With Isabelle Thatcher scoring two of Penn Manor's three goals on the day, the Garden Spot field hockey team suffered a 3-0 loss to the Comets in the opening round of the L-L League field hockey playoffs on Saturday, October 16 at Garden Spot.

The Comets had 11 shots on goal. Bryna Kelly came away with eight saves in front of the Garden Spot cage.

The Spartans fell to 13-5 on the year.

VOLLEYBALL

The Garden Spot girls' volleyball team bounced back from a 3-0 loss to Solanco to take its next match - a 3-0 victory over Section Two rival Manheim Central on Monday, October 18.

Solanco won two of its three sets by close margins, beating Garden Spot 25-19 in the first set and 25-23 in the third. The Spartans fell to 6-8 on the year and 5-6 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League.

Marissa Cannizzaro had three aces and 22 digs for Solanco. Teammate Jaidee Beam poured in 11 kills.

Garden Spot defeated Central in a tough intense match 25-21, 25-20 and 25-23. The Spartans evened their league record at 6-6.

Maddie Knier led the Barons with 11 kills and three blocks.

FOOTBALL

After two straight games of scoring 42 points followed by a 55-0 shutout, the Lampeter-Strasburg Pioneers rode into New Holland for a Section Three clash with Garden Spot.

The game had the potential for a combustible outcome. The Spartans had no shortage of points in their previous contests, blanking Pequea Valley 56-0 two weeks earlier and knocking off Lebanon 36-0 on Friday, October 8. Prior to the 92-0 run in points, the Spartans had been 0-4 on the year.

In fact, Garden Spot would go on to score the game's first 10 points before the L-S offense got itself in gear. A balanced running game that featured 91 yards on eight carries by Jonathan Mellinger, 60 yards by Pioneer quarterback Berkeley Wagner, who threw for 163 yards, plus 79 yards by Giovanni Malatesta giving Garden Spot a headache.

The Pioneers cut that 10-point deficit to 10-7 and went on to score 22 second-quarter points en route to a 50-20 victory. They improved to 7-1 on the year (3-0 league) while Garden Spot fell to 2-5, 1-1.

Kyle Harting, who led the Spartans in rushing with 80 yards, broke through for a 44-yard dash to the endzone, opening the scoring in this game. Walker Martin converted the extra-point attempt and later booted a 42-yard field goal.

Gavin Miller gave Garden Spot a defensive touchdown with a seven-yard fumble return to make it 17-7 Garden Spot early in the second quarter.

The Pioneers scored three unanswered touchdowns and, following Martin's second field goal of the game, Wagner scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak in the third quarter.

Harting completed 12 passes for 109 yards. Derrick Lambert caught five of those passes for 40 yards on the night.

CROSS COUNTRY

The L-L League Cross Country Championship race was held at Ephrata Middle School on Tuesday, October 19. Both the Garden Spot boys' and girls' teams finished 18th in the team standings with the girls' team scoring 506 points and the boys' team 421 - only seven points behind Elizabethtown.

Alan Krock led that boys' team with a finishing time of 18:26.8. He earned 59th place in the race.

Josiah Martin wasn't far behind, taking 63rd at 18:30.6.

William Culbert crossed the finish line at 19:30.1 and Thomas Watt in 19:37.

The girls' leading runner was Julia Hoover (23:14.8). Nicole Kelch registered 24:30.2 while Hayley Zimmerman came in at 25:11.