Mounts Stand Tall

Two things happened Wednesday night in the L-L League boys' lacrosse semifinals.

Manheim Township continued its dominance over L-L foes this season and Ephrata rocked the status quo of the league.
 

The Blue Streaks handled Penn Manor 16-5 to reach its ninth-straight league title game while the Mountaineers upset two-time defending champion Hempfield, 6-5, at Comet Field.

Township (16-1) and Ephrata (14-3) will meet at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Warwick [directions] in the league championship game.

"Absolutely," Ephrata coach Kevin Pletz said, when asked if it was the biggest win in the program's history. "It's the first time we've ever beaten Hempfield. It's the biggest win we've ever had."

Ephrata trailed 3-1 when Michael Ondrusek scored for the Black Knights (17-2) with 43 seconds left in the first quarter.

But that was the last time the Mounts would let in a goal for more than two-and-a-half quarters.

Ephrata, which held the ball patiently for much of the first half, pumped in four straight to lead 5-3 at halftime. Josh Frey netted a pair in the run for the Mounts while Nate Muckle and Joey Sellers added one each.

"Our biggest thing was to slow the game down," Pletz explained. "It gave our defense a rest and forced their defense to play longer."

The strategy allowed Ephrata to wait for open looks on goal and forced the Knights to rush bad shots as they were forced to play catch up. Ephrata goalie Brian Neff did his part, too, with 13 saves.

Ephrata's Nate Muckle, left, tries to pull away from Hempfield long stick defender Nick Best.

Muckle had two goals and two assists for the Mountaineers, who recorded a 6-5 victory over the Black Knights.

© Suzette Wenger / Intelligencer Staff

"We played way too much defense," Hempfield coach Dave Ondrusek said. "Offensively, we didn't work for great shots. We had good shots but not great ones and Brian (Neff) is a great goalie."

After a scoreless third, Tyler Sensenig gave Ephrata a 6-3 advantage late in the fourth. Hempfield mounted a comeback with a goal from Michael Ondrusek, with 4:22 left in the game, and one by Nick Valentino with 51 seconds left but it was too little, too late.

"We want to keep them believing," Pletz said as looked ahead to Friday's final. "I want them on this (emotional) high and keep the confidence up."