Bears bite back

Heeding their coaches' advice, Lauren Hernley and her teammates did their best to maintain a "one game at a time" philosophy the last few weeks.

Not that it was easy.

"Ever since we lost to them, the last two weeks or so we've been gunning for them," Elizabethtown's senior midfielder said in reference to Ephrata, which handed the Bears their only L-L League Section Two loss this season, 2-1, on April 9.

"We always had in the back of our mind that (Friday) was a big game and we wanted to beat them in their own house."

Even sweeter for Hernley Friday night, then, was that she suddenly had an opportunity to deliver that blow all by herself.

Hernley's penalty-kick goal 5:48 into overtime was the difference for E-town, which outlasted Ephrata 3-2 in a battle of Section Two co-leaders at Ephrata's War Memorial Field.

The win pushed the Bears (11-1 Section Two, 12-2 overall) into sole possession of first place in Section Two with two regular-season games remaining. E-town, which moved down from Section One this season, could clinch the Section Two title outright with wins over Lampeter-Strasburg Tuesday and Manheim Central Thursday.

Meanwhile, in addition to getting help from either L-S or Central, Ephrata (10-2, 10-4) will likely have to win its final two games against Garden Spot and last-place Lebanon to have a shot at the section crown. For what it's worth, Garden Spot beat the Mountaineers 2-0 on April 11.

"I guess I'm going to be a Manheim Central and L-S fan this week," said Ephrata coach Chris Dutton, whose team, along with E-town, has already clinched an L-L playoff berth. "And Central and L-S are no slouches."

Nor was E-town Friday, even after watching the 1-0 lead it took on Caitlin Markham's rebound goal 5:23 into the contest turn into a 2-1 deficit, thanks to goals from Ephrata's Leah Sipe (16:25) and Arielle Gordon (23:46) later in the first half.

And when E-town sophomore midfielder Dani Faller ended up with the leftovers of a skirmish in the Ephrata box and punched a bending line drive inside the right post with 13:11 remaining in regulation, things were back to even.

The way they had been all night, as evidenced by the numbers.

By game's end, both teams had created eight legitimate scoring chances, with E-town holding a 12-11 advantage in shots and Ephrata owning a 6-5 edge in corners.

"When it comes to playing Ephrata," Dutton said, "it's usually going to (come down to) the mental mistakes."

Kind of like the last time the two teams met in E-town, when it was Ephrata scoring the gamewinner on a penalty kick.

This time, reversal.

While jockeying for a throw-in with 4:12 remaining in the first overtime, E-town sophomore forward Katie Leverentz was hit in the air from behind by Sipe near the left post, before falling hard to the turf.

"When I got up," Leverentz recalled. "I knew I was near the goal and in the box."

As did a nearby official, who signaled for a penalty kick, giving Hernley her big chance. Hernley took advantage by firing a line drive past scrambling Ephrata goalie Meridith Weaver and inside the right post a few seconds later.

"This is the sweetest game I've ever been involved in," E-town coach Alex Shubert said afterward. "Because there was so much on the line."

For Hernley and her teammates, too.