During one of the timeouts, we made some adjustments for marking. Their (the Blue Streaks’) one goal was from zone two. I don’t think marking was an issue.”

The Manheim Township goal that seemed to take the steam out of the Falcons came 6:16 into the second half, and made it 3-1. It originated from another Blue Streak corner and from the top of the circle, but ultimately it was Labezius, stationed on the left post, who tipped it home.

The Blue Streaks’ final tally came with 17:24 remaining, as a low, hard cross from the right by Rockwell found Cubell in the Falcon goal mouth, and Cubell deftly deflected it inside the left post.

“The team goals were, number one, to beat Penn Manor,” said Springborn. “The other goals were to play as a team, communicate, have fun and get some wins.

“I was not prepared for this (her new position),” concluded Springborn. “I was hoping to be a JV coach. I did what was right. I didn’t do what was easy. The former coach resigned in June. You don’t resign in June. I just wanted to be competitive in Section One.”

The final stat sheet saw Manheim Township out shoot Cedar Crest 10-9. Each squad took six penalty corners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018 Cedar Crest Field Hockey Results

Date	Opponents	OUTCOMES
9/01 10:00 am	Cedar Crest at Exeter Township	2 8
9/04 7:00 pm	Cocalico at Cedar Crest	0 3
9/07 4:00 pm	Cedar Crest at Penn Manor	1 8
9/10 4:00 pm	Warwick at Cedar Crest	1 4
9/12 4:00 pm	Cedar Crest at Manheim Township	1 2
9/15 10:00 am	Wilson at Cedar Crest	7 0
9/18 4:00 pm	Cedar Crest at Conestoga Valley	3 0
9/20 7:00 pm	Ephrata at Cedar Crest	0 7
9/21 4:00 pm	Hempfield at Cedar Crest	1 2
9/22 9:00 am	Mechanicsburg at Cedar Crest	1 3
9/22 1:30 pm	West York at Cedar Crest	0 3
9/25 4:15 pm	Cedar Crest at Dallastown	2 1
9/28 4:15 pm	Cedar Crest at Warwick	0 3
10/02 4:00 pm	Manheim Township at Cedar Crest
10/03 6:00 pm	Penn Manor at Cedar Crest
10/04 7:00 pm	Cedar Crest at Hempfield
10/09 7:00 pm	Conestoga Valley at Cedar Crest
10/11 7:00 pm	Cedar Crest at Ephrata

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lancaster-Lebanon League

 Section One Standings

	League				Overall
	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	GS	GA
Penn Manor	8	0	0	100.00	12	1	1	89.29	77	9
Manheim Township	9	1	0	90.00	10	5	0	66.67	34	30
Warwick	5	4	0	55.56	7	7	0	50.00	21	25
Cedar Crest	4	4	0	50.00	8	6	0	57.14	32	36
Hempfield	3	6	0	33.33	4	9	0	30.77	11	38
Conestoga Valley	1	7	0	12.50	4	9	0	30.77	16	31
Ephrata	0	8	0	0.00	2	11	0	15.38	8	63

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PIAA District Three

 Class AAA Power Rankings

AAA	School	W	L	T	Rating	TWP	OWP	TWPW	OWPW	TWPL	OWPL
1	Wilson	13-	1-	0	0.802616	0.948718	0.624047	14.8	147.4	0.8	88.8
2	Exeter Township	14-	0-	0	0.801415	1.000000	0.558701	15.8	134.2	0.0	106.0
3	Penn Manor	12-	0-	1	0.790204	0.972973	0.566820	14.4	123.0	0.4	94.0
4	Lower Dauphin	12-	1-	1	0.784617	0.909722	0.631710	13.1	127.1	1.3	74.1
5	Hershey	8-	3-	1	0.727684	0.758621	0.689873	8.8	152.6	2.8	68.6
6	Manheim Township	9-	5-	0	0.696881	0.706667	0.684920	10.6	162.6	4.4	74.8
7	Central Dauphin	8-	3-	0	0.696285	0.786885	0.585551	9.6	123.2	2.6	87.2
8	Cedar Cliff	10-	3-	0	0.691476	0.826087	0.526952	11.4	113.4	2.4	101.8
9	Cumberland Valley	9-	4-	0	0.688346	0.757143	0.604261	10.6	133.3	3.4	87.3
10	Governor Mifflin	10-	5-	0	0.648401	0.708333	0.575149	10.2	134.7	4.2	99.5
11	Dallastown	10-	4-	0	0.642181	0.768116	0.488261	10.6	112.3	3.2	117.7
12	Cedar Crest	8-	5-	0	0.636082	0.687500	0.573237	8.8	126.8	4.0	94.4
13	Central York	9-	5-	0	0.613718	0.701493	0.506438	9.4	118.0	4.0	115.0
14	Warwick	7-	7-	0	0.602223	0.588235	0.619318	8.0	141.7	5.6	87.1
15	Red Lion	9-	5-	0	0.595975	0.671642	0.503493	9.0	115.3	4.4	113.7
16	State College Area	5-	5-	1	0.557759	0.534483	0.586207	6.2	122.4	5.4	86.4
17	HEMPFIELD	4-	9-	0	0.493183	0.368421	0.645669	4.2	147.6	7.2	81.0
18	Conestoga Valley	4-	9-	0	0.484836	0.372881	0.621670	4.4	140.0	7.4	85.2
19	J P McCaskey	3-	8-	1	0.409672	0.325397	0.512676	4.1	109.2	8.5	103.8
20	Carlisle	2-	8-	1	0.365785	0.269231	0.483796	2.8	104.5	7.6	111.5
21	Reading	2-	10-	0	0.342813	0.178571	0.543553	2.0	127.3	9.2	106.9
22	Mifflin County	2-	10-	0	0.340641	0.192982	0.521112	2.2	101.2	9.2	93.0
23	Central Dauphin East	2-	8-	1	0.317210	0.221311	0.434419	2.7	93.4	9.5	121.6
24	Lebanon	3-	10-	0	0.284193	0.178082	0.413884	2.6	94.2	12.0	133.4
25	Chambersburg Area	0-	10-	1	0.278303	0.061224	0.543621	0.6	115.9	9.2	97.3
26	York County School of Technology	1-	8-	0	0.127736	0.095238	0.167456	0.8	28.3	7.6	140.7