JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
L-L League girls’ soccer playoffs are underway, and I was in lovely Kinzers on Tuesday night for a quarterfinal double-dip. Plenty of goals in both games, as Penn Manor topped Ephrata 4-1 in the opener, followed by Lancaster Mennonite’s 4-0 win over Manheim Township in the nightcap. Nightcap — I’ve always enjoyed using that word in sports stories. Gotta love that. Anyway, Penn Manor’s Kristi Shepps and Mennonite’s Lisa Wingard both had big nights on PV’s turf pitch (great facility, by the way). Here’s my recap from Wednesday’s New Era:
Who needs American Idol?
While Syesha Mercado, David Cook, Jason Castro and David Archuleta tried to wow Randy, Paula and Simon out in Hollywood – yo, yo, check it out, dawg – the real show Tuesday night was at Pequea Valley High School, where Kristi Shepps and Lisa Wingard took center stage in their own version of Lancaster-Lebanon Lebanon Soccer Idol.
Shepps, Penn Manor’s lighting-quick senior forward, and Wingard, Lancaster Mennonite’s jack-rabbit senior forward, scored two goals apiece, leading their teams to first-round victories in the L-L League girls’ soccer playoffs.
Shepps, a Lock Haven field hockey recruit, scored a pair of first-half goals and assisted on a third in Penn Manor’s 4-1 quarterfinal victory over Section 2 runner-up Ephrata. The Comets jumped out to a 3-0 lead, then iced the game on Olivia Pryzbylkowski’s goal with 11:30 to play.
“We wanted to score quickly, so it felt good to get a couple of quick goals because it took some pressure off of us,” said Shepps, who assisted on Rachel Hess’ goal, which gave Penn Manor a 1-0 lead with 36:45 to go in the first half.
“We started putting some passes together, we figured out where everyone was, and we started connecting,” said Shepps, who made run after run into Ephrata territory as part of Penn Manor’s new 4-3-3 offensive scheme, which features the Comets’ speed attack.
Meanwhile, in the nightcap, Wingard scored one goal in each half, including a nifty breakaway with 37:37 to play in Mennonite’s 4-0 win over Section 1 fourth-place finisher Manheim Township.
Katelyn Vanderhoff and Katherine Zell added goals for the Blazers, who dodged a plethora of bullets in holding off the Blue Streaks.
“Felt good to get those goals,” said Wingard, who will continue her soccer career at Messiah College.
“Both balls were placed perfectly for me. All I had to do was finish.”
She did – twice. Wingard’s first goal, a laser beam from the top of the 18-yard line, was set up by a sweet slip pass from Kelsey Gorman, who will join Wingard at Messiah.
Mennonite’s defense bent but didn’t break, as Township peppered 18 shots on goal and had three corners, compared to the Blazers’ 10 shots and one corner. But the Streaks (8-8-2) couldn’t dent the back of the net, as Mennonite goalies Laura Gochnauer (8 saves) and Dani Zeamer (5 saves) split the chores and kept Township off the board.
“They finished their chances and we didn’t,” Township coach Terry Law lamented. “We had a couple of really good chances but we never took away their momentum. They got on a roll and the momentum never went away.”
“Township had a ton of chances and all kinds of opportunities,” Mennonite coach Dale Stoltzfus added. “So it feels good to get a win and move on.”
Mennonite (18-2), the Section 4 champ, will take on Penn Manor (12-4-3), the Section 1 runner-up, in a league semifinal Thursday at Manheim Central at 7:30 p.m., following the other semifinal, pitting defending champ Conestoga Valley against Hempfield, who each won in double-overtime Tuesday.
Penn Manor has appeared in six of the last seven L-L League title games. The Comets are still in line to make it seven out of eight thanks to Shepps, who gave Ephrata’s defenders a major headache.
“Our defense just broke down,” Ephrata coach Chris Dutton said with a shrug. “We made some adjustments, but it was too late. We felt OK down two goals. But down three goals …”
Not so much. Plus, as Penn Manor coach Bill Zapata admitted, the Comets got some breaks.
“I thought we got some lucky bounces,” Zapata said. “It seemed like every lucky bounce – especially in the first half – went our way. Seriously. Sometimes you have to get lucky, and we got a lot of bounces.
“But our kids know how to win, and they know how to pick it up – especially this time of the year.”
When idols are made.
