BY JEFF FALK

MILLERSVILLE – They learned about themselves, and they learned about each other. They learned about competition, and they learned about the nuances of the game.

They learned. And isn’t that what interscholastic sports are all about?

On a clear Wednesday evening, on the turf of Penn Manor High School’s Comet Field, the Elco Raider field hockey team concluded a successful 2019 campaign with a 2-0 loss to Fleetwood, in the opening round of the District Three Class A playoffs. The Tigers tallied goals late in both halves, and their defense performed admirably in short-circuiting the Elco attack.

The ninth-seeded Raiders finished their fall 11-5-1 under rookie head coach Kelsey Thorley. Elco finished third behind Northern Lebanon and Annville-Cleona during regular-season play in Section Three of the Lancaster-Lebanon League.

Fleetwood, the eighth seed, improved to 14-4. Up next for the Tigers is a Saturday date with top-seeded Greenwood.

“Absolutely it was a success,” said Thorley. “I got named as the coach in July. We didn’t have specific goals. We wanted to grow as a team. We wanted to grow as players.

“You always hope for the ‘W’,” continued Thorley. “But I’m proud of them (her players) no matter what.”

The Raiders got off to a somewhat uneven start offensively, but battled enough to keep Fleetwood off the scoreboard. That was until 2:21 before the intermission, when sophomore Casey Lynn Dewald gave the Tigers a 1-0 edge with a terrific individual effort.

Dewald carried the ball the length of the field, beating a couple of Raider defenders along the way, and into the Elco circle. Once there, Dewald had time to gather herself and size up Raider goalie Sarah Shollenberger, before ripping a low drive inside the far post.

Elco went without a shot in the first half and didn’t register its first one until 2:35 into the second stanza. That shot also led to the Raiders’ first corner of the contest.

“I thought we played well,” said Thorley. “We’re very young in the front. We don’t start a senior there. There’s definitely a learning curve for us. Our defense was strong again. I thought our team grew a lot over the season.

“I thought we came out well,” added Thorley. “Everyone’s going to be nervous in big games. Making it to districts in back-to-back seasons was something we were focused on. That’s one of the things we’re trying to make the Elco program known for.”

Conversely, Elco held the Tigers without a shot over the first 21:20 of the second half. During that time, the Raiders were able to generate a few serious scoring chances.

Then with 6:33 remaining, Dewald made it 2-0. Off a corner insert, Dewald deflected teammate Paige Garrett’s blast from the top of the circle inside the left post.

“I thought we played both halves about equal,” said Thorley. “We had our moments in each half. I wouldn’t say we played better in either half.

“I thought we did well offensively,” Thorley continued. “We’re learning on the front line.”

The final stat line saw Fleetwood outshoot Elco 9-4. Each side was awarded four corners.

To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com.

2019 Elco Field Hockey Results

Date	Opponents	Outcomes
9/04 4:00 pm	Elco at Octorara	5 0
9/06 4:00 pm	Lebanon at Elco	0 3
9/09 4:00 pm	Northern Lebanon at Elco	1 0
9/11 7:15 pm	Elco at Lancaster Catholic	2 0
9/16 7:00 pm	Elco at Lancaster Mennonite	2 1
9/18 4:00 pm	Annville-Cleona at Elco	0 0
9/20 4:00 pm	Elco at Lancaster Country Day	2 1
9/23 5:45 pm	Elco at Governor Mifflin	0 2
9/26 4:00 pm	Octorara at Elco	0 3
9/27 4:00 pm	Elco at Lebanon	2 1
9/30 4:00 pm	Elco at Northern Lebanon	1 2
10/02 4:00 pm	Lancaster Catholic at Elco	1 4
10/07 4:00 pm	Lancaster Mennonite at Elco	1 2
10/09 4:00 pm	Elco at Annville-Cleona	0 2
10/10 4:00 pm	McCaskey at Elco	0 2
10/11 4:00 pm	Lancaster Country Day at Elco	2 6
10/15 7:00 pm	Elco Conestoga Valley at Donegal	0 3
10/23 5:00 pm	Elco Fleetwood at Penn Manor

PIAA District Three

Final Class A Power Rankings

A	School	W	L	T	Rating	TWP	OWP	TWPW	OWPW	TWPL	OWPL
1	Greenwood	14-	1-	2	0.740778	0.864198	0.589933	14.0	175.8	2.2	122.2
2	Oley Valley	17-	0-	0	0.736825	1.000000	0.415167	16.2	129.2	0.0	182.0
3	Northern Lebanon	17-	0-	1	0.716370	0.961538	0.416721	15.0	128.6	0.6	180.0
4	Bermudian Springs	16-	2-	0	0.706978	0.870588	0.507011	14.8	159.1	2.2	154.7
5	Boiling Springs	15-	1-	1	0.681604	0.901163	0.413255	15.5	127.2	1.7	180.6
6	Eastern York	14-	3-	0	0.624964	0.790123	0.423103	12.8	124.9	3.4	170.3
7	Newport	11-	4-	1	0.622501	0.679487	0.552851	10.6	159.0	5.0	128.6
8	Fleetwood	13-	4-	0	0.588404	0.721519	0.425708	11.4	123.2	4.4	166.2
9	Eastern Lebanon County	11-	4-	1	0.561429	0.675325	0.422222	10.4	117.8	5.0	161.2
10	Schuylkill Valley	12-	5-	0	0.556561	0.658228	0.432302	10.4	125.8	5.4	165.2
11	Littlestown	13-	5-	0	0.550894	0.682927	0.389520	11.2	123.4	5.2	193.4
12	Annville Cleona	10-	3-	3	0.547101	0.653333	0.417261	9.8	117.0	5.2	163.4
13	Camp Hill	10-	8-	0	0.528737	0.517241	0.542787	9.0	177.6	8.4	149.6
14	Bishop McDevitt	11-	7-	0	0.516934	0.579545	0.440410	10.2	141.9	7.4	180.3
15	Susquenita	9-	9-	0	0.463693	0.430108	0.504741	8.0	159.7	10.6	156.7
16	Lancaster Mennonite	8-	8-	0	0.459120	0.433735	0.490146	7.2	134.3	9.4	139.7
17	Biglerville	9-	9-	0	0.425298	0.434783	0.413706	8.0	130.4	10.4	184.8
18	Hanover	8-	10-	0	0.405193	0.380435	0.435453	7.0	135.6	11.4	175.8
19	Lancaster Country Day School	7-	9-	1	0.400434	0.397849	0.403594	7.4	116.8	11.2	172.6
20	Susquehanna Township	4-	13-	0	0.394282	0.238095	0.585178	4.0	174.5	12.8	123.7
21	Octorara Area	6-	12-	0	0.382606	0.312500	0.468291	6.0	140.3	13.2	159.3
22	Tulpehocken	7-	11-	0	0.373351	0.314607	0.445149	5.6	140.4	12.2	175.0
23	Big Spring	4-	13-	1	0.366971	0.260638	0.496933	4.9	162.0	13.9	164.0
24	Hamburg Area	5-	13-	0	0.324516	0.255319	0.409091	4.8	122.4	14.0	176.8
25	Lancaster Catholic	3-	14-	0	0.301617	0.148936	0.488227	2.8	141.0	16.0	147.8
26	Fairfield	3-	14-	0	0.293018	0.148936	0.469119	2.8	135.2	16.0	153.0
27	Kutztown Area	3-	13-	2	0.286137	0.187500	0.406692	3.6	126.4	15.6	184.4
28	Wyomissing	4-	14-	0	0.275264	0.183673	0.387209	3.6	122.9	16.0	194.5
29	Delone Catholic	2-	13-	0	0.265821	0.127907	0.434382	2.2	113.2	15.0	147.4
30	Brandywine Heights Area	2-	14-	1	0.256086	0.106383	0.439057	2.0	130.4	16.8	166.6
31	Pequea Valley	0-	0-	0	0.000000	0.000000	0.000000	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

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