By Mona Steinhauer
Last Thursday at Manheim Central, the Comets took to the field with some unfinished business at hand. After dominating Section One for each of the last three years, the Comets had come up empty in their quest for a Lancaster-Lebanon League trophy.
Yes they are the defending PIAA Class 3-A champs, but in looking closer to home, they've come up empty.
Not this time. Penn Manor finally closed the door and earned its first L-L League field hockey championship since 1986 with a convincing 3-1 final over defending league champ Donegal.
The Indians (17-4) owned a 12-8 advantage in penalty corners and both teams recorded five shots on goal. The difference was Manor's ability to finish on those corner attempts.
Jill Witmer, a University of Maryland recruit, collected a feed from Nancy Stehman and rifled a shot to the back of the cage for a 1-0 advantage 16:31 into the game. It was Manor's third corner attempt and their first shot on goal. That lead remained through the first half, though the Indians appeared to tie the score on their second penalty corner of the game. That play was whistled back after a Comet infraction was ruled prior to the score.
Donegal, who fell 4-2 to the Comets back on October 2nd, did eventually tie the game, a quick 4:12 into the second half but that lasted not more than two minutes. Witmer collected her 101st career goal after taking another corner insert from Stehman and finishing.
The Comets gained a bit of breathing room with 16:53 left on the clock as Kelly Harsh, at the post, redirected another Witmer rocket shot on goal.
"Jill had a great game," lauded head coach Matt Soto. "But I think Kelly's goal was a momentum changing play. We had some significant possession time throughout but after Kelly's goal, we played with obvious confidence after that.
"It was fun," he added. "Donegal played a great game."
In order to get to the finals the Comets had to get past Manheim Central and Cocalico. And in both games they went about business as usual, stopping the Barons 5-2 and blanking Cocalico 4-zip.
Witmer led the charge against Manheim on Monday at Hempfield, scoring three times, including twice in the first 23 minutes of the game. Shannon Sloss, a freshman, knocked in the first goal in the 12th minute and Witmer, who led the league with 35 goals scored this year, tallied the next two, including the second goal less than a minute after Sloss.
Up 3-0 after just over 22 minutes, Manheim found the back of the Comet cage with 4:08 left in the half.
The Comets sandwiched two more goals around Central's one in the second half. Witmer notched her hat trick 13 minutes in and Madelyn Hess capped the scoring in the 26th minute. Kelly Harsh and Renee Suter were each credited with two assists and Taylor Eichelberger one.
"Katie Breneman, Renee and Nancy Stehman held down the midfield very well in this game," noted Soto.
In the semifinals and Pequea Valley Tuesday night, Witmer scored three more goals, propelling the Comets, with a 19-8 advantage in corners, to a 4-0 final against Cocalico. And the locals wasted little time in setting the tone. Witmer scored off a penalty corner just 1:31 into the game and made it 2-0 with 1:12 left in the half. She completed her hat trick midway through the second half. Megan Harris, assisted by Witmer recorded the final goal of the game with 6:02 left to play. Harsh, Stehman and Suter each assisted on Witmer's goals.
"Cocalico earned eight corners against us but I felt we defended them well," stated Soto. "Kelly Harsh and Helen Doolittle had great games in the backfield and Carenna Neely (5 saves) was strong in the nets as well."
CROSS COUNTRY
The harrier teams competed in the Lancaster-Lebanon League Meet last Tuesday afternoon at Ephrata Middle School and finished with one individual medal winner. Marcy Herr's 15th place effort (20:31) led the Comets to a ninth place team finish (273 points) and capped her L-L League career.
"Marcy, who was 14th last year and did not place in the top 30 the previous two years, finished her league career with a strong race," stated Tom Ecker.
Backing Herr was Breanne Funk (45th, 21:58), Becky Novak (58th, 22:33), Katie Maisel (74th, 23:20) and Hannah Tucker (77th, 23:28).
"Taylor ran a strong race as our sixth runner," Ecker added. "Her diligent efforts served as a tie breaker for ninth place with Cedar Crest. Taylor has been very reliable as a fourth, fifth or sixth runner and is always there when we need her."
Warwick capped their undefeated season with a team-low 33 points, Township was second (85) and Solanco third (119).
Penn Manor finished the season with an 11-10 record.
The boys' race followed the girls and got underway at 5 p.m. Travis Wells was the top place-winner for the Comets, finishing 42nd in 17:58.
"Travis, a freshman, ran his best race of the season," said Ecker. "He was very competitive and used his strong running skills to pass runners over the last two miles of the race. His contribution to the team has increased as a result of his improved intensity and focus in the latter weeks of the season."
Also helping the Comets to a 15th place team finish (374 points) was Peter Ashworth (72nd, 18:36), Faheem Gilani (75th, 18:36), Harrison Manning (80th, 18:41), Connor Rowe (102, 19:24), Mark Curtin (103, 19:29), and Brad Funk (104, 19:30).
"Faheem also had his best race of the season and is making significant improvements each week," Ecker added. "He was unable to train for four weeks due to an illness just prior to the first meet. His excellent pre-season training and his intense focus to excel enabled him to return as a strong contributor to the team."
The District Meet will be held this Wednesday at the old Parkview Golf Course behind the Giant Center in Hershey.
FOOTBALL
In a tale of two halves, the Comets survived Warwick's attempt at an upset and prevailed 14-12 this past Friday in Millersville.
Penn Manor (4-1, 7-1) dominated the first half and Warwick (2-3, 4-4) returned the favor, staging a comeback in the second half that fell just short of the upset.
Manor jumped out to a 14-0 advantage in the first 8:40 of the game. Quarterback PJ Rehm found Demetrius Dixon for a 30-yard touchdown that opened the scoring. On their next possession, LaRonn Lee sprinted for a 21-yard score that pushed the lead to 14-0 with 3:20 left in the first frame.
"Actually, it should have been 21-0 in that first half," said head coach Todd Mealy. "We had a touchdown called back on a penalty and we did miss a field goal attempt so we should have been up three scores."
The Comet defense held the Warriors to 51 yards in the half and the offense tallied up 174 yards of their own offense.
But the second half was a different story. Warwick went on the attack and the Comets fumbled. The Warriors cut the led to 14-6 when Chris Schaffer scampered seven yards late in the third frame, completing a 14-play 88-yard drive. The PAT was no good.
Midway through the fourth, Schaffer came through again, this time punching in from a yard out, completing an 11-play, 45-yard drive. Warwick went for the two-point conversion in an attempt to knot the score. Schaffer got the call but was stopped at the 2 by Austin Sahd as the Comets held on to their 14-12 lead with 6:10 left on the clock.
Still enough time to pull off the upset. Warwick recovered the second of Manor's two fourth quarter fumbles at the Comet 28 with 4:31 left in the game. The Warriors, settling for a 31-yard field goal attempt by Adam Zipko, were denied as Manor's Garrett Young busted up the middle and got a piece of Zipko's attempt.
In the second half, Warwick's defense held the Comets to 44-yards on 14 plays. The offense, led by Schaffer (140 yards), who has rushed for over 130 yards for three weeks straight now, ran 34 plays and rushed for 143-yards.
"In the second half we only had the ball three times and we fumbled twice," Mealy recalled. "We were fortunate, but we really should not have been in that position. Next to the Reading game, it was the worst three quarters of football we have played. But it's nice to know that we can find a way to win the close ones. This is the third time, in addition to L-S and Township, that we found a way to win. That says something about the character of our kids.
"Individually, PJ Rehm had a good game running the ball and both Austin Sahd and Garrett Young had eight tackles and came up with those two key stops," he added.
This week the Comets take on section-leading Wilson (5-0).
"We're one game behind them so this one means a lot," Mealy said.
VOLLEYBALL
In their last regular match of the season, the volleyball team avenged their first half loss to Manheim Township with an exciting 3-2 final Tuesday night in Neffsville.
"We went into that match with nothing to lose, so our game plan to was to just 'leave it all on the court' that night," said head coach Jarod Staub. "Even though our season did not go as long as we had wanted, winning two five-game matches at the end of the year was good for the season (as a send off) and good experience for the younger players."
The Comets dominated game one 25-14 only to turn around and fall short 19-25 in game two. Game three went to the hosts in a close one 25-21 but Township again came back, this time tying the match at 2-2 with a 25-20 victory. In the final game to 15, the Comets prevailed 15-12, ending their season with a 5-5 Section One mark.
Hempfield finished on top of Section One with a 10-0 record. Warwick finished at 7-3 and Township, despite the loss, snuck in for third place at 6-4.
Elly Raush was tops in the stats department, swinging for a match-high 18 kills. Alicia Burns finished with three aces, along with Kerri Althouse and Kirsten Bechtold, and added three blocks. Jessie Greenslade and Holly Underkoffler each added five kills and Kayla Drexel chipped in with 37 assists.
