Ephrata came back for thirds Tuesday, and as a result achieved a first, with another unique achievement now within reach.

 

The Mountaineers beat Hempfield for the third time this season in boys' lacrosse, 13-6 in a District Three semifinal at Lower Dauphin Middle School. And as a result they advanced to the championship game for the first time in school history.

 

Ephrata (21-2), which earlier this season won its first Lancaster-Lebanon League title, will oppose another first-time finalist, Carlisle, for the district crown, Thursday at 7 p.m. in Hersheypark Stadium. The Thundering Herd (15-4) dispatched Manheim Township 13-9 in the other semi.

 

"It's an honor," Mounts coach Kevin Pletz said, "and a great opportunity."

 

And then some. Todd Ruth, sports editor of the Ephrata Review, informed Pletz that by Ruth's reckoning this club has a chance to be just the second boys' team in school history to win a district title in any sport, joining the 1991 wrestlers. And the magnitude of that was not lost on anyone.

 

"It's a huge opportunity," said senior Joey Sellers, "to leave a permanent mark on Ephrata history."

 

Sellers certainly left his mark on the Knights, collecting six goals and an assist. Evan Hornberger added three goals and an assist, Tucker Keefer had two and three, respectively, and Mason Quickel contributed two goals and an assist for the Mounts, who never trailed.

 

 

 

Neither Hempfield's Ryan Fitzpatrick nor goalkeeper Dylan Risner

is able to stop a shot by Ephrata's Tucker Keefer from finding the mark for a

goal in Tuesday's 13-6 Mountaineer victory at Lower Dauphin Middle School.

© Suzette Wenger, Intelligencer

 

 

So much for conventional wisdom, which says that it is well nigh impossible to beat the same team three times in one season. Ephrata had topped Hempfield 13-4 on March 30 and 9-7 in the L-L semis.

 

This time, Sellers said, the Mounts knew the Knights "were going to come up with twice as much intensity."

 

Ephrata was equal to the task, scoring the match's first three goals, and building a 7-2 halftime lead. And no sooner did Hempfield (16-6) cut the gap to 7-4 in the third quarter than Ephrata rattled off three straight goals, the last by Sellers with 2.6 seconds left in the period, after Quickel corralled a loose ball near the sideline and set him up.

 

Carlisle, which lost 6-4 to the Mounts three weeks ago, forged a rematch with a strong offensive showing against the Streaks (17-6). Township's Dillon O'Dell scored just 18 seconds into the match, but the Herd's Cody McCoy answered just seven seconds later, with the first of his four goals.

 

Carlisle tacked on three more to go up 4-1. And while the Streaks were twice within a goal in the first half, they could get no closer.

 

"It's a new step for us (to get to the final)," Carlisle coach Steve Kidder said, "but it feels great."

 

Township coach Kyle Wimer was feeling somewhat less so.

 

"We've been backpedaling the last couple games," he said. "We're trying to correct our own situation. Congratulations to Carlisle, but by not staying disciplined and sticking to fundamentals, it catches up to you."