Daneker recorded 10 saves

Loyalsock girls state soccer champs
By MITCH RUPERT,
mrupert@sungazette.com
POSTED: November 22, 2009

HERSHEY Loyalsock put just one shot on goal during Saturday's PIAA Class AA soccer championship.
That's right, just one. As in just one more than none. Or 10 fewer than Springdale put on the Lancers' goal.
But that one shot on goal, courtesy of a header from Sarah Heilenman and a crossing pass by Marlee Hibbs, was all the Lancers needed to capture the school's first-ever state soccer championship yesterday at Hersheypark Stadium with a 1-0 win over District 7 champion Springdale.
Loyalsock (21-4-1) finishes the best season in school history having won 21 of its last 23 matches.
"You come in, drive here, come to the game, prepare as much as possible for the game, then all of a sudden it's the game, and boom, the game's over and you win a championship," Loyalsock head coach Kyle Bidelspacher said. "It's so surreal, the words can't describe it."
"It feels awesome. Every year we've been so close," Lancers defender Paige Klingerman said. "This is the best feeling I could ever wish for. It's making my high school life. I love it."
Bidelspacher knew as Saturday's game progressed that one goal was likely going to crown the state champion. And he felt even better about the Lancers' chances when Springdale failed to score in the first half when playing with the wind at its back.
Sure, the Dynamos ripped off 10 shots in the first 40 minutes, seven of which were on goal, and seven of which were saved by freshman goalkeeper Amanda Daneker. But the key was that nothing hit the back of the net.
So when Bidelspacher forfeited any potential offensive pressure in the first half by often times sending just two or three attackers at Springdale's four and five-person strong defense, he was happy to see the gamble to play a tougher brand of defense paid off.
"We knew it was going to be hard to try and get things done with the wind the way it was (in the first half)," Bidelspacher said. "But we knew they were frustrated because they didn't score with the wind and we thought that could work to our favor."
Over the final 10 minutes of the first half the Lancers began sending more and more players into the offensive end to pressure the Dynamos defense. Loyalsock finally posted its first shot, a weak left-footed attempt from the top of the penalty box, with 11:45 to go in the first half. And that was all it got in the first half.
And by the time the second half started with the wind at its back, Bidelspacher felt more comfortable sending four and five players at the Dynamos defense. And Loyalsock showed patience in letting plays develop in front of it for ideal opportunities.
The Lancers got a little run into the offensive zone early in the second half that was quickly shut down by the Springdale midfield. Instead of forcing the issue, the Lancers' midfielders played the ball backward to the midfield stripe and restarted their offensive push.
That push got Hibbs the ball outside the top right corner of the penalty box. She patiently waited for the play to set up in front of her before sending a cross to the far post. Heilenman, who stood at least a half-foot taller than the defender marking her, got a clean header inside the right post that gave Springdale keeper Sabrina Adams no chance to react before the Lancers had a goal and a 1-0 lead in the 47th minute.
"Everything like that is timed in practice. We work a lot on our timing," Heilenman said. "I saw a really good cross, and I saw the goal was open. I didn't want to let (Hibbs) down and not get anything on the ball, so I just tried to put something on it."
"I tell them all the time to be patient and timing is the key," Bidelspacher said. "When you see the ball in the air, go get it. Sarah was able to do that. It was a great goal that she scored."
And from there, Sock's opportunities to score only grew while Springdale's became fewer and fewer. The Dynamos, who substituted just three times in the match, became tired and struggled to get after loose balls.
After having 10 shots in the first half, Springdale took just five in the second. And none of the 15 shots came from 39-goal scorer Brittany Loveland.
Daneker recorded 10 saves.
"It really wasn't that tough," Daneker said. "My defense did a great job defending. They did all the work. I made the save that they needed me to, but they did great."
And when Daneker couldn't come up with one loose ball late in the second half, Heilenman was there to pick up their freshman keeper, who helped get the Lancers to Hershey with back-to-back penalty-kick wins in the state tournament.
Springdale's Ally Overly got a head on the loose ball in a crowded penalty box with just under 9 minutes remaining, and bounded it over Daneker's head. But as the ball bounced toward the goal, and came dangerously close to crossing the goalline, Daneker, who had retreated to the goalline to cover for Daneker, raised her right leg about waist high to clear the ball from danger.
Dynamos fans pleaded for a goal, but after the ball trickled out of bounds, the Lancers were awarded a goal kick.
"She's the goal-scorer and the goal-saver. She comes through in these big games," Klingerman said of Heilenman. "Our whole team works together. It's not just the offense, or just the defense. We work together."
"There were a bunch of people in the box. I just happened to be the one the ball came to," Heilenman said. "At that point you're kind of in desperation mode. Kick it anywhere but in the goal."
It was the best chance the Dynamos had to score in 80 minutes of soccer. And for as physically deflated as they were prior to that missed opportunity, the mental deflation became all the more apparent after that.
And just 9 minutes after Heilenman's big save, the Lancers were raising the state championship trophy.
Springdale had more offensive opportunities yesterday, but Loyalsock had the one number that mattered when the final whistle blew.
It was that one - as in one more than none, but one more than Springdale - that graced the scoreboard under their school's name that mattered most.