Hockey

Few of the girls - and nearly none of the boys - knew the working end of a field hockey stick as they filed into the gym at Delran Intermediate School. Now maybe one or two will grow up to be a field hockey Olympian like Rachel Dawson. "I'm here to teach you about the sport I love," Dawson told the youngsters, ages 8 to 11, and held up a curved, clubfooted stick she likened to an "upside-down candy cane. " In minutes she would put sticks in the hands of all 65 and send them scurrying around the gym. But this was more than mere child's play.

You won't see many Flyers-related gifts under Christmas trees this year. Fans are fed up with the NHL's lockout - the third work stoppage in the last 19 years - and some say they won't watch the sport when the labor dispute ends. As a result, fans seem reluctant to shell out money for gifts connected to hockey. "I will not be back," said Jeff Jenkins, a Richboro resident who sells recognition award programs to businesses and hospitals. "I have done without hockey for three months and have more time for other things now. The league does not deserve my money.

After a 4½-week binge of laser-cutting, wiring, soldering, programming, and debugging, it all came down to the moment when a tall man in a dark gray suit took the stage. "It's time to plaaayyyy some HOCKEY!" he shouted. Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" blared from the sound system. The crowd, many of them zonked from pulling repeated all-nighters, was in a state of near-delirium. This was Robockey 2012 - hockey played by wheeled robots. It is the culmination of a notoriously tough engineering course at the University of Pennsylvania - taught every fall by Jonathan Fiene, the man in the gray suit - and it is a wild scene.

Goalkeeper Eamon McAdam of Perkasie and defenseman David Thompson (West Chester Rustin) signed national letters of intent to play hockey for Penn State on Wednesday, the school announced. McAdam, a third-year player for the USHL's Waterloo Black Hawks, led the U.S. junior select team to a gold medal at the 2012 World Junior A Challenge in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Thompson, who helped lead Rustin to the 2009 state title, plays for the BCHL's Chilliwack Chiefs. Wrestling. Millersville 184-pounder Daniel Cox (Methacton)

All-Southeastern Pa. Field Hockey Second Team Pos.   Player   School   Yr.    For.   Grace Boston   Cardinal O'Hara   Jr.    For.   Alana Dumas   Episcopal Academy   Sr.    For.   Heather Morris   Owen J. Roberts   Sr.    For.   Megan Parsons   Villa Maria Academy   Jr.    Mid.   Annabeth Donovan   Unionville   Jr.    Mid.   Blake Hamblett   Conestoga   Sr.   ...

  Forward / Inquirer Player of the Year Moira Putsch, Notre Dame After rewriting area record books this season, the junior is the clear choice for player of the year. Most notable, Putsch broke the Delaware County career scoring record (81) by five goals while only a junior, and despite playing limited time in her sophomore campaign while recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament. She also shattered the county's season goals record by eight, with 45. Every opposing team saw her as a threat, and even with top defenders covering her, she still found the back of the cage.

ATLANTIC CITY - With the buzz of Boardwalk Hall, the chill in the air and the familiar sound of skate blades carving into the ice, if you closed your eyes for 1 second, it would have been easy to believe you were basking in the glow of the Wells Fargo Center or Madison Square Garden. Forget about the bickering and the billions. Forget about the 72 days of strong-arming and spin. Remember the sounds of the "oohs" and "ahhs" you hear when Simon Gagne or Bobby Ryan dances past another defenseman.

Villa Maria field hockey coach Maurene Polley was visibly upset on Saturday after her team's 1-0 loss to Crestwood in the PIAA Class AA final. Polley felt that her team had not stepped up and that not everyone had done the job that was necessary to win the game. "You've got to play big in big games," she repeated several times throughout postgame interviews in Whitehall as Crestwood celebrated nearby. A relatively young Villa Maria team surprised a lot of people and even itself this season after losing many key players to graduation, but it did not play up to Polley's expectations in the final.

They knew the stakes. They sensed the opportunity. They seized the moment. "Mission accomplished," Bishop Eustace senior Kelly Quinn said after scoring two goals to spark the Crusaders to a 5-2 victory over West Essex on Sunday in the Group 2 state field hockey championship game. Montana Fleming, Katie Feeney, and Eileen Dzwill added goals, and Alex Pecora made a couple of acrobatic saves as Bishop Eustace won its third state title and second in three seasons with a dominating performance at the College of New Jersey.