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Lady Mounts ground Rockets
By TODD RUTH
Ephrata Review
Published: May 15, 2008 10:49 AM EST
MANHEIM - The motivation for Ephrata going into Monday's District Three play-in
game vs. York County champion Spring Grove was pretty simple.
"We
knew if we didn't win our season was over. And none of us wanted to end it
here," Ephrata senior Leah Sipe explained Monday night.
Sipe, along
with juniors Aly Goodman and Alma Wilson put it squarely on their own
shoulders to make sure that didn't happen.
That trio accounted for
all five goals Monday on the turf at Manheim Central to carry the Lady
Mounts (13-5-1) to a surprisingly easy 5-0 shutout win over the
Rockets.
Goodman and Wilson each scored a pair of goals while Sipe
also tallied. All three each accounted for assists as well as Ephrata
advanced to Thursday's first round where they will face top-seeded
Cumberland Valley.
Spring Grove finished its season at
17-4-2.
After falling 4-1 to Penn Manor in the first round of the
L-L League Playoffs, Ephrata was determined to rebound with a strong effort
Monday night.
"We shook off our defensive issues that we had against
Penn Manor and we focused," Ephrata Coach Chris Dutton
said.
According to Goodman, the Lady Mounts worked hard in practice
all week, leading up to the game.
"We just focused on practicing
hard and always thinking about what we are doing is going to help us for
this game. We knew everything was going to be fast and quick because of
playing on the turf, and we definitely utilized our speed to our
advantage."
Particularly the speed of Wilson, who was a matchup
nightmare for Spring Grove all night. The Rockets attempted to trap Ephrata
in the midfield, but that played into the Lady Mounts' hands as Sipe and
Goodman continually sent Wilson behind the rocket defense with well-placed
"through-balls."
"The big thing is we noticed early they were trying
to get us on the outside trap," Dutton said. "Fortunately when they pushed
too far up the midfield, that was only to our advantage because we could
just push it through and Alma could run to it. You give her 40 yards, she's
going to run the ball down."
Sipe, who was recently named the
Section Two MVP and was selected as an All-State player,
agreed.
"Having Alma out there and just playing a 'through-ball' was
so effective... And she was faster than anybody on the field, she
said."
Goodman put Ephrata on the board 11 minutes in as she got
behind Spring Grove's defense and beat Rocket keeper Stacey Root 1-on-1,
placing the kick to the lower left-hand corner of the net for the 1-0
lead.
The Lady Mounts made it 2-0 about 17 minutes later as Caitlin
Strausser's touch pass found the foot of a streaking Wilson, who put it
into the left corner of the net past a helpless Root.
But the
backbreaker for Spring Grove occurred in the final seconds as Ephrata was
awarded a corner kick.
Sipe ran down the ball and quickly sent the
corner kick to the front of the goal where Goodman was perched. The junior
got her head on the ball and it squirted past Root with just 1.2 seconds on
the clock to put Ephrata up by three heading to the half.
"We've
been preaching that we need to run things faster and not letting the
(other) team set up," Dutton said. "When you have three restarts in less
than 50 seconds, you have to take advantage of it. And it paid off. They
worked hard and they got it. It's nice to see them do something after you
talk about it."
The second half was more of the same for the Lady
Mounts. They made it 4-0 less than five minutes into the second half when
Sipe gathered a Wilson throw-in on the left side and ripped a laser past
Root.
The final tally for Ephrata came with 8:48 to play. Off a
corner, Goodman was denied her hat trick twice_ first on a nice save by
Root and second on a follow up shot that hit off the post. However, Wilson
collected the ball on the rebound and deposited it in the open
net.
For the game, Ephrata outshot Spring Grove, 13-9 and held a 4-2
advantage in corners. EHS keeper Jan Woolley saved seven shots in goal for
the shutout victory.
Things should get much tougher Thursday for
Ephrata as the Lady Mounts get set to tackle the top-seeded Cumberland
Valley Eagles. CV (11-3-3), which shared the Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division
title this season, is making its 19th consecutive district playoff
appearance and will also be chasing an unprecedented 10th title.
The
Eagles, who have suffered early exits from Districts the last two seasons,
are a versatile group with balanced scoring. Ursinus-bound senior
midfielder Jess Porcelan (5 goals, 2 assists) is player to watch, while
freshman Kelly Pizzingrilli is the leading goal scorer with
10.
Others who can find the net include: Helena Tinnyo (6g, 6a),
Meghan O'Grady (3g, 8a), Michelle Gould (2g, 1a), Liz Kemery (1g, 2a), Liz
Phillips (2g, 2a), Carter Sheely (4g, 4a) and Alyssa Grell (7g,
1a).
"I know Cumberland Valley is the number one seed but you never
know what can happen," Goodman said. "If we play like we did tonight I
think we're going to be pretty well set."
Added Sipe, "We know it's
going to be hard because they are the number one seed, but it can happen.
We definitely have tons of confidence. We are not lacking in that category
right now."
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