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Booters Open Season With Shutout Over L-S

BY MONA STEINHAUER

With a balanced attack, Penn Manor’s boys’ soccer team opened its season with a 3-0 non-league win at Lampeter-Strasburg Sept. 3. Aidan Smith scored the only goal the Comets really needed in the 21st minute while Tyler Hostetter, with a header, and Nicholas Menaquale scored three minutes apart in the second half to ice the win.

“We generated some nice attacks in the final third,” said head coach Paul Taylor. “Aidan Smith returns as the leading goal scorer in Section One. If we train hard, and smart, the wins will come.”

In the Section One opener last Wednesday, the Comets found themselves in another shutout only this one went the wrong way as Manheim Township scored twice in each half for a 4-0 home win.

CROSS COUNTRY

The harrier teams opened the season with a home match against McCaskey and Manheim Township last Tuesday, but their youth and lack of depth contributed to a pair of losses for each team.

“This will be a developing year with focus on improving individual performances,” said co-head coach Tom Ecker.

Senior co-captain J.T. Hetrick’s fourth place finish was the highest for both teams. Kaleb Kabakjian finished 11th and junior captain Isaac Braegelman, with a determined sprint to the finish, was 14th. Aidan Gerlach (19th) and Carter Vinson (26th) completed the top five.

“J.T. had a great race and held a strong, steady pace over the threemile course,” Ecker. “Isaac also ran well to finish as our third runner.”

Junior captain Abby Ames turned in a strong second half of the race and placed fifth overall. Anna Martin (20th), Mackenzi Nafziger (29th), Emma Cassel (30th) and Bethany Hetrick (31st) rounded out the top five.

FOOTBALL

Looking to build on their 16-12 week one win over Conestoga Valley, the football traveled to L-S Sept. 3 but came up empty, 31-0. The Pioneers picked up its seventh straight win over the Comets and third straight shutout.

The Comets, with just 139 yards of total offense, struggled to move the ball but denied L-S in the first quarter. The Pioneers got rolling in the second frame, scoring twice and padded its lead with third and fourth quarter tallies and 381 allpurpose yards.

Despite the loss, Eli Warfel, with 151 yards on 23 carries over two weeks, sits in 11th place on the leading rushers list. Defensively, Erik Hinkle and Kyle Furnier combined for 25 tackles.

TENNIS

The Comets 4-3 thriller over Garden Spot on Aug. 31 was not enough to push them past Lampeter-Strasburg two days later. The Comets got on the board when Catherine Rabatin and Erin Shipley notched an 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles and earned its second point with Rabatin’s No. 1 shutout over Laura Leaman.

“We earned just two wins last year,” said head coach Amanda Pryzbylkowski. “I’m hoping we can get to .500 this year.”

The Comets fell to 1-3 with last Tuesday’s 7-0 loss to visiting Manheim Township (3-0). Rabatin suffered her first loss of the season to Avery Palandjian. She lost the first set 1-6 but took the first three games of the second set and held on for a 6-4 set score. Palandjian’s consistent play helped pull out a tiebreaker victory.

Rabitan and Shipley put up the next best numbers of the day in an 8-5 No. 1 doubles loss.

GIRLS’ SOCCER

The Lady Comets are off and running, heading into Section One play with a pair of non-league wins under their belt. Manor opened with a 2-1 nod over L-S on Sept. 3 and followed with a 3-1 win at Tulpehocken less than 24 hours later.

After a scoreless half, L-S, a District 3 runner-up, jumped in front 13 minutes into the second half only to see the Comets fight back with goals from Carolyn Hinkle and Lauren Stoner (1 assist).

On Saturday, Carly Keene scored a pair of goals, one in each half, to lead Manor to its second win. Kerrigan Thompson chipped in with one goal and one assist while Maddie Kahler and Lily Sugra pitched in with assists.

In the league opener Wednesday, however, it was Manheim Township with the upper hand. After a scoreless first half, the Streaks scored the game-winner in the 57th minute for an early lead in the Section One race.

FIELD HOCKEY

First year head coach and former Penn Manor standout Renee Suter earned her first Comet victory when Penn Manor held off the visiting Pioneers 2-1 in overtime Sept. 3.

Despite advantage in both shots (18-4) and corners (11-4), it was L-S that jumped in front with a first period goal. Grace Gerner scored the equalizer with eight minutes left in the third quarter while Isabelle Thatcher collected a rebound and provided the game-winner with just over a minute left in OT.

First team All-State keeper Cecily Charles recorded three saves.

The Comets earned a second straight win when Thatcher, assisted by Olivia Cox, scored what proved to be the game-winner over visiting Manheim Central with 11:30 left in the first half. The Comets out cornered (11-6) and out shot (10-6) the Barons.

VOLLEYBALL

In a tightly contested league opener last Tuesday, the Comets dropped a heartbreaker, 3-2, to visiting Conestoga Valley. After taking the first two sets 26-24, and 25-13, the Bucks rallied for three straight wins (25-17, 25-10, 15-7) to finish on top.

Cassidy McCollum led with 10 kills and two aces while Lezie Nguyen put up three blocks. Emma Saylor dished out 28 assists and Sophia Millhouse recorded 18 digs, both match-high stats.

GOLF

The golf team again went 5-0 and improved to 10-0 overall with last Wednesday’s 334 team score. Warwick followed at 345 with Township (349), Hempfield (354), Cedar Crest (355) and Lancaster Catholic following.

Manor’s JP Radwanski carded an 81 with Jesse Shue (83), Seb Elias 85, Aidan Doyle (85) contributing to the team score.

photo by Mona Steinhauer

Penn Manor’s Isaac Braegelman out hustles McCaskey’s Sam Richard to the finish line in last Tuesday’s cross country opener at Manor Middle School.

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photo by Mona Steinhauer

Penn Manor’s Tyler Hostetter (13) and Zachary Erb (6) put pressure on Lampeter-Strasburg’s goalie in September 3rds non-league win over the Pioneers.

photo by Mona Steinhauer

A handful of Lampeter-Strasburg football players take down Penn Manor’s McCabe Kreider in week two action in Lampeter.