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Loyalsock girls state soccer champs
 HERSHEY
Loyalsock put just one shot on goal during Saturday's PIAA Class AA soccer
championship.
That's right, just one. As in just one more than none. Or 10 fewer than
Springdale put on the Lancers' goal.
But that one shot on goal, courtesy of a header from Sarah Heilenman and a
crossing pass by Marlee Hibbs, was all the Lancers needed to capture the
school's first-ever state soccer championship yesterday at Hersheypark
Stadium with a 1-0 win over District 7 champion Springdale.
Loyalsock (21-4-1) finishes the best season in school history having won
21 of its last 23 matches.
"You come in, drive here, come to the game, prepare as much as possible
for the game, then all of a sudden it's the game, and boom, the game's
over and you win a championship," Loyalsock head coach Kyle Bidelspacher
said. "It's so surreal, the words can't describe it."
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PIAA to eliminate spring championship
The PIAA Board of Control voted Friday to move spring girls soccer
entirely to the fall beginning with the 2010-11 school year, an action
that makes next spring the last in which the sport will be sponsored by
the state athletic organization.
Ordinarily, such a change would require approval on three readings to take
effect. But the board instead voted to suspend protocol and to approve the
measure in a single vote with the approval of a two-thirds majority
because two factors contributed to a greater urgency to act sooner:
??PIAA member schools must submit their enrollment figures for the next
two-year cycle (2010-11 and 2011-12) by October, and the new enrollment
breakdown is to be released in late November.
??The Suburban One League's decision in May to move girls soccer to the
fall means just four districts will offer spring soccer in Class AAA. And
of the 548 girls soccer-playing schools in Class AA and Class AAA, just
196 would continue to play in the spring.
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Cumberland Valley advances to 3A semis
Just minutes away from having its District 3-AAA soccer semifinal with
Penn Manor shortened by a lengthy lightning delay, Cumberland Valley took
advantage of its reprieve by pulling out a 2-1 overtime victory in the
second of two games Saturday night at Northeastern High School.
With the weather-delayed victory, CV locked up a berth in Tuesday night's
3-AAA semifinals and yet another date with Hershey. The Eagles also
secured an invite to the PIAA Class AAA tournament, their first since the
2005 club lost in the state quarters ... to Penn Manor.
Freshman Elise Krause ended the drama midway through the first overtime
session, burying a direct kick from just outside the penalty area for the
game-winner. Another freshman, Rachel Kovach, was upended moments earlier,
setting up the decisive score.
Yet another CV freshman, Cassie Pecht, pulled the Eagles (19-3) even with
10 minutes remaining in regulation when she fielded a ball some 25 yards
from goal, sliced past a handful of Penn Manor defenders and slotted a
shot past Comets keeper Chrissy Parke (8 saves).
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Semifinal preview; Plumstead grows
Tuesday’s PIAA District One Class AAA semifinals at War Memorial Field
will bring a rematch of one of the most exciting girls soccer games of the
season and a true Cinderella story in the other.
At 5:45 p.m., No. 1 seed and undefeated Central Bucks South will face No.
4 seed Pennridge, in a battle between the first- and second-place teams in
the Suburban One League Continental Conference.
The Titans have been dominant, outscoring the opposition by a 53-7 margin
this year. They have only trailed once all season, but that one time was
against Pennridge. In their last meeting, the Rams held a 1-0 lead late in
the game, only to see the Titans rally for a 2-1 overtime victory.
The key to the game might be CB South’s great offensive firepower trying
to get the ball past Pennridge goalie Shannon Zickler - never an easy
task. more
Yurkovic named Mid Penn Conference soccer MVP
Central Dauphin senior striker Kate Yurkovic, who netted 14 goals and six
assists while sparking the Rams (11-6-0) to a berth in the District 3-AAA
girls' soccer playoffs, was named the Mid-Penn Conference's player of the
year Monday night at Mechanicsburg High School.
Ticketed for Temple in the fall, Yurkovic was named on 18 of the 24
ballots cast by the Mid-Penn's head coaches. Yurkovic also was one of four
players to receive all-state nominations, joining Hershey's Caroline
Brown, Trinity's Katie Lenz and Katie Lippert of Red Land.
First-year Cumberland Valley skipper Seth Lehman, whose Eagles (18-3-0)
claimed the Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division title, was named the
Commonwealth's coach of the year and the sprawling circuit's Class AAA
coach of the year.more
Cumberland Valley advances to District 3-AAA soccer
quarterfinals
Cassie Pecht's strike from the edge of the penalty area with 1:13 gone in
the second overtime -- off a Jena Wiest dish from the right flank --
propelled Cumberland Valley past Mechanicsburg 1-0 in a compelling
District 3-AAA scrap Wednesday night at windy Eagle View Stadium.
Pecht's finish also popped the soccer-playing Eagles (18-3-0) into
Saturday's quarterfinal-round twinbill at Northeastern High School in
Manchester, where Seth Lehman's third-seeded club will meet Penn Manor in
the back end of that two-fer.
Shelbie Rackley preserved her 12th shutout with a seven-save effort, while
CV also got some terrific efforts from backs Mary Kate Lowry, Brianna
Bellido, Mackenzie Neal and Elise Krause -- especially when the strong
winds were blowing into their faces in the second half and first OT.
Mechanicsburg (11-8-1) also put together a terrific defensive performance
in front of keeper Nicki Keiser (5 saves), using five backs for much of
the game's 96-plus minutes. Jodie Zelenky, K.K. Fisher, Emma Galinskie,
Rosie White and Tesse Meischeid were especially effective in the opening
half, when CV was camped in the Wildcats' defensive third.more
Elco girls' soccer rallies with four second-half
goals to beat Lebanon Catholic
Elco came back from two second-half deficits to defeat Lebanon Catholic
4-2 in the District 3-AA girls soccer Round of 16 on Wednesday afternoon
at the In The Net complex in Palmyra.
Both times the Beavers took the lead, the Raiders (15-5-1) responded with
a goal in the following two minutes. Then Elco took the lead for good with
a score by Taylor Shaak with 10:03 left in the contest. After a throw in
by Kala Yoders into the box, the ball was touched but never controlled by
both teams before Shaak took a shot into the right side of the net.
While the Raiders held that 3-2 lead, the closest the Beavers (10-10) came
to tying it was on a shot at the top of the box by Kelsey Boehmer that
sailed wide left.
Yoders added an insurance goal with 3:49 remaining with a shot that lofted
in from the right wing.
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Elco girls' soccer rallies with four second-half goals to beat Lebanon
Catholic
Elco came back from two second-half deficits to defeat Lebanon Catholic
4-2 in the District 3-AA
girls soccer
Round of
16 on Wednesday afternoon at the In The Net complex in Palmyra.
Both times the Beavers took the lead, the Raiders (15-5-1) responded
with a goal in the following two minutes. Then Elco took the lead for
good with a score by Taylor Shaak with 10:03 left in the contest. After
a throw in by Kala Yoders into the box, the ball was touched but never
controlled by both teams before Shaak took a shot into the right side of
the net.
While the Raiders held that 3-2 lead, the closest the Beavers (10-10)
came to tying it was on a shot at the top of the box by Kelsey Boehmer
that sailed wide left.
Yoders added an insurance goal with 3:49 remaining with a shot that
lofted in from the right wing.
Tennent rally falls just short
HOLLAND - Even though there was no official Senior Day ceremony planned for
Council Rock South's two seniors Tuesday, Jenna Cunningham and Julie Oberholtzer
decided to make their final home game a memorable event anyway.
Each scored a goal - with Cunningham netting the game-winner - as they helped
the Golden Hawks pull out a thrilling 3-2 victory over William Tennent in a
Suburban One League National Conference girls soccer game that was in doubt
until the final seconds.
The victory kept alive CR South's (13-2-2, 11-1-1 SOL) slender hopes of winning
the league, as it is a game behind Neshaminy, whose game with Bensalem was
rained out Tuesday. Tennent (9-8, 8-5 SOL) will now have to battle with Council
Rock North for third place in the conference.
"It says a lot about how good our league is that Tennent could be third. They
have a heck of a team," said Alan Nicholl, who served as CR South's acting head
coach due to Tim Keddie having a personal commitment.
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Golden Hawks let one get away
A long goal kick turned into the decisive goal as the Trojans upset No. 3 seed
CR South.
HOLLAND - Soccer has many unwritten rules that coaches try to drum into the
heads of their players.
One of the most important is: When you're heavily favored, put the other team
away. The longer you let them hang around, the more confidence they gain and
better the chance they'll catch a break and leave you on the short end of the
score.
Council Rock South found out Tuesday what happens when you don't put teams away.
The No. 3 seed Golden Hawks failed to convert a half-dozen excellent scoring
chances and lost a stunning, 2-1 decision to 14th-seeded Wissahickon in a
first-round game of the PIAA District One Class AAA tournament.
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Pennridge blanks Pennsbury 5 to 0
PERKASIE — The coach and players thought they were a little sloppy early
on, but it was hard to tell by the end result.
Utilizing a stingy defense, along with pinpoint passing, the Pennridge
Rams thumped the Pennsbury Falcons, 5-0, in the opening round of the PIAA
District One Class AAA girls soccer tournament Tuesday evening.
The fourth-seeded Rams, who allowed just one shot through the game’s first
60 minutes, advanced to Thursday’s semifinals, where they’ll host
fifth-seeded Central Bucks West at a time to be determined. The Bucks
defeated 12th-seeded Central Bucks East, 3-2, in double overtime. The loss
to Pennridge ended the season for the Falcons.
“Our intent the whole time was to not start slowly,” said Pennridge junior
midfielder Tattie DePaolo, who had a pair of second-half goals.
“In the second half we definitely stepped it up and settled down. The
whole team was playing together and playing like we can.”
The Rams struck first just over six minutes in when sophomore Bridgette
Hess connected with a beautiful shot from about 35 yards out that slipped
under the crossbar to make it 1-0.
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Cardinals coast to a 4-0 win
Three games are left in the Suburban One American Conference
girls' soccer season, but Upper Dublin clinched the regular-season title with
plenty of time to spare yesterday.
The Cardinals (14-2 overall, 12-0 league) coasted to a 4-0 win at rival Upper
Moreland behind a pair of goals from Ryann Noe. Marissa Gaab and Emily Marvill
also scored.
Allie Dayno stopped all three shots in goal and recorded her ninth shutout on
the season.
The Cardinals have a chance to finish unbeaten in league play with Wissahickon,
Norristown, and Upper Merion remaining.
They host Wissahickon on Monday night, which is senior night.
Kerri Aiken set to star for Eastern
 Eastern
junior Kerri Aiken enters the season with 18 career shutouts in soccer,
one short of the school record. But it's a mark that she apparently
won't be breaking this season - or her senior year, either.
That's because Aiken, who was the goalie for Eastern's
2006 state Group 4 title team as a freshman, won't be playing in goal
this season.
It had nothing to do with her performance in the nets,
and everything to do with her athletic ability.
Coach Jamie McGroarty said he would like to see Aiken
be more involved in the attack and the defense. Aiken could play either
midfielder or defender.
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Villa Maria kicks it into high gear again
 Villa Maria's motto is: "Play well, and good things
will happen." It's also a way to describe the Hurricanes' start to the soccer season.
Villa Maria defeated St. Basil, 6-1, in yesterday's Athletic Association of Catholic Academies opener in Malvern.
As a result, the Hurricanes (2-0, 1-0 league) have outscored their first two opponents by a combined 9-1.
"I didn't think that we were expected to start like that," Villa Maria junior striker Molly Nawalinski said, "but we are excited to start like this."
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Carbondale surprises Lakeland
CARBONDALE — For the first 25 to 30 minutes Tuesday, Lakeland showed why it is favored to win a sixth straight Lackawanna Soccer League Northern Division title.
The Chiefs kept Carbondale on its heels at the Andrew J. Cerra Sports Complex with persistent pressure.
Chargerettes coach Al Dyno hoped his team would weather the early storm, that it could stay close while conserving its energy for the second half.
The Chargerettes made their coach look good, scoring twice after halftime to beat Lakeland, 2-1, in the opener for each.
“We just wanted it more,’’ said Carbondale midfielder Brittanie Hess, who controlled the middle in the second half. “Our team just needed to do what it’s capable
of doing.’’ more
North Central Pa Roundup
from the Sun Gazette
Abby Derone scored two goals and Tesa McKibben had a goal and two assists as Montoursville captured the Burke Tournament championship, defeating Loyalsock, 3-1. The game
was a rematch of last year's District 4 Class AA semifinal and state quarterfinals, both won by Montoursville. Marlee Hibbs scored Loyalsock's goal, tying the game at 1-1, but Derone and
McKibben scored less than three minutes apart, giving Montoursville the win.
Katie Lisi scored two goals and added an assist as St. John Neumann scored four second-half goals in a 5-1 win over CMVT.
Hughesville's Kalynn Newman and Angela Dirocco each scored twice as the Spartans defeated Sayre, 5-1.
Sun-Gazette girls athlete of the year: Tesa McKibben,
Montoursville
Tesa McKibben's accomplishments are pretty impressive: a
school record in one sport, 1,000
 career
points in a second, and three state medals in a third.
Pretty impressive, yes, but here's the scary thing: She
has one more year left. McKibben performed at a high level in three
different sports during her junior year. For her efforts, she was named
the Sun Gazette's Female Athlete of the Year for the 2007-08 season.
"I'm shell-shocked," McKibben, said. "I didn't think I
would do well. I practiced and had a lot of help from coaches on the field
and on the court. It helped a lot."
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