Warriors eliminate Mounts

The teams were even and the field of play was wide open in the first of two Lancaster-Lebanon League girls soccer semifinals Tuesday night at Lancaster Catholic High School.

Olivia Shertzer had a goal and two assists, a stout Warwick defense held true and the Warriors outlasted Ephrata 3-1 to advance to the L-L final slated for Thursday evening at Warwick.

The championship match, scheduled for 5:30 p.m., features a pair of familiar foes. Warwick, the runner-up of Section One, will host undefeated Section One champ Manheim Township, which defeated Elco 1-0 in overtime on a golden goal from Jordan Nguyen.

Warwick, on the other hand, struck in the third minute versus Ephrata. Amber Garman finished off a beautiful diagonal from Shertzer, lofting her shot over Mounts keeper Alyssa Wingenroth for a 1-0 lead.

But Ephrata quickly matched the Warriors’ pace. The two sides traded long runs up and down the pitch, keeping both teams’ defenses and goalies on high alert.

“Coming in, we wanted to keep the ball a little more, move it through the thirds,” offered Warwick head coach Wendell Hannaford. “It’s league playoffs against two backyard rivals, so it’s going to be one of those games where everybody is moving. The game opened up a little more than maybe I would have liked.”

Warwick (15-3) got some vital insurance early in the second half. Shertzer weaved around the left side of the box and deposited the ball into the far corner for a 2-0 advantage.

Shertzer’s goal became all the more important once Sydney Hornberger headed in a ball from Emily Weidner just a minute later, putting the Section Two champion Mountaineers on the board.

From there, Ephrata (14-5) continued to push. Weidner nearly tallied the equalizer moments later, the ball dribbling wide of Warwick goalie Mia Pautz.

Meanwhile, Warwick defenders Payton Gooding, Olivia Fleurant, Grace Rothenberger and Olivia Keeney all made plays to help out their goalkeeper.

Fleurant denied Ephrata’s Jorja Welsh an open look in the 61st minute. Gooding had the task of marking Mountaineers winger Bella Pratt for much of the contest, adding a couple of key first-half stops.

Seeking another tally, Shertzer drilled the crossbar with under five minutes to play and Devon Deery finally put the match to bed with a perfect strike in the 79th minute.

“Getting down early is always tough,” said Ephrata head coach Wes Deininger. “It was good to see us fight back and play a good match. They got the one at the end to change the score line a little bit but we had our chances."

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