Hempfield edges Mounts

In the first of Tuesday’s semifinals, the Knights (13-4) jumped out to an 8-3 lead over the Mountaineers (14-5) then went cold, as Hempfield was held to one goal over the second and third quarters.

“We just moved it around a lot and were playing with each other. And then we got away from it,” Hempfield midfielder Kohl Wesner said.

Ephrata trailed 9-5 at halftime, 9-7 at the end of the third quarter, then cut its deficit to 9-8 at the 8:56 mark of the fourth quarter. Senior Bryson Rhee (four goals, one assist) and Caden Keefer (two goals) paced the Mounts’ offense, which assisted on three of the nine scores.

On the other end, Ephrata senior goalkeeper Ethan Moyer (18 saves) had an outstanding night in the net as he and defenders Tucker Parmer, Zachary Wanous and Arturo Ramirez presented trouble to Hempfield with a zone defense the entire game.

“Their goalie kept making really good saves and we kept shooting high,” Wesner said. “We just needed to take better shots.”

Hempfield’s Matt Heuston (two goals, one assist) and Wesner (five goals, one assist) pushed the lead to 11-8 with 6:46 remaining, and Wesner added two more in the final 2:27 to help the Knights seal the deal. The Hempfield attack was rounded out by Bobby Griffith (three goals) and Cameron Aksu (two goals, four assists), while Cole Fuller led a faceoff unit that won 24 of 26 midfield battles.

“It’s incredible what (Fuller) does,” Wesner said. “We’re really lucky to have him.”

Hempfield returns to the L-L title game for third year in a row and eighth time overall.

“It doesn’t mean anything until we win,” Wesner said.