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IMG_2358BY JEFF FALK

HERSHEY –  Stealing headlines. Capturing imaginations. And breaking hearts.

The Annville-Cleona field hockey team has been the most compelling sports story in Lebanon County this fall. Yesterday the Little Dutchmen authored another chapter for their gripping tale.

On a chilly Wednesday evening at Milton Hershey School’s Henry Hershey Field, Annville-Cleona opened play in the District Three Class A postseason tournament with a resounding 3-0 whitewashing of Wyomissing. The Little Dutchmen set the stage for the victory by netting a pair of goals in the game’s first 12 minutes, as five different members figured in the scoring.

IMG_2386It was just another accomplishment in what is shaping up to be the finest field hockey season in Annville-Cleona history.

With the win, the fifth-seeded Little Dutchmen improved to 18-2 overall and barged into Saturday’s quarterfinal opposite fourth-seeded Schuylkill Valley, which blitzed Elco 5-0, at a site and time to be determined. Because District Three sends its top five representatives to the PIAA Class A playoffs, Annville-Cleona is assured of at least two more games this season.

Wyomissing, the 12th seed, completed its year at 10-8.

“There were like little bumble bees,” said Annville-Cleona head coach Sue Felty of her troops’ pregame demeanor. “So anxious to play. They were very excited. They were all abuzz.

“I told them we’ve got to win the first game,” Felty continued. “If you win the first game, it opens other doors. States is a possibility. We talked about that.”

IMG_2404The Little Dutchmen broke from the gates well thanks to an athletic collaboration between two of their most prolific forwards, and scored on their first shot.

Katelyn Brightbill played a ball to Michaela Singer from the top of the circle. In one fell swoop and without settling the pass, Singer turned and ripped a drive to the far corner of the Spartans’ cage.

It was Singer’s 23rd goal of the campaign.

“She’s a softball player,” said Felty of Singer. “I think that’s the softball player in her. She likes to time that, turn and line it up. But she’s probably missed more of those than she’s made.

“It (registering a district win last season) definitely helps,” continued Felty. “It’s some experience we didn’t have prior to that. Nerves seemed to be a factor. But today that did not seem to be the case.”

Four minutes later, Annville-Cleona doubled its advantage.

From a penalty corner, the ball was played to Lauren Schrader in the middle of the circle. Schrader fed the unattended Cass Connelly at the left post, and Connelly jammed it home.

“It feels really good,” said Felty. “After not playing for a week-and-a-half,  the biggest concern was not getting started. Those goals were a huge lift. I didn’t know much about them (the Spartans). I knew they had a good scorer. We were a little concerned about that.”

“The most I remember about goals are the ones we miss,” added Felty. “The team scored. It wasn’t one girl. A lot led up to the goal. But a lot of times I don’t remember who put it in the cage.”

IMG_2353The Little Dutchmen did their best to protect their lead by staying on the offensive. That approach finally paid off with 3:48 remaining, when Emily Brightbill notched the clincher.

Again resulting from a corner, an initial Annville-Cleona shot on Wyomissing goalie Tina Faust was saved. But E. Brightbill was on the right post to knock in the rebound.

“This is only our fifth game on turf this season,” said Felty. “But I think most of the girls prefer it. I think most of the girls feel like they’re in their element. We did get some practice on turf. We tried to hone our skills. It helps our passing. We like a fast game, so turf helps us.”

Annville-Cleona won the war partly because it won the shots-on-goal battle 14-4. But the penalty-corner skirmish went to Wyomissing, to the tune of 9-6.

IMG_2422Little Dutchmen net minder Haley Zimmerman logged three saves to register the shutout.

“The last ten minutes of the first half I felt like we were on our heels,” said Felty. “We may have lost a little of our conditioning. But the defense came through big. They really stepped it up.

“I looked at last Saturday (a loss to Warwick in the opening round of the league playoffs) as a no-win situation,” Felty added. “No one expected us to beat Warwick. But I didn’t expect that to impact this game at all.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_2408 To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to www.https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/?page_id=40462.

 

 

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 2016 Annville-Cleona Field Hockey Results
Date Teams Score
9/02
4:00 pm
Lancaster Country Day
at Annville-Cleona
1
5
9/06
3:45 pm
Annville-Cleona
at Bishop McDevitt
4
0
9/07
4:00 pm
Pequea Valley
at Annville-Cleona
0
1
9/09
4:00 pm
Annville-Cleona
at Lebanon
7
0
9/13
4:00 pm
Lancaster Catholic
at Annville-Cleona
1
0
9/17
9:00 am
Brandywine Heights
at Annville-Cleona
0
7
9/17
11:30 am
Berks Catholic
at Annville-Cleona
0
2
9/19
4:00 pm
Annville-Cleona
at Lancaster Mennonite
5
1
9/21
4:00 pm
Annville-Cleona
at Northern Lebanon
8
1
9/23
4:00 pm
Elco
at Annville-Cleona
0
6
9/26
4:00 pm
Annville-Cleona
at Pequea Valley
1
0
9/28
4:00 pm
Lebanon
at Annville-Cleona
0
9
9/30
4:00 pm
Annville-Cleona
at Lancaster Catholic
3
0
10/03
4:00 pm
Tulpehocken
at Annville-Cleona
0
3
10/06
4:00 pm
Lancaster Mennonite
at Annville-Cleona
1
5
10/08
10:00 am
Annville-Cleona
at Camp Hill
1
0
10/10
4:00 pm
Northern Lebanon
at Annville-Cleona
1
5
10/12
4:00 pm
Annville-Cleona
at Elco
3
0
10/15
12:00 pm
Warwick
Annville-Cleona
at Penn Manor
4
0
10/26
5:00 pm
Wyomissing
Annville-Cleona
at Milton Hershey

 

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 PIAA District Three

 Class A Power Rankings

A School  W  L  T  Rating  TWP  OWP
1 Oley Valley 17- 0- 0  0.770197  1.000000  0.489326
2 Greenwood 16- 2- 0  0.717195  0.893333  0.501914
3 Bermudian Springs 17- 1- 0  0.714115  0.939024  0.439225
4 Schuylkill Valley 15- 1- 0  0.707186  0.932432  0.431884
5 Annville Cleona 17- 1- 0  0.674725  0.922078  0.372405
6 Boiling Springs 12- 5- 0  0.628173  0.711111  0.526803
7 Newport 14- 4- 0  0.588408  0.700000  0.452019
8 Lancaster Catholic 13- 4- 1  0.585230  0.712500  0.429678
9 Tulpehocken 13- 5- 0  0.555858  0.654762  0.434975
10 Littlestown 12- 5- 1  0.545366  0.636905  0.433486
11 Kennard Dale 11- 5- 0  0.535548  0.635135  0.413831
12 Wyomissing 10- 7- 0  0.503963  0.511905  0.494257
13 Eastern Lebanon County 11- 6- 1  0.496969  0.584270  0.390267
14 Bishop McDevitt 8- 6- 3  0.488780  0.523529  0.446309
15 Camp Hill 8- 7- 3  0.480657  0.477011  0.485113
16 Susquehanna Township 7- 10- 1  0.452213  0.415663  0.496885
17 Lancaster Mennonite 8- 9- 0  0.411296  0.413793  0.408245
18 Hanover 9- 9- 0  0.407722  0.417582  0.395669
19 Eastern York 6- 12- 0  0.381500  0.290323  0.492939
20 Biglerville 7- 11- 0  0.357467  0.326087  0.395820
21 Kutztown 4- 11- 2  0.350819  0.258065  0.464185
22 Lancaster Country Day School 6- 12- 0  0.349061  0.290000  0.421247
23 Northern Lebanon 5- 13- 0  0.339757  0.234694  0.468167
24 Brandywine Heights 4- 14- 0  0.332784  0.188119  0.509596
25 Middletown 2- 15- 1  0.291535  0.135417  0.482346
26 Susquenita 1- 16- 1  0.286803  0.058824  0.565445
27 Delone Catholic 3- 11- 0  0.280015  0.168831  0.415907
28 Hamburg 1- 15- 1  0.264247  0.089888  0.477353
29 Fairfield 2- 13- 0  0.255738  0.136364  0.401639
30 Pequea Valley 0- 17- 0  0.204698  0.000000  0.454885

 

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 Final Lancaster-Lebanon League
 Section Three Standings
  League Overall
  W L T PCT W L T PCT PS PA
Annville-Cleona 11 1 0 91.67 17 2 0 89.47 75 9
Lancaster Catholic 10 1 1 87.50 13 5 1 71.05 38 32
Elco 8 3 1 70.83 11 6 1 63.89 36 11
Lancaster Mennonite 6 6 0 50.00 8 9 0 47.06 30 29
Northern Lebanon 4 8 0 33.33 4 11 0 26.67 16 33
Lebanon 2 10 0 16.67 4 13 0 23.53 8 69
Pequea Valley 0 12 0 0.00 0 14 0 0.00 0 12

 

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