Mounts blank Pioneers

Ephrata girls soccer coach Rob Deininger had a huge smile on his face as he walked off his home field Thursday night, and with good reason.

His Mounts had kept their record perfect at 2-0 with a big 2-0 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two win over Lampeter-Strasburg.

But while the victory came over a team laden with a ton of talent from its 2020 District Three championship run and a brimming with confidence after a solid 4-2 win over Elizabethtown earlier in the week, Deininger wouldn’t go as far as saying it was a statement game.

Instead, he spoke of how the Mounts are jelling.

“I think showing the consistency early in the season is great to see, and hopefully it continues,” Deininger said. “It was a great game, and I am proud of the way they were working hard the entire match and working hard for each other.”

In a game of many ebbs and flows, it was the Mounts’ Cara Tiesi who lit up the board first. She found the cage with just over 16 minutes left in the first half, off an assist from Iyana Nissley, as she nearly walked into the goal for the score.

“We had an open spot, and it was a great pass from Iyana,” Tiesi said. “It was great. We caught them off guard.”

Ephrata’s defense held L-S to just six shots on goal, including two hardhit balls by Jenna Daveler. The Pioneers’ best scoring chance came with just over 32 minutes left in the second half.

In a scrum in front of the Ephrata goal, Sophia Gonzalez fell, but Emily Weidner kicked the ball out of bounds.

Weidner, who had six shots on goal, gave the Mounts their second tally of the night early in the second half when she caught Pioneers goalie Maggie Johnson off-balance and deposited her first shot in the cage.

“Ephrata came out with a lot of power and energy, and we were slow to match it,” Pioneers coach Emily Lebo said. “Sometimes it’s too little too late. Hopefully, we can turn around and return that to them the next time we see them.

“We are bummed, but we are going to turn it around.”

Emma Juba didn’t have a shot on goal for L-S, but showed tenacity on defense that gave the Mounts fits at times.

It was something that impressed Lebo.

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