By Ara Grigorian
Mechanicsburg sophomore Alex Panuccio took a pass from junior teammate David Strausbaugh four minutes into the second half and fired a shot past Manheim Township goalie Jon Chieppor for a 1-0 advantage in the opening round of the District Three Class-AAA soccer playoffs on Thursday.
So, the Wildcats drew first blood despite having been out-shot 7-2 at that point in the match.
But despite the Blue Streaks' dominance for much of the contest, the Wildcats (15-5) made that lone goal stand up for the margin of victory over the Lancaster-Lebanon League champion Blue Streaks (18-2-1).
And suddenly the sun was setting in the east, that 1990's sit-com starring a certain stand-up comic was actually about something and parliamentary and congressional leaders in every republic on the planet were able to agree on every issue. Yes, the interscholastic soccer world as we know it in this commonwealth was topsy-turvy. It was as if your little brother took a red marker and drew all over the neatly laid out playoff brackets that had the Blue Streaks advancing two or three rounds further. And you had to redo the brackets.
The Streaks out-shot the Wildcats 14-5 and finished the game with a 5-0 edge in corners. The Wildcats' defense and goalie Shane Cowoski (seven saves) somehow staved off the Manheim Township attacks.
The Wildcats improved to 16-5 as they went on to post a 1-0 win over Conestoga Valley in the next round of the district playoffs. That too was a game in which they were out-shot by the losing side.
Manheim Township was coming off a 2-0 victory over Hempfield in the league championship match on Monday. With the victory, the Blue Streaks claimed their sixth consecutive L-L League title.
Junior striker Matt Baldantoni scored with less than nine minutes left in the first half. Senior striker Luke Oostdyk added more breathing room with 5:08 left in regulation with the assist coming from Baldantoni.
Then, about five or six minutes later, the Blue Streaks were celebrating the championship on the turf at Penn Manor's Comet Field, knowing they would be taking another L-L League trophy back to their school.
Chieppor snagged three saves as the Blue Streaks out-shot the Black Knights 15-6.
FOOTBALL
Brian Sourber ran the ball 38 times for 192 yards and scored three touchdowns as Manheim steamrolled McCaskey 35-6 on the road Friday night. The Blue Streaks improved to 4-2 in Section One (6-3 overall) while the Red Tornado were left still winless in both league and overall competition (0-6, 0-9).
Sourber scored four touchdowns, taking it to the house from 35 yards and 46 yards away as well as a one-yard plunge all in the second quarter. The 6-foot-2, 185-lb. senior running back scored on an eight-yard run in the third quarter.
Junior wide receiver Quint Miller hauled in a nine-yard touchdown reception from freshman quarterback Brennan Scott later in the period. Sophomore Teddy Wolf went 5-for-5 on extra point attempts to help give Township its 35 points.
McCaskey scored in the second quarter on a three-yard touchdown run by Markeith Williams. The senior running back's TD cut the Township lead to 21-6, which was how things stood at halftime.
The Blue Streaks will conclude the regular season at archrival Hempfield. The Black Knights have dropped three of their last four games, including Friday's 16-0 setback at Warwick.
Also on Friday night, Wilson improved to 6-0 in Section One. The Bulldogs (8-1 overall) came back from a 20-10 halftime deficit to take down visiting Penn Manor 24-20, thus clinching the Section One crown.
CROSS COUNTRY
The Manheim Township girls' team finished fifth overall at the District Three Class-AAA Cross Country Championships on Wednesday. The Blue Streaks put up 214 points as a team and qualified for states.
Sophomores Kayla Robertson and Megan Leutner, senior Rosalind Reynolds as well as juniors Lindsay High, Jennifer Lackman, and Abby Ness all helped the team's cause.
Robertson qualified for the PIAA individuals with her finishing time of 20:50. She finished 17th overall.
Also making the top-50 were Leutner (21:27) and Reynolds (21:32), who finished 46th and 50th, respectively. Leutner was shy of the final state-qualifying time by just four seconds. That went to Kaylin Delvecchio (21:23) of Northern York.
High was right behind Reynolds, registering a time of 21:33 and finishing at number 52. Lackman was 57th with her 21:40 and Ness came across the finish line in 21:47, which was good for 61st.
Warwick's girls' team won the district championship led by Alli Mannon's second-place finish at 19:49. Mannon qualified for states along with Warwick teammates Emily Cameron (20:30), Emily Graber (20:43), Kristine Gutshall (20:47), Kristi Reidenbaugh (21:08) and Alicia Spotts (21:13).
The boys' team finished eighth with 281 points.
Senior Sean Sharkey led the Streaks with his 17:45 finish, which was good for 29th place. He qualified for states along with junior teammate Alex Hinnenkamp, who finished 43rd in 18:02.
Senior Aniket Patel (18:19) and junior Ian Hackett (18:27) finished in the top-75 among the field of runners at Parkview in Hershey. Patel finished 66th overall and Hackett came in at number 71.
VOLLEYBALL
The Blue Streaks were unable to enjoy the home court advantage of the L-L League playoffs as they suffered a 3-0 loss to Section Two champ Conestoga Valley in Monday's quarterfinal action. Conestoga Valley's gym and Lancaster Mennonite's were the two sites chosen for hosting the quarter-finals with the semi-finals and the league title matches scheduled to shift to Manheim Township over the following two nights.
Conestoga Valley posted wins by very close margins in the first two games, winning 25-21 and 25-23. The Lady Bucks completed the sweep with a 25-17 victory.
It was the nightcap of the two playoff matches at CV that night. Garden Spot ended Warwick's league championship hopes with a 3-1 victory in the opener.
At Lancaster Mennonite, the host Blazers blanked Ephrata in the nightcap. Hempfield dashed Manheim Central's quest with a 3-0 win also.
Township was led by sophomore Devon Schneider and senior Laurane Lucas. Schneider poured in seven kills and served up a pair of aces. Lucas led the team in blocks with three.
Conestoga Valley was led by seniors Heather Martin and Heather Long, who posted four aces and 15 kills, respectively.
On Halloween, the Streaks scared up a winning performance against Central Dauphin in the District Three preliminary round. The 3-0 win placed the Blue Streaks into Pool B of the pool play playoff tournament. The Township victories improved by one point in each game, going 25-21, 25-20 and 25-19.
The Streaks will battle Dallastown, Manheim Central and Exeter in Tuesday's pool play at Wilson. The top two teams in each pool advance to the next round.
The L-L League will also be represented in Pool A as league champion Hempfield and Warwick will face Red Lion and Gettysburg. Garden Spot and Conestoga Valley will be in Pool C and Pool D, respectively.
GOLF
Manheim Township's Devin O'Grady shot a 78 on Monday the first day of the PIAA Golf Championship Tournament at Heritage Hills in York.
O'Grady shot a 40 on the first nine and a 38 on the back nine.
He replicated that score on the second day and finished the day in a tie for 35th place, sharing the two-day total of 156 with four other golfers including Cocalico's Chris Fieger.
Garrett Browning of Western Allegheny took over the lead from first day leader Mike Englert to win the championship. Browning finished with a 144 whereas Lower Merion's Greg Jarmes finished second with 145.
