Mounts Sweep Cocalico

The constant, gusting wind that had pine trees along the side of the field leaning almost horizontally at times provided a pretty good indication that focus would be key Tuesday afternoon (4/17).

The bad news for Cocalico was that Ephrata already had a headstart in that department.

Six days after suffering a surprising 2-0 loss to Garden Spot, which tarnished its perfect section record, Ephrata's girls' soccer team officially got back on track by dealing Cocalico a 2-0 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two loss Tuesday in windswept Denver.

Entering the game with a vulnerable three-point advantage over Cocalico in the section standings, the Mountaineers (7-1 Section Two, 7-2 overall) maintained a share of the lead with Elizabethtown, which kept pace with an 8-0 win over Solanco Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Eagles (5-3, 6-3), who watched a five-game section winning streak come to an end, dropped into sole possession of third, six points off the pace.

"Focus was the key," Ephrata coach Chris Dutton said afterward, "because I think we learned something from that Garden Spot game."

More specifically, just that out-shooting a team 29-12 and holding a 10-1 edge in corners, as the Mounts did against Spot last Wednesday, isn't necessarily enough to get the job done.

"We were looking at (getting more) individual focus on passing, for one, and where you want that pass to go," Dutton said. "And you can shoot 29 times, but are you focused on where you want the shot to go?

"Make the fantastic pass. Take the fantastic shot. And the only way to do that is to stay focused."

Neither team had much choice in that department Tuesday, thanks to steady west-to-east winds that made balls played into the air pointless, and kept the majority of the action happening on the east end of the field.

That Cocalico was out-shot 11-1 while playing against the wind in the first half, when it failed to get the ball across midfield more than a handful of times, was proof.

Meanwhile, Ephrata, which out-shot the Eagles 17-6 and held a 6-3 edge in corners by game's end, needed only 8:00 to net the eventual game-winner, thanks to a 20-yard blast inside the right post from midfielder Kelly Martin.

Mounts forward Arielle Gordon padded the lead with 9:32 left in the first, when she fought for the leftovers of her own shot and beat Cocalico goalie Sam Shober (12 saves) inside the right post.

"I didn't like giving up that goal, but Arielle just really wanted it," said Eagles coach Dan Hogan. "Still, I told the girls at halftime, 'It's only 2-0 and we're really good at scoring goals, so we can go out there and get them back.' ''

But after Cocalico forward Laura Sweigart's blast was tipped up and off the crossbar by Ephrata goalie Meridith Weaver 4:27 into the second half, and Eagles midfielder Jess Zimmerman launched a hard shot off the right post 33 seconds later, the last of Cocalico's three second-half scoring opportunities came on midfielder Jess Esparra's 35-yard blast off the crossbar with 2:00 left in the match.