Warriors blank Mounts

In the moments leading up to Warwick’s District Three Class 4A boys soccer first-round game with visiting Ephrata Tuesday, the Warriors congregated in a team huddle in the middle of the field. And with the wind howling around them, senior Robbie Heckman delivered an impassioned pregame speech.

“Every year I’ve been on this team,” the senior later said, “we went out in the first round of district playoffs. It was super hard for me as a player to watch the seniors walk off the field for the last time. I didn’t want any of the kids underneath me to have to see that, and I didn’t want to have to say goodbye to my boys for the last time tonight.”

After Heckman’s plea, the Warriors weathered an early gust from Ephrata and, with a goal from David Dieal and two from Jacob Smith, surged into Saturday’s quarterfinal round with a 3-0 victory, the program’s first in the district playoffs since 2009.

“It’s a crazy thing,” Heckman said of clearing the hurdle. “The energy is high. Practice is going to be hype this week, and right now, we’re just focused on Saturday.”

The No. 5 Warriors (12-4-0) advance to face Cumberland Valley at 3 p.m. Saturday in Mechanicsburg. The No. 4 Eagles (14-4-0) defeated Northeastern 5-0 in Tuesday’s first round.

Like the wind, the No. 12 Mountaineers (12-6-1) entered the game roaring, as Tyler Shue and Caleb Gaston sliced through the Warwick defense with a barrage of chances.

“It was like a zombie apocalypse,” said Gordy Cowher, Warwick’s coach. “We were just walking through the first five minutes. But once we got past that, we settled down nicely and really started to possess the ball. Our midfielders really did a nice job helping to control the flow of play.”

At the center of the action was Dieal, who misfired on a chance in the 11th minute but buried his next opportunity when Heckman’s centering pass found him at 12:51.

“It was a beautiful cross,” Ephrata coach Rob Deininger said, “and the guy hit a beautiful shot. That kind of changed it.”

The Mounts had not allowed more than one goal in a game all season. That changed when Warwick’s Jay Destinoble fed a pass to freshman Jacob Smith, who slipped behind a pinching Ephrata defense and doubled the lead at 55:26.

“I saw the goal and the goalie,” Smith said, “and I just put it where he wasn’t.”

Smith added an insurance goal three minutes later when he sent a crossing pass that the wind picked up and carried over the reach of Ephrata goalkeeper Cole Hummel (10 saves).

With the three-goal surge, and a combined shutout from Drew Steif (four saves) and Boston Libhart (one save), the Warriors huddled again after the game in celebration.

“I think it’ll give our kids a little bit of confidence going into Saturday,” Cowher said.

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