HUMMELSTOWN – Much has been written about the success Annville-Cleona has enjoyed on the hockey field this fall. And deservedly so.
But the full effect of the Little Dutchmen’s success may not have been felt yet – it may be yet to come. Does this 2016 season have the power to change the overall direction of the Annville-Cleona program?
On Saturday afternoon on Lower Dauphin Middle School’s Kreiser-Hallman Field, Annville-Cleona’s break-through season continued to wind down, during a 3-1 loss to Greenwood, in the District Three Class A bronze medal game. The Little Dutchmen enjoyed a 1-0 halftime lead on the strength of a Katelyn Brightbill-to-Emily Feibig connection, but wilted in the second half under a barrage of Greenwood corners.
Entering the fray, the fifth-seded Little Dutchmen had already qualified for the PIAA Class A postseason, for the first since 1985 when they finished third in the state. As the now 19-4, fourth-place finisher out of District Three, Annville-Cleona will take on the District Two champion on Election Day, at a site and time to be determined.
After winning 17 of their first 18 games, the Little Dutchmen have gone 2-3 in five playoff games this season, and have been outscored by a combined total of 8-5 in those contests.
Second-seeded Greenwood upped its overall record to 18-3.
“I think it can be great for the program,” said Annville-Cleona head coach Sue Felty. “We’ve been having low numbers, and graduate nine seniors. I hope the success entices more girls to come out. I hope it’s the start of something special, and that we’re not a one-hit wonder.
“They need skills. That’ what I’m talking about with the youth program,” continued Felty. “We’re starting our players younger than we ever have, and that’s what it takes to build a program. Just learning the game early. We’ve never had third graders with sticks in their hands before.”
The Little Dutchmen proved to be very opportunistic in scoring on their only shot of the first half. The play originated out of a corner insert from Cass Connelly 12:39 into the game.
Connelly got the ball to K. Brightbill at the cusp of the circle. But instead of shooting, K. Brightbill shuffled a pass to Feibig, who stuffed it in from the right goal post.
But the Little Dutchmen’s next shot wouldn’t come until ten minutes of the second half had elapsed.
“The one thing we are able to do well is pass to each other,” said Felty. “They (her players) did have a nice series of passes on the goal. But I don’t know that we did that well overall. They’re (Feibig and K. Brightbill) not the only ones touching the ball. But we weren’t quite clicking today.
“We started well, but kind of faded in the second half,” Felty continued. “I don’t think that (having a state berth clinched) hurt us that much. We’ve had a long draining week. Not to make excuses. But maybe some of that caught up to them (her players).”
After Annville-Cleona had valiantly staved off numerous Greenwood attempts, the Wildcats finally broke through 6:43 into the second half to tie the game at one. Greenwood’s Morgan Burkypile accepted a feed from teammate Paityn Wirth, and from the middle of the circle unleashed a wrister that was redirected by a Little Dutchmen defender, and past keeper Haley Zimmerman.
“I don’t know the final numbers, but it’s hard to defend that many corners,” said Felty. “They (the Wildcats) were quicker on their feet. We were reaching with our sticks. We weren’t moving our feet.
“I thought our legs caused the corners,” added Felty. “I thought we weren’t playing smart in some cases. But our defense has really stepped up the last few games.”
Greenwood tallied the eventual game-winner with 13:55 to go, then added an insurance tally less than five minutes later. Both originated from corners and both were athletic and accurate blasts.
Sydni Hicks’ decisive score came from the left portion of the circle and it beat H. Zimmerman to the short side. Wildcat Grace Lesh drew an assist on the play.
Greenwood’s third goal was a right-side bomb from Wirth. Off a pass from Corissa Wagner, Wirth converted to the far side.
“I was happy with the way we played,” said Felty. “Maybe a little disappointed by the second half of the second half, because I don’t know if we had heart during that time. That’s one thing we always want to have. I was disappointed that we weren’t still fighting. It might have been more fatigue than emotion.”
Greenwood collected a total of 18 corners, ten of which came in the second half. The Wildcats out shot the Little Dutchmen 10-5.
“Not knowing anything about the team we’ll be facing, I don’t know the importance of it yet,” said Felty of the difference between finishing third or fourth in the district. “It’s important to win. We still have a chance to keep the season alive. We’ll be heading up north, but I’ll let you know (of the importance) on Tuesday, when we find out the bracket.
“It’s a game at a time,” Felty added. “I’d like to win a game in states and see how far we can take it. Anything from here on is icing on the cake. We had so many firsts this season, but I don’t want the girls to be satisfied.”
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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 |
0 3 |
|
10/29 3:00 pm |
Annville-Cleona Schuylkill Valley at Penn Manor |
1 0 |
|
11/02 5:00 pm |
Annville-Cleona Oley Valley at Warwick |
0 1 |
|
11/05 1:00 pm |
Annville-Cleona Greenwood at Lower Dauphin Middle School |
Annville-Cleona Field Hockey
Individual Stats
PLAYER STATS |
GOALKEEPING | |
Name | Saves |
Haley Zimmerman | 53 |
Madison Luciotti | 10 |
Luuke Westelaken | 1 |
OFFENSE | ||
Name | Goals | Assists |
Michaela Singer | 23 | 2 |
Emily Fiebig | 16 | 10 |
Katelyn Brightbill | 16 | 6 |
Lauren Schrader | 6 | 8 |
Cass Connelly | 5 | 0 |
Morgan Zimmerman | 4 | 1 |
Emily Brightbill | 3 | 0 |
Harper Sellers | 1 | 3 |
Carrington Moyer | 1 | 3 |
Haley Zimmerman | 0 | 3 |
Luuke Westelaken | 1 | 0 |
Faith Victa | 1 | 0 |
Addie Plummer | 0 | 1 |
Lancaster-Lebanon League Final Section Three Standings | ||||||||||
League | Overall | |||||||||
W | L | T | PCT | W | L | T | PCT | PS | PA | |
Annville-Cleona | 11 | 1 | 0 | 91.67 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 86.36 | 79 | 10 |
Lancaster Catholic | 10 | 1 | 1 | 87.50 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 67.50 | 38 | 38 |
Elco | 8 | 3 | 1 | 70.83 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 60.53 | 36 | 16 |
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 |