HERSHEY – The bigger the game, the better the teams.
The better the teams, the more even the play.
The more even the play, the fewer chances.
A district championship can come down to a lone mistake, a single opportunity – or one penalty kick.
On a chilly Thursday evening at Hersheypark Stadium, the Elco girls’ soccer team was denied a District Three Class AAA championship by the slimmest of margins, during a 1-0 loss to Mechancisburg in the final. After the two sides had battled tooth-and-nail through 80 score-less minutes of regulation and two golden-goal-less, 15-minute overtime periods, Mechancisburg outscored Elco 3-2 in penalty kicks.
Ironically, the Raiders had reached the title tilt with a similar penalty-kick victory over Red Land, in a District Three semifinal contest on Monday.
The setback dropped second-seeded Elco, the reigning Lancaster-Lebanon Section Three champion, to 16-4 overall. The Raiders will open play in the PIAA Class AAA postseason on Tuesday, with a road game against the District Four champion.
Last night represented Elco’s seventh District Three championship game appearance in program history. The Raiders wore District Three crowns in 2019, 2018 and 2003.
Fourth-seeded Mechanicsburg improved to 17-3-2 with the outcome.
“It’s what you expect from a district final, a hard-fought battle,” said Elco head coach Derek Fulk. “It’s a shame when it comes down to penalty kicks. It’s a tough way to lose.
“It’s the way it goes sometimes,” continued Fulk. “We were fortunate to advance the other night with penalty kicks. Until someone comes up with a better idea, penalty kicks are the best way to determine a winner.”
Wildcat goalkeeper Ari Frey netted the decisive goal in the penalty kick portion of the contest, but the Wildcats didn’t clinch the championship until Frey came up with a save on the Raiders’ shooter in the fifth and final round of PKs. Before that, Elco’s Abigail Sargent and Kailey Eckhart had successfully converted their penalty kick attempts.
“It just wasn’t our night,” said Fulk. “It wasn’t our best effort in penalty kicks.
“(Goalie) Sam (Nelson) has been phenomenal for us all year,” added Fulk. “We’re not in this situation withot Sam. She was unbelievable throughout the playoffs. She made great saves. She kept us in the game at times.”
In a tightly-marked and hotly-contested game, neither side was able to generate many dangerous opportunities,
With seven corner kicks, the Raiders enjoyed the better of the play in the second half. But Elco did not register a shot or a corner kick during either of the overtime periods.
“I thought they probably had the better of the play in the first half,” said Fulk of the Wildcats. “But I thought we dominated the second half, besides (Halle) Engle getting a couple of chances. I thought we were more dangerous in the second half. We were creating really good chances, but unfortunately we couldn’t get anything to go in.”
Elco didn’t record its first shot on goal until Carsyn Boyer generated a semi-dangerous chance, 12:30 before halftime.
Date | Opponents | Outcomes | |
9/04 10:00 am | Conrad Weiser at Elco | 1 4 | Nonleague |
9/08 7:00 pm | Donegal at Elco | 0 6 | League |
9/10 4:00 pm | Elco at Cocalico | 2 1 | League |
9/14 7:00 pm | Lancaster Mennonite at Elco | 0 6 | League |
9/16 7:00 pm | Octorara at Elco | 0 8 | League |
9/18 7:00 pm | Elco at Cedar Crest | 1 0 | Nonleague |
9/20 4:00 pm | Elco at Solanco | 0 1 | League |
9/22 4:00 pm | Elco at Donegal | 3 0 | League |
9/23 4:00 pm | Elco at Garden Spot | Postponed Nonleague | |
9/28 7:00 pm | Cocalico at Elco | 0 1 | League |
9/30 5:15 pm | Elco at Lancaster Mennonite | 4 0 | League |
10/01 4:00 pm | Elco at Berks Catholic | 2 0 | Nonleague |
10/05 7:00 pm | Elco at Octorara | 6 0 | League |
10/07 7:00 pm | Solanco at Elco | 0 1 | League |
10/11 4:00 pm | Pottsville Area at Elco | 1 2 | Nonleague |
10/13 4:00 pm | Wyomissing at Elco | 3 1 | Nonleague |
10/16 2:00 pm | Elco Penn Manor at Manheim Central | 1 4 | League Playoff |
10/26 7:00 pm | Susquehannock at Elco | 0 6 | District Playoff |
10/30 7:00 pm | Daniel Boone Elco at Cedar Crest | 2 4 | District Playoff |
11/01 7:00 pm | Red Land at Elco | 1 3 | District Playoff |
11/04 5:30 pm | Mechanicsburg Elco at Hersheypark Stadium | District Playoff |
AAA | School | W | L | T | Rating | TWP | OWP | TWPW | OWPW | TWPL | OWPL |
1*** | Greencastle Antrim | 17- | 1- | 0 | 0.739720 | 0.962366 | 0.467597 | 17.90 | 145.75 | 0.70 | 165.95 |
2*** | Eastern Lebanon County | 13- | 2- | 0 | 0.726665 | 0.875776 | 0.544417 | 14.10 | 131.15 | 2.00 | 109.75 |
3*** | Gettysburg | 12- | 2- | 2 | 0.723564 | 0.861446 | 0.555041 | 14.30 | 149.75 | 2.30 | 120.05 |
4*** | Mechanicsburg | 13- | 3- | 2 | 0.697044 | 0.849515 | 0.510690 | 17.50 | 157.65 | 3.10 | 151.05 |
5*** | Northern York | 14- | 4- | 0 | 0.692320 | 0.797872 | 0.563311 | 15.00 | 177.95 | 3.80 | 137.95 |
6*** | Red Land | 11- | 6- | 1 | 0.687260 | 0.751366 | 0.608908 | 13.75 | 193.45 | 4.55 | 124.25 |
7*** | Daniel Boone | 13- | 5- | 0 | 0.677207 | 0.784211 | 0.546424 | 14.90 | 166.55 | 4.10 | 138.25 |
8*** | Lampeter Strasburg | 12- | 6- | 0 | 0.672742 | 0.755319 | 0.571814 | 14.20 | 169.60 | 4.60 | 127.00 |
9*** | Solanco | 13- | 4- | 0 | 0.660161 | 0.805714 | 0.482262 | 14.10 | 130.50 | 3.40 | 140.10 |
10*** | Palmyra | 9- | 7- | 1 | 0.641633 | 0.661932 | 0.616822 | 11.65 | 184.80 | 5.95 | 114.80 |
11*** | Fleetwood | 10- | 7- | 0 | 0.630211 | 0.658960 | 0.595073 | 11.40 | 171.50 | 5.90 | 116.70 |
12*** | Manheim Central | 9- | 7- | 0 | 0.624892 | 0.673077 | 0.565998 | 10.50 | 149.65 | 5.10 | 114.75 |
13*** | West York | 11- | 5- | 0 | 0.604007 | 0.713415 | 0.470286 | 11.70 | 123.45 | 4.70 | 139.05 |
14*** | Conrad Weiser | 8- | 8- | 1 | 0.599284 | 0.588068 | 0.612991 | 10.35 | 179.30 | 7.25 | 113.20 |
15*** | Susquehannock | 10- | 7- | 0 | 0.595346 | 0.624277 | 0.559986 | 10.80 | 158.70 | 6.50 | 124.70 |
16*** | Cocalico | 9- | 8- | 0 | 0.587183 | 0.605096 | 0.565289 | 9.50 | 154.55 | 6.20 | 118.85 |
17 | South Western | 8- | 9- | 0 | 0.583387 | 0.586826 | 0.579184 | 9.80 | 167.50 | 6.90 | 121.70 |
18 | West Perry | 10- | 8- | 0 | 0.564571 | 0.582418 | 0.542758 | 10.60 | 172.00 | 7.60 | 144.90 |
19 | Dover | 7- | 10- | 1 | 0.511448 | 0.500000 | 0.525440 | 8.25 | 164.20 | 8.25 | 148.30 |
20 | Octorara | 8- | 10- | 0 | 0.506299 | 0.488889 | 0.527577 | 8.80 | 138.70 | 9.20 | 124.20 |
21 | Twin Valley | 5- | 12- | 1 | 0.495291 | 0.380000 | 0.636203 | 6.65 | 198.05 | 10.85 | 113.25 |
22 | Garden Spot | 4- | 13- | 0 | 0.455231 | 0.313725 | 0.628183 | 4.80 | 180.10 | 10.50 | 106.60 |
23 | Susquehanna Township | 6- | 10- | 0 | 0.455072 | 0.383721 | 0.542279 | 6.60 | 151.35 | 10.60 | 127.75 |
24 | Berks Catholic | 7- | 11- | 0 | 0.441795 | 0.335294 | 0.571964 | 5.70 | 175.65 | 11.30 | 131.45 |
25 | Shippensburg | 5- | 12- | 0 | 0.437020 | 0.308176 | 0.594496 | 4.90 | 179.30 | 11.00 | 122.30 |
26 | Spring Grove | 3- | 14- | 0 | 0.412018 | 0.248322 | 0.612090 | 3.70 | 177.20 | 11.20 | 112.30 |
27 | York Suburban | 3- | 12- | 0 | 0.387478 | 0.224490 | 0.586685 | 3.30 | 145.85 | 11.40 | 102.75 |
28 | Big Spring | 4- | 14- | 0 | 0.364477 | 0.215909 | 0.546059 | 3.80 | 168.35 | 13.80 | 139.95 |
29 | East Pennsboro | 2- | 15- | 1 | 0.362360 | 0.141711 | 0.632042 | 2.65 | 197.45 | 16.05 | 114.95 |
30 | Donegal | 2- | 13- | 0 | 0.358157 | 0.145985 | 0.617477 | 2.00 | 149.80 | 11.70 | 92.80 |
31 | Milton Hershey | 1- | 15- | 0 | 0.286591 | 0.080247 | 0.538789 | 1.30 | 152.10 | 14.90 | 130.20 |