Donegal boys' soccer netted seven goals while only allowing one in three early October contests to pick up three consecutive wins over Lancaster Mennonite, Lancaster Catholic, and Cocalico.
Marcel Tura, a junior, supplied the game winner in last Tuesday's 1-0 triumph over Lancaster Mennonite, his first goal of the season.
Tura delivered the goal 14 minutes into the second half after neither team was able to break the goal line in the first half, assisted by Joseph Turbedsky.
Donegal keeper Nevy Ncube proved flawless with 11 saves in the shutout. The triumph marked the Indians seventh league win and tenth overall.
On October 2nd, Turbedsky scored a brace in Donegal's 2-1 win over Lancaster Catholic. The senior's first half goal was assisted by Brody Bonham and his second half success was set up by midfielder Josh Leidich.
"Our defensive mid positions are winning most balls in the midfield and combining well with others," noted head coach Andrew Wagner. "The entire group is playing very well now. Our success is predicated on all 11 players performing their jobs."
The previous Thursday the Indians closed out the month of September demonstrating that full-team effort, earning a 4-0 league triumph over Cocalico.
Four separate athletes tallied Donegal's goals with Tye White and Bonham finding the netting in the first half, and LD Hanes and Turbedsky chipping in second half goals.
"We are solid in every position and most teams cannot find areas to expose a weakness," explained Wagner emphasizing the unified team mentality. "Some teams look at the better players and mark them out of the game. This has happened in some of our games, and it just opens up other areas."
CROSS COUNTRY
Both boys' and girls' cross country celebrated a double dose of victory at an October 5th tri-meet held at Lancaster Mennonite, registering wins over LM and Cocalico.
For the boys, Sam Rothstein set the pace and was the only harrier to complete the event in under 18 minutes, clocking a time of 17:50.
"Sam was able to cruise to the win," praised head coach Philip Koser describing the tough trail and humid conditions of the race.
The next runner to cross the finish also sported Donegal colors as Hunter Gehman placed second with a time of 18:17.
John Spackman (19:13) and Dylan Lenhart (19:14) crossed back-to-back to edge just ahead of a Lancaster Mennonite competitor and claim fourth and fifth place respectively, and Brandon Marcelo's time of 19:42 earned him seventh place.
The girls race featured additional Donegal success, with Kathryn Fernald (20:48) taking second place, just eight seconds behind Claire Thomas of LMH.
"Kathryn was able to race closely with one of the best runners in the league," Koser noted of the freshman. "It was good to get her in a more competitive race."
Hadley Shoaf (21:26) added to the Donegal success and finished in third.
The top 10 was flooded with Donegal athletes with Marleigh Ballard crossing in fifth, Addison Houck sixth, Emma Myers seventh, Natalie Greiner eighth, and Bailey Shoaf in tenth.
FIELD HOCKEY
Donegal field hockey suffered a pair of one-goal losses to open October, falling to Ephrata 3-2 and Lampeter-Strasburg 2-1.
On October fourth, the Indians got ahead of L-S in the early minutes thanks to a goal from Paige Miller, assisted by Emma Miller.
Despite maintaining strong possession and outshooting L-S 12-8 in the contest, the Indians lost their advantage in the third quarter when Keiva Middleton of L-S put in back-to-back goals to give the Pioneers the 2-1 edge.
The loss to Ephrata took place on October 2nd after the teams alternated goals before the Mountaineers sealed the narrow victory in the fourth quarter.
Ephrata struck first, but Donegal's Makayla Ober supplied the answer and put the ball in the cage during the second quarter to tie the game at one apiece. After the Mountaineers delivered their second goal, Sarah Gainer retaliated for Donegal and leveled the scoreboard at 2-2.
The fourth quarter started on the same trajectory, but this time the Mountaineers slipped in a final, unanswered goal for a concluding count of 3-2.
Donegal keeper CC Emswiler gathered 12 saves in the two contests.
GIRLS' SOCCER
A tough string of losses has marked the Lady Indians recent schedule, including a close 2-1 defeat from Lancaster Mennonite.
Sophomore Reagan Cook put the Indians on the scoreboard with a first half goal in the October 5th showdown at home, but the lead was short lived as Mennonite put together a strong second half attack that earned them two unanswered goals.
Indians' keeper Clara Bigony gathered 11 saves in the loss.
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