MYERSTOWN – It is one of locale’s most heated rivalries, in a sport that Lebanon County continues to make great strides. Now, some of the intensity may have been taken out of it by realignment, but it’s still Elco-Northern Lebanon.
Like any rivalry, there are ebbs and flows, it has gone back and forth.
On a sunny Tuesday evening at Elco High School, the hometown Raiders bested the Vikings 6-1, in the annual renewal of their field hockey hostilities. Elco set the stage for its impending rampage by opening a three-goal advantage 8:14 into their Lancaster-Lebanon Section Three-Four cross-over match-up.
Elco freshman Kailen Hibshman finished with a hat trick, while senior teammate Jessica Seidel netted a pair of goals, her fourth and fifth of the young season.
The result represented the Raiders’ second victory in as many outings this fall. For the Vikings, it was their season opener.
“Every game with Northern Lebanon is hard,” said Elco head coach Kelsey Thorley, whose side shared an L-L Section Three championship with Garden Spot in 2020. “They go hard. They hustle. I said to our girls that the skills are equal and that heart and desire is going to win it. They’re a solid squad. I understand the Elco-Northern Lebanon rivalry. It’s something to feed off.
“I thought we played well for our second game,” added Thorley. “We’re definitely improving on what they’re (her players) focusing on in practice. It was good to see them execute the formations we’re working on. I love seeing them finish balls, getting rebounds, being smart in the circle and getting corners.”
“I think Elco and Annville-Cleona are always great rivalries,” said Northern Lebanon head coach Ronda Sowers. “We love to hate each other. We always want to come out on top. Losses never feel good, but it hurts a little more to lose to a rival.
“We talked about that (playing Elco in their regular season opener),” continued Sowers. “They’re probably one of the top two teams we’re going to play this season, and we had to do it right off the bat. I don’t know if I want a rematch with them today or tomorrow, by maybe in October.”
Elco came out ready to play. The Raiders tallied a trio of goals in a five-minute stretch early in the first quarter, including scoring on their first two shots of the game, generated by their initial two corners.
Some 3:13 into the contest, Hisbhman took a right corner insert from Seidel, spun to shake a defender, and ripped a rocket into the Northern Lebanon cage. She posted her second tally moments later, knocking home a rebound.
Then, Seidel got into the act, off another carom, after Hibshman had carried a ball into the circle and gotten off a hard drive on Viking netminder Carla Martino.
“We focus on the first five minutes of the game,” said Thorley. “We focus on getting a corner in the first five minutes of the game, and we got a goal off that corner. We like to dictate the pace of the game. We spend a lot of time making corners productive. You have to make opportunities happen on corners.
“This was our first defensive challenge,” Thorley continued. “We’re working out some of the kinks. It’s a lot of learning and understanding the play in front of us.”
“They’ve got a power midfield attacking game,” said Sowers of the Raiders. “They kind of came out and punched us in the face, sort or speak. We weren’t expecting that. It felt as though they (her players) didn’t have the desire to be in the game. We clearly lost to a better team.
“We had seven kids who never played varsity before,” added Sowers. “We have to get better. We have to step to the ball. We have to come up with some sort of possession game where we’re passing to the good guys.”
With 5:46 left in the opening quarter, Northern Lebanon pulled to within 3-1 of the lead when Madison Brewer rushed into the circle and wristed a shot into the right side of the Raider cage. But 5:41 into the second quarter, Lauren Ferrari retaliated for Elco, on another rebound, from a ball that glanced off the crossbar on a corner play.
“It’s attack, attack, attack,” said Thorley. “They (the Vikings) scored and I told them (her players) that we can’t let down. No lead ever feels like enough. It didn’t feel like we had the lead. I was a hard, tough game.
“At halftime, I just told the girls to stay dialed in,” continued Thorley. “Knowing us and who our girls are, we had the momentum, but we had to keep moving forward.”
“I think the game plan was just to be in the game and be competitive,” said Sowers. “We have to pick up players bursting into our 25. We’ve got to win more 50-50 balls. We have to play to our strengths.
“They (the Raiders) have some really explosive, dynamic players,” added Sowers. “They had two really good players, but they also had great support. They hunted in twos. The team play they demonstrated was really terrific.”
Seidel registered her second goal of the game with 6:48 left in the third quarter on a short-side blast, before Hibshman completed her hat trick from a restart early in the final stanza.
“It’s a good start. We’re in a good place,” said Thorley. “Our motto is: ‘Pressure is a privilege.’ We’ve been trying to work through the mental piece of that. There are obvious expectations, but we lost nine starters from last year. We’ve put in a lot of time and practice and effort.
“For them (her players), the goal is to repeat as Section champs.” Thorley added. “There’s unfinished business from last year.”
“We need to play like it matters,” said Sowers. “I don’t feel we took pride in being competitive. It was a combination of us not doing our parts and them (the Raiders) being a very dangerous team. It would’ve been nice if we would’ve kept it a little close.”
Elco out shot Northern Lebanon 15-7. The Raiders held a 9-4 advantage in penalty corners.
| Date | Opponents | Outcomes | |
| 9/03 4:00 pm | Elco at Lancaster Country Day | 5 0 | League |
| 9/07 4:00 pm | Northern Lebanon at Elco | League | |
| 9/09 4:00 pm | Elco at Lancaster Mennonite | League | |
| 9/13 4:00 pm | Annville-Cleona at Elco | League | |
| 9/14 7:00 pm | Elco at Garden Spot | League | |
| 9/16 4:00 pm | Lebanon at Elco | League | |
| 9/18 TBD | Elco at Muhlenberg | Nonleague | |
| 9/20 4:00 pm | Elco at Solanco | League | |
| 9/22 4:00 pm | McCaskey at Elco | League | |
| 9/24 4:00 pm | Elco at Annville-Cleona | League | |
| 9/25 10:00 am | Elco at Hamburg Area H.S. | League | |
| 9/28 4:00 pm | Garden Spot at Elco | League | |
| 9/30 4:00 pm | Elco at Lebanon | League | |
| 10/02 10:00 am | Solanco at Elco | League | |
| 10/05 4:00 pm | Elco at McCaskey | League | |
| 10/05 4:00 pm | Solanco at Elco | League | |
| 10/08 4:00 pm | Elco at Tulpehocken | Nonleague | |
| 10/14 6:00 pm | Elco at Conrad Weiser | Nonleague |
| Date | Opponents | Outcomes | |
| 9/03 4:00 pm | Annville-Cleona at Northern Lebanon | League | |
| 9/07 4:00 pm | Northern Lebanon at Elco | League | |
| 9/08 4:00 pm | Garden Spot at Northern Lebanon | League | |
| 9/11 10:00 am | Northern Lebanon at Lancaster Mennonite | League | |
| 9/13 4:00 pm | Northern Lebanon at McCaskey | League | |
| 9/14 4:00 pm | Northern Lebanon at Susquehanna Township | Nonleague | |
| 9/16 4:00 pm | Octorara at Northern Lebanon | League | |
| 9/20 7:00 pm | Northern Lebanon at Lancaster Catholic | League | |
| 9/22 4:00 pm | Northern Lebanon at Lancaster Country Day | League | |
| 9/24 4:00 pm | Lancaster Mennonite at Northern Lebanon | League | |
| 9/25 10:00 am | Northern Lebanon at Fleetwood | Nonleague | |
| 9/30 4:00 pm | Northern Lebanon at Octorara | League | |
| 10/05 4:00 pm | Lancaster Country Day at Northern Lebanon | League | |
| 10/07 4:00 pm | Lebanon at Northern Lebanon | League | |
| 10/12 4:00 pm | Northern Lebanon at Lancaster Catholic | League | |
| 10/14 4:00 pm | Central Dauphin East at Northern Lebanon | Nonleague |
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