Lady Mounts come up short

WEST CHESTER — Possession is ninetenths of the law, in soccer as in life.

Pennridge possessed for nine-tenths of Tuesday’s PIAA 4A girls semifinal at West Chester East’s Zimmerman Stadium, advancing to Saturday’s championship match with a 1-0 decision over Ephrata.

The Rams (21-3-1) will face Suburban One Continental Conference neighbor Souderton for the title at Hersheypark Stadium in a 4:30 p.m. start.

Souderton ambushed WPIAL runner-up Peters Township 2-1 in overtime after scoring the tying goal with 11 seconds to play in regulation.

It will be their third meeting of the year, with Pennridge winning once and the teams playing to a tie.

Pennridge, ranked fifth in the state and the third-place finisher out of District One, set the tone early Tuesday evening and never let up.

In a physical match — the Rams were whistled for 16 fouls, including three yellow cards, to Ephrata’s six — the midfield of Ashley Groeber, Chance Hendricks and Maddie Anderson, along with wingbacks Holly Harbeck and Madison Angelo, were instrumental in the Rams pinning Ephrata (21-4-1) in the defensive third.

“We had recognized early on that they were focused on our forwards,” Pennridge coach Audrey Andersen said, “so we knew that our midfield could dribble and win balls.”

“It alleviated some pressure,” she continued. “We were able to connect with our outside backs (who) did a great job of getting forward, playing some dangerous balls.”

“We knew we weren’t going to have as much possession as them,” said Mounts coach Wes Deininger.

“We had an idea that they were going to have the ball and they were going to be dangerous. They had a lot of shots, but mostly from distance. Most of them didn’t bother (keeper) Jocelyn (Umana) at all.”

Despite being outshot 5-1 and out-chanced 17-2 in the half, Ephrata was weathering multiple storms.

That was until Abby Groff, the Rams’ top scorer (19 goals, 7 assists) and a Bloomsburg commit, saw an opening in the Ephrata defense, sending a ball ahead to Lauren McIntyre.

From about 15 yards out, McIntyre left-footed a shot into the right corner of the goal, her eighth of the year, with 1:11 until halftime.

“One letup at the very end of the half,” rued Deininger, “that gave them the goal to win it.”

The Mounts had a golden chance to take the early lead eight minutes in, but Rams keeper Mary Kate Lavush made an outstanding play to deny Reagan McCarty.

On the ensuing corner kick, Abbie Weist’s header sailed over the frame.

The second half played a bit more evenly, although the Rams enjoyed an 11-6 edge in chances and six shots on goal to zero for Ephrata.

With just under 12 minutes left in regulation, the Mounts were awarded a throw-in, deep in the offensive third.

From the left touch line, Carly Holochuck put the throw on target in the box, the ball coming to Maddie Root at the near post.

Root couldn’t get her feet set and her touch was deflected over the line by the Ram defense.

“I was proud of the way we played,” Deininger said. “We ... couldn’t quite find something at the end, although we had a few scary moments for them.”

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