Donegal defeated Camp Hill 3-1 in a Saturday, Sept. 3, midday match at Mount Joy. In the non-league field hockey clash Natalie Coldwell and Sarah Gainer each scored in the first period, giving the hosts a 2-0 lead. Marie Gehman's goal in the second quarter made it a 3-0 advantage by halftime.

"We spoke about playing to win and how that started with the first minute of play," Gine Allessie, the Indians' head coach, explained. "The girls played with heart and grit. I'm very proud of the team effort as we continue to improve and learn from each practice and each game."

Hailey Houck and Makayla Ober each dished out an assist for Donegal.

The victory earned Donegal the Camp Hill Tournament title. Earlier in the day, the Indians (2-1-0) defeated Biglerville in a match that required some extra work and, as the head coach stated, heart and grit. That was because the Canners had gotten out to an early lead.

"We were down 2-0 and we made some adjustments," said Allessie. "We took it one quarter at a time."

The Indians closed the gap as Coldwell and Gehman each tallied a goal and goalie Ella Miller turned away Biglerville's chances through regulation.

"In the shootout, Ella Miller was outstanding in goal, stopping all four of the opponents' shots," Allessie pointed out.

Gehman and Coldwell, meanwhile, converted their strokes to give Donegal a victory.

FOOTBALL

With two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, York Suburban gave itself the cushion necessary to hold off Donegal in a non-league football game on Friday night, September 2. The Donegal squad trailed by only nine points heading into the fourth quarter. Mike Bentivegna's 36-yard touchdown pass to Alex Kefauver and a six-yard rushing TD by Cole Jones gave the visiting Trojans a 41-18 victory.

"We were in the game until the last quarter," said head coach Chad Risberg.

It was the Trojans' defense that put the first points on the board. Senior linebacker Dakota Shue picked off a pass and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown.

Between the two Trojan TD's of the first half the Indians (0-2) scored on a Noah Rohrer 11-yard rushing touchdown. Rohrer averaged 5.5 yards per carry on the night, gaining 110 yards on 20 rushing attempts.

The Trojans made it 14-6 when Bentivegna finished a second-quarter drive with a five-yard scamper. Damien Yepez kicked the extra point to make it 14-6.

In regard to the Trojans' scoring drives, Risberg noted, "their running back was pretty good and we were in bad spots some of the time. We have to fix that at practice this week."

Bentivegna had two rushing touchdowns of over 40 yards (41 and 44) in the second quarter. The Indians kept coming back, however, as Rohrer and Jon Holmes (53 yards, 10 carries) each scored third-quarter touchdowns. Rohrer's second touchdown of the game, in fact, made it an eight-point game in the third stanza with Suburban leading by a 20-12 margin.

"Jon and Noah carry the load for the team," Risberg said of the two skill players. "They're both returning players with experience. They have the ability to score at any time."

Donegal's Landen Baughman completed eight of 14 pass attempts for 70 yards. Holmes caught two passes for 25 yards. James Turbedsky had an 18-yard reception.

CROSS COUNTRY

Donegal raced out to a 19-42 win over Manheim Central and a 19-38 defeat of Cocalico in a Lancaster-Lebanon League boys' cross country meet at Cocalico on Tuesday.

The top three runners to cross the finish line were Dylan Lenhart, Braden Bistline and Zachary Karpel of Donegal with respective times of 19:06, 19:14 and 19:23.

Junior John Hinkle (20:07) earned sixth with Cadel Barber (11th, 21:24) John Spackman (12th, 21:26) and Micah Brydon (13th, 21:45) following.

The Donegal girls also opened with wins over Section Two foes Cocalico and Central, topping the home team 15-50 and Central 19-39.

Molly Myers (21:23) and Kathryn Fernald (21:26) outpaced the competition as they grabbed the top two spots. Addison Houck (6th, 23:16) and Marleigh Ballard (7th, 23:20) also provided support for a strong finish as did Kaylan Shellenberger (9th, 24:54) Bailey Shoaf (10th, 25:14), Natalie Greiner (12th, 27:01) and Kara Nissly (14th, 28:51)

GIRLS' TENNIS

In a Lancaster-Lebanon League girls' tennis match on Tuesday, September 6, Lampeter-Strasburg, playing on its home court, topped Donegal 4-0. In what was their first league match of the season, the Indians fell to 0-1 (1-2 overall).

Hannah Slobozien and Andrea Hess came up short in the first doubles, 8-3 while Janelle Kingsboro and Emily Frownfelter suffered an 8-3 defeat at number two doubles. Senior Kensington Edmond and her sophomore doubles partner Corrine Watson lost 8-3 in the third doubles.

Donegal (1-2) was coming off a 5-0 victory at West York, having closed out August with a non-league win.

Frownfelter and Hess were 6-2, 6-3 winners at number one doubles. Slobozien and Jones won 6-2, 6-0 while in singles play, Edmond rebounded from a 6-1 loss to win 6-1, 10-7.

At number two, Kingsboro won in 6-2, 6-2 sets while Watson took the third singles 6-1, 6-4.

GIRLS' SOCCER

Halle Bires scored the game-tying goal three minutes into the second half of the Indians' non-league girls' soccer match at Manheim Central on Saturday, September 2. She scored off a Laken Merchant assist.

Abigail Reed, who had scored the game's first goal for Central in the first half, took an assist from Laura Kahler and gave the Barons the 2-1 lead they would hold until the final whistle.

BOYS' SOCCER

On the strength of two goals each by LD Hanes and senior striker Tye White, the boys' soccer team dominated Manheim Central 4-1 in a non-league match on Saturday, September 2.

Hanes, a junior midfielder, scored both of his goals in the first half, giving Donegal a 2-0 lead 24 minutes into the match. White made it 3-0 before halftime. He added another goal five minutes before the final whistle.

Each of these crafty goal scorers also provided an assist for one another. Andrew Myers and Travis Zimmerman were also credited with assists.

Aiden Beck scored the lone goal for the Barons while Donegal goalie Caden Mullen turned away two other shots on goal.

With the win, the Indians improved to 2-0-0.