LEBANON — Utilizing the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach, Conestoga Valley advanced to the Class 4A semifinals of the District Three girls soccer championships with a 3-1 victory over Ephrata on Saturday at Cedar Crest.
Eleven days after the Buckskins (19-2-1) topped the Mountaineers 1-0 in the L-L tournament semifinals, CV used the same defensive pressure, with the same success.
HERSHEY — As the ball bounced around the Wilson cage, Ephrata senior Andrey Patrushev knew he had to get through the mass of bodies to it.
Although it was early in Saturday evening’s District Three Class 4A contest, getting on the board first would be huge in a win-or-gohome contest. Teammate Aaron Cummings header off a corner kick went off the hand of Bulldogs starting keeper Trent Posta, before deflecting off the crossbar and bouncing waist-high. That’s when Patrushev jumped on his opportunity.
Solanco’s vaunted running game ran all over the winless Ephrata High defense on Friday night at Solanco High School as the Golden Mules improved to 4-4 (3-2 in Section Two) with the 62-21 victory [boxscore].
The league’s leading rusher, Solanco sophomore Nick Yannutz, carried the ball 12 times for 79 yards and three touchdowns, while Alex McDonald gained 112 yards on seven carries with a touchdown.
Cocalico handled its business in typical fashion Friday night, running the ball and of course, scoring points.
The Eagles ran for 10 scores and got a pair of touchdown returns to defeat Ephrata 84-7 [boxscore] on what was the Mounts’ Senior Night.
Coming into Tuesday night’s L-L League girls soccer semifinal, the buzz was the battle between Ephrata’s highscoring trio of Madison Root, Annie Slovak and Abby Weist and Conestoga Valley’s veteranheavy back five of seniors Adalee Broadbent, Alexis Spencer, Jacque Thornton, sophomore Jordyn Hock and freshman Megan Slingluff.
Meanwhile, the matchup of CV’s balanced scoring punch with the Mountaineers back line was an afterthought.
Until it wasn’t.
Sophomores Madison Delgado and Gabi Barone paired to propel the Buckskins (17-1) to Thursday’s championship match as the Bucks subdued Ephrata, 1-0, at Manheim Central’s Elden Rettew Field.
We here at www.ephratamounts.com are proud sponsors of the Dodgeball for Diabetes tournament.