Fleetwood advances to District 3-AA title match with 1-0 win over Elco
HERSHEY>> Nothing like getting out to a fast start.
Then having to make it last for 79 1/2 more minutes.
Fleetwood’s Sydney Lobb scored 32 seconds into Monday night’s District 3 Class AA semifinal at Hersheypark Stadium — and the Tigers made that lone marker stand up the rest of the way in a 1-0 victory over Elco, to advance to Saturday’s championship match.
The second-seeded Tigers (18-1-3) will face No. 1 Northern York in the AA title match. The Polar Bears (19-2-0) downed Susquehannock by the same score in Monday’s other semifinal.
Lobb scored from eight yards out on the opening possession of match, barely after people had settled back down in their seats following the national anthem.
It was all Fleetwood would need against the upstart Raiders, who had survived PKs against East Pennsboro last Thursday to advance to the semifinals.
Despite the win, Fleetwood head coach Mike Boyer is looking for more from his charges, in terms of attack style, as the Tigers get ready to play for the crown.
“We did not switch the ball across the field at all,” he said. “It’s a habit we’ve gotten into, going too straight ahead. With Elco playing a 4-3-3 our ourside mid is wide open all the time and we just didn’t use her. We talked about that at halftime. Sometimes it sinks in and sometimes it doesn’t.”
Fleetwood’s shining defensive effort at keeping Elco’s Ryelle Shuey off the scoresheet provided the edge. Shuey had scored 23 goals this season coming into Monday night’s match, but couldn’t find a 24th that could have extended play. Rebekah Earnest drew the assigment on Shuey and provided stellar marking.
“Rebekah, she just never stopped,” Boyer said. “That Shuey girl is a very nice player and for us to keep her off the scorebord, that was big.”
Elco’s best shot at equalizing came in the 57th minute. Fleetwood goalie Jenna Hawkins sprawled backwards to stop a point-blank shot that nestled right into her arms. Hawkins fell onto her back on the goal line, but the ball never crossed.
“Jenna has matured so much over the last two years,” Boyer said. “She’s a team leader and she is our only senior on the field She knows that and this is her season.”
Elco head coach Derek Fulk was pleased with his team’s effort, except for the right-off-the-go part.
“Take away the first 32 seconds, obviously, and I think we did OK,” Fulk said. “I thought we came out flat and sometimes that hurts you. For the rest of the game, I thought we held our own and carried the majority of the play in the second half.
“I’m not disappointed. If we play (Saturday, in the PIAA berth game) like we did in the second half here, I think we’ll be fine.”
Elco registered just one shot on goal in the first half, but had closed the final gap in that statistical department to 7-5 by game’s end.
Elco – 0 0 — 0
Fleetwood – 1 0 — 1
First half
F – Sydney Lobb (Lauren Hughes), 39:28
Shots on goal
F 7, E 5
Corners
F 3, E 3
Saves
F (Jenna Hawkins) 5, E (Emma Strickler) 6
