Pratt Pushes Mounts to Win

Persistence, thy name is Bella Pratt.

The Ephrata junior midfielder’s ninth and 10th goals of the year were monuments to persistence as she paced the Mountaineers to a 4-0 girls soccer victory over Manheim Central on Monday night at the Barons’ Rettew Stadium.

Pratt broke the scoring ice in the 24th minute of the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two game, staying on the ball after Barons keeper Lexi Wettig initially broke up her attack.

“It was a lot of work,” Pratt said. “I was kind of stressed out, but then I saw her fumble (the shot), I saw my opportunity.”

She placed her opportunity just inside the near post, slipping it past a diving Wettig. Her second goal, in the 48th minute, was a near carbon-copy as she played down the right side, eluding a defender as she carried the ball into the box. Wettig challenged as Pratt took a touch to get past, following the ball as it crossed the goal line.

“When I find that opportunity,” she said, “I take that shot.”

Opportunities were in abundance for the Mounts (6-1-1 L-L, 9-2-1 overall). For the Barons, not so much. Ephrata owned an 11-1 advantage in shots on goal, 3-2 in corner kicks. The wide advantage is a credit to Ephrata’s possession in the midfield.

“Throughout the whole field … we got on the ball a lot,” Mounts coach Wes Deininger said.

Emily Weidner was responsible for the Mounts’ third and fourth goals — her 11th and 12th of the season — scoring in the 66th and 77th minutes.

The victory moves Ephrata into second place in Section Two, two points behind Solanco. The Mounts travel to Quarryville on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. showdown.

Solanco took the first round from the Mounts with a 2-1 victory in Ephrata.

“We’ve become a better team,” Deininger said of the impending rematch. “Some of the pieces that are newer are starting to believe in what they’re doing.”

For Manheim (6-2, 9-5), dropping into third place, while a definite speed bump, isn’t fatal, with a home date with the Golden Mules next week.

“We’ve had some great teams here and all of them have had a moment that was uncharacteristic,” allowed coach Andrew Stoltzfus. “It’s how you learn and move forward. That was our message tonight.”

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