BY JEFF FALK

ELLIOTTSBURG – At the beginning of the season, the Northern Lebanon field hockey wasn’t exactly sure where it was headed or how it was going to get there. As the campaign unfolded, the Vikings, for the most part, improved and got a lot out of themselves and each other.

But one can’t help think NL left just a little on the table.

On a cloudy Wednesday evening at West Perry High School, the Vikings’ uneven year concluded with a 4-1 loss to Newport, in the opening round of the District Three Class A playoffs. Skilled Newport tallied a pair of goals in the contest’s first three minutes, on its way to opening a massive 4-0, first-half lead.

With the result, the 13th-seeded Vikings’ concluded their mostly successful season at 12-6. Northern Lebanon had finished third in Section Three of the Lancaster-Lebanon League.

The fourth-seeded Buffaloes improved to 13-5-1 on the fall. Up next for Newport is another Lebanon County opponent, fifth-seeded Elco, which dusted Eastern York 3-0, in Saturday’s Class A quarterfinals at Lower Dauphin Middle School, at 1 p.m..

“We didn’t have the season we expected,” said Northern Lebanon head coach Ronda Sowers. “We still think we’re one of the top teams in our section. Four of our five losses were in a week’s span. After that, our kids had to decide how our season was going to go. We saw our kids battle back. Did we meet our expectations? No. But it’s all perspective.

“We go into every match prepared to win,” Sowers continued. “We expect to be the team with the most goals. We saw a little bit of Newport on film. They looked fast and sharp, and they were a little faster and sharper in person. If we’re taking anything away from tonight it’s that we finished together.”

Trailing 4-0 with time winding down on the first half, the Vikings made a little noise off a corner insert.

From left to right, Emma Kelliher located teammate Lindsay McFeaters at the far post. After a couple of attempts, the persistent McFeaters finally banged the ball inside the post.

It was McFeaters’ ninth goal of the year.

The play pulled Northern Lebanon to within three goals of the lead and seemed to provide it with a little lift heading to the break. But the Vikings could not muster much of an attack in the second half and were out shot 12-0 and out cornered 11-0 over the second 30 minutes of play.

“We knew if we could get the ball in the circle we could score,” said Sowers. “But we struggled to get the ball inside the 25 (yard-line). They (the Buffaloes) applied a lot of pressure.

“It was just fantastic they (her players) came back and scored a goal,” Sowers added. “They’ve always had a no-quit attitude. I think Newport just had a little too much for us. But our kids leave it on the field.”

Although the Vikings seemed ready to go, they experienced difficulties dealing with the Buffalo’s hot start. It was something Northern Lebanon ultimately couldn’t overcome.

A mere 59 seconds into the match, Olivia Wood put Newport up 1-0 with an assist from Ashlyn Smith. Then 1:47 later, the Buffaloes struck again, courtesy of an unassisted tally from Sarah Flanders.

“It’s huge,” said Sowers of the start. “I think the kids played very well in the last three games, and we got off to a good start in each one of them. Tonight we stumbled. But we battled in the second half.

“I think we played a really quality opponent tonight,” continued Sowers. “They had remarkable passing. I thought we had a little letdown in the first few minutes. But I think our kids tried to execute the game play. Many times we made a pass and couldn’t receive it. We seemed a step behind. But that’s not taking anything away from Newport.”

The Buffaloes padded their lead to 4-0 with a pair of goals 7:35 apart in the middle of the first half. Both came off the stick of Rachel Bonn, and both were unassisted.

On the first, Bonn gobbled up a ball off Northern Lebanon goalie Emalee McCracken’s pads and deposited it inside the right post. On the second, she collected a loose ball in front of the Viking cage and again went right to beat McCracken.

“We struggled in the first half defensively,” said Sowers. “Newport has great movement in the circle and they’re quick. It was a little frustrating. I thought the second half was more indicative of the team we have.

“The game plan was to get the ball to the right side of the field, stick-to-stick passing and step to the ball,” added Sowers. “The times we were successful, we were moving the ball down the right side of the field.”

In the final tally, Newport out shot Northern Lebanon 18-4 and enjoyed a 16-2 margin in penalty corners. McCracken came up with a total of 12 saves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018 Northern Lebanon Field Hockey Results

 

 Lancaster-Lebanon League

  Final Section Three Standings