Sunday, December 22, 2024
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Hempfield Eliminates Lady Mounts


Hempfield, the top team from L-L Section One, put together a solid match winning 4-0 in its quarterfinal-round girls’ soccer tournament match with Section Two third-place finisher Ephrata on Saturday afternoon at Manheim Central High School.

Three second-half goals from Hempfield (15-3) provided more than enough of a cushion to get past Ephrata (13-5-1) by a 4-0 score.

“It was an overall good performance,” said Hempfield coach Jason Mackey. “We played solid as a team.”

Turning point: The Black Knights got onto the scoreboard at the 29:00 mark of the first half as sophomore forward Maddie Schwartz scored off an assist by sophomore Sammy Helgeson.

Star of the game: Senior midfielder Katie Goldsmith came off the bench to score two second-half goals. Schwartz assisted on the first one.

“She is a dangerous threat outside for us,” Mackey said. “Her strengths are her speed and her attacking mentality around the net. That has served us well this year and it did twice in this one. I also thought Maddie Schwartz did a great job up top of creating for everybody around her. She is strong up there and sets everybody up nicely.”

Quotable: “Our ability to control the possession was key,” Mackey said. “We knew that coming in. That was one of our focuses. We wanted to keep the ball and dictate the game based on our ability to possess. I think we did a good job of that.”

Up next: Hempfield meets Penn Manor in one of the semifinal round matches Tuesday at Manheim Township High School. Ephrata is No. 14 in the latest PIAA District Three Class AAA power rankings and will await the district tourney bracket to see who it will play.