Lebanon Sports Buzz
Breaking News

 IMG_1612BY JEFF FALK

MANHEIM – No one likes to lose. But if one has to lose – and ultimately we must all face that prospect – the league playoffs isn’t a bad place to endure a first one.

On Saturday morning at Manheim Central High School’s Elden Rettew Field, during the opening round of the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs, the Elco girls’ soccer team absorbed its initial setback of the season, in decisive fashion. The Raiders fell behind Hempfield by four goals in the first half, before dropping a 5-0 decision to the Black Knights.

In dominating the action, Hempfield tallied goals in a variety of ways. The Black Knights also did an admirable job of shutting down Elco’s high-powered attack.

The Raiders had won 18 straight games on the way to their second straight Lancaster-Lebanon Section Three championship. Elco, which is currently rated fifth in the Class AAA power rankings, will open play in the District Three postseason on October 24.

The outcome pushed Hempfield, the third-place finisher from Section One, to 10-5-2 overall and into Tuesday’s semifinals of the league playoffs.

IMG_1610“There’s definitely pressure,” said Elco head coach Derek Fulk of his club’s undefeated season. “It’s the first thing the Hempfield coach said to me, ‘Congratulations on a good regular season and on being 18-0’. I think Hempfield put a huge exclamation point on that undefeated season. What’s tough for me is the way we lost. I know what they’re (his players) capable of. Fortunately, the sun will come up tomorrow. Maybe the time off will do us good.

“I keep telling our kids what we did in the regular season was fantastic,” continued Fulk. “But I don’t put a lot of stock into the league playoffs. I don’t want to say we can’t win. I want to look to districts and have that be our ultimate goal. I think it’s a bigger and better stage.”

The Raiders found themselves behind the proverbial eight-ball early, 5:32 in to be exact.

It was Black Knight Lucy McGloshen who made the play by taking the ball down the left side of the field and then crossing a ball hard with her left foot. McGloshen’s target was teammate Sammy Helgeson, who chested the ball inside the right post.

IMG_1590Hempfield made it 2-0 in the game’s 26th minute. Helgeson ran onto a ball from Anika Haski, used one touch to shed her defender, then used the second touch to beat Elco goalie Emma Strickler, before depositing it into the net.

“I think it was a combination of both (Hempfield playing well and Elco not),” said Fulk. “Obviously today wasn’t our best game. It was probably our worst game of the season. But they (the Black Knights) had something to do with that. They had the intensity early. It’s hard to read our kids. I just haven’t seen this – not being ready to play – all year. I don’t have an answer.

“At this point – for the most part – now if you lose you go home,” Fulk continued. “I don’t think they (his players) showed as well as they can play. It wasn’t our best game.”

If the Raiders weren’t already on their heels, two Hempfield goals 3:16 apart late in the first half squarely put them there.

An undisciplined foul on the Raiders created a 22-yard free kick for Hempfield’s Maddie Schwartz. And Schwartz made no mistakes, beating the Elco wall and Strickler to the lower left-hand corner of the net.

IMG_1625Then 7:31 before the break, a Black Knight corner kick caromed off the crossbar of the Elco frame, before bouncing around in the Raider goal mouth. The ball eventually ended up on the right foot of Hempfield’s Alexis Adams, who booted it home.

“I tried to get them going at the beginning of the second half,” said Fulk of his troops. “I thought if we could catch a goal maybe we could change the complexion of the game. Four-nothing is tough. It just wasn’t our day.

“I think the biggest thing is, it definitely wasn’t our best effort,” added Fulk. “But no, I wouldn’t rather lose 5-0 than 3-2 in overtime. I’d rather be in the game. I would rather be in a one-goal game.”

IMG_1562Elco didn’t record its first corner kick of the game until 20 seconds of the first half was left, and the Raiders didn’t register their first shot until 5:10 of the second half had elapsed. The Raiders ended up with three shots and four corners, compared to the Black Knights’ 12 and nine.

Hempfield rounded out the scoring 13:38 into the second half, courtesy of a free kick from the right side of the field. Adams, stationed at the left post, simply headed it into the net.

“I’m proud of our kids,” said Fulk. “I  don’t think they put their best foot forward today. It’s just one of those things. But I’m proud of them for fighting, and for the season we had.”

 

 

 

 

IMG_1587To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1586

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1621

 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

 

IMG_1575

 

 

 

IMG_1573

Lancaster-Lebanon League Final Section Three Standings
  League Overall
W L T PCT W L T PCT PS PA
Elco 13 0 0 100.00 17 0 0 100.00 58 8
Donegal 9 3 1 73.08 10 5 2 64.71 44 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

 

 

IMG_1616

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1618

  PIAA District Three

 Class AAA Power Rankings

AAA School  W  L  T  Rating  TWP  OWP
1 Fleetwood 17- 0- 0  0.789920  1.000000  0.533155
2 Northern York 17- 0- 0  0.789318  1.000000  0.531818
3 East Pennsboro 16- 0- 0  0.783064  1.000000  0.517921
4 Manheim Central 14- 3- 0  0.756806  0.886486  0.598308
5 Eastern Lebanon County 18- 0- 0  0.752110  1.000000  0.449133
6 Red Land 11- 6- 0  0.718840  0.756906  0.672315
7 Northeastern 13- 5- 0  0.715579  0.805263  0.605966
8 Susquehannock 12- 2- 2  0.677036  0.837500  0.480913
9 Conrad Weiser 11- 5- 0  0.661541  0.715190  0.595971
10 Hershey 10- 6- 1  0.661233  0.722527  0.586316
11 Twin Valley 12- 5- 1  0.660891  0.765193  0.533410
12 Lampeter Strasburg 9- 6- 2  0.651988  0.672515  0.626901
13 Lower Dauphin 8- 7- 1  0.645884  0.651515  0.639001
14 Garden Spot 8- 7- 2  0.627436  0.622857  0.633032
15 Cocalico 9- 8- 0  0.625850  0.630058  0.620707
16 Palmyra 7- 8- 2  0.584049  0.574850  0.595293
17 Donegal 11- 5- 2  0.579912  0.648148  0.496513
18 Bishop McDevitt 9- 6- 0  0.573915  0.602649  0.538795
19 Spring Grove 7- 10- 0  0.556893  0.526627  0.593884
20 York Suburban 9- 7- 2  0.533006  0.583333  0.471494
21 James Buchanan 6- 8- 2  0.532169  0.493590  0.579321
22 Dover 7- 7- 1  0.526511  0.538194  0.512231
23 Gettysburg 7- 8- 0  0.518738  0.503356  0.537538
24 Greencastle Antrim 5- 10- 2  0.496267  0.414201  0.596569
25 Shippensburg 5- 11- 2  0.469753  0.388235  0.569385
26 Susquehanna Township 6- 11- 1  0.450912  0.374317  0.544528
27 West Perry 6- 11- 0  0.434244  0.358382  0.526965
28 Solanco 4- 14- 0  0.429598  0.280488  0.611844
29 Berks Catholic 5- 12- 0  0.406331  0.277419  0.563891
30 West York 4- 12- 0  0.400741  0.283784  0.543689
31 Big Spring 4- 12- 0  0.389172  0.280000  0.522604
32 Kennard Dale 3- 11- 2  0.353937  0.236842  0.497053
33 Milton Hershey 2- 12- 0  0.328040  0.142857  0.554374

 

IMG_1601

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1567

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1574

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1619

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1581

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1624

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1606

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1595

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


× 8 = sixty four