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Ephrata Girls Pass Early Test
- 06 April 2006
There are times every season when you are presented with certain challenges ot validate your team.And for the Ephrata girl's soccer team, theirs came Monday afternoon (4/2) at Manheim Central.
The Lady Mounts, who were looking for their fourth-straight victory to start the year, faced their first big test of the season in the Barons, who along with the Lady Mounts and Conestoga Valley are expected to battle it out for the Section Two title.
Well, Ephrata delivered the first big blow in the section race Monday with an exciting 2-1 decision over the Barons. With the score knotted at 1-1 early in the second half, Melissa Speros notched the game winner off a nifty "through ball" pass from teammate Leah Sipe.
Speros went in all alone on Baron keeper Emily Swarr and put the ball behind her to lif her team to the all-important win.
"It was just a great goal," Ephrata Coach Chris Dutton said of the game winner.
The win not only improved the Lady Mounts record to a perfect 4-0, but also put them in sole possession of first place with a 3-0 section mark.
"We try to treat every game like a championship game," Dutton said when asked about the importance of this early-season tussle. "We have to address each game that way, but it is really big on the confidence side."
Ephrata needed little time to gain the upper hand in Monday's contest. Arielle Gordon got the Lady Mounts on the board just 1:25 in when she scored on Swarr, who notched eight saves on the afternoon.
Aly Goodman earned the assist on the Ephrata goal, which was an important score in Dutton's eyes.
"That goal really set the tone for the rest of the game," the coach said.
Manheim did rally to tie the game late in the first half on a goal by Katie Gleason, but that set the stage for the Speros score early in the second.
While the Barons did get 10 shots on Ephrata keeper Becca Cetkowski (a former dodgeball champion), the Lady Mounts were able to control the ball down the stretch and pull out of Manheim with the big victory.
In addition to the win over Manheim, Ephrata also was in action last Thursday at home where the Lady Mounts pulled out a 1-0 victory over Lampeter-Strasburg.
Goodman scored the lone goal of the contest late in the first period off a Gordon assist.
Ephrata did dominate play, out shooting the Pioneers 18-5. Cetkowski turned back all five shots to record the shutout win in goal.
We here at www.ephratamounts.com are proud sponsors of the Dodgeball for Diabetes tournament.