Judging by the celebratory, purple and gold human teepee Ephrata's boys' lacrosse team built on the turf after the final buzzer Thursday night, it was obvious the victory felt awesome.

 

Even better, perhaps, was the impact it figures to have on so many others, some of whom have never even picked up a lacrosse stick.

 

Backed by a stellar 17-save effort from senior goalie Brian Neff, Ephrata jumped out to a 6-0 second-quarter lead and rode it to a 6-2 victory over Carlisle in the District Three title game Thursday night in Hersheypark Stadium.

 

The win continued a season of firsts for the Mountaineers (22-2), who were making their inaugural trip to the district final.

 

This coming after Ephrata won its first L-L title May 12 by beating Manheim Township for the first time in program history.

 

"It's definitely a big accomplishment for all the lower levels (of Ephrata lacrosse)," Neff, a U.S. Lacrosse All-American, said of taking home district gold. "And for the school in general."

 

Fact is, Thursday's win gave Ephrata just its second boys' district team crown in any sport in school history -- the other coming from the Mounts' 1991 wrestling team.

 

But the impact of their latest accomplishment went much deeper than being able to hoist another banner in the gym.

 

In addition to winning for themselves, obviously, there were others on the Mounts' minds when they arrived in Hershey.

 

They wanted to win for the legion of fans that showed up with boisterous support all year -- a group that greatly outnumbered Carlisle's band of followers Thursday night.

 

They wanted to win for Parker Harley, their former teammate, who has spent the last few weeks going in and out of the hospital for a rare condition. Harley had his gall bladder removed last week and is awaiting a liver transplant. According to Neff, the team signed a jersey for Harley last week and delivered it to him in the hospital.

 

"It gave us a lot of motivation," Neff said. "To know how lucky we are to be out here (playing)."

 

And last, but certainly not least, Ephrata's players wanted Thursday's victory for their former head coach, Mike Ream, who passed away from a heart attack at the beginning of the 2010 season, when Neff and the rest of the Mounts' seniors were sophomores.

 

"I definitely know he's looking down and smiling," Neff said as the celebration continued Thursday. "I know he would want to be a part of this."

 

Without question Neff was a huge part of it against Carlisle (15-5), which struggled all night to penetrate, leaving the Thundering Herd with outside shots for which Neff was up to the task.

 

Of the 19 shots Carlisle unleashed by game's end, only Chris Fowler's close-range shot with 2:44 left in the first half and Cody McCoy's laser from the right side with 10:16 left in the third found their way through.

 

"When you have an All-American goalie who's on his game," Carlisle coach Steve Kidder said, "it's hard to beat."

 

Meanwhile, Ephrata needed only 7:19 of the first quarter to build a 3-0 lead on a pair of goals from Joseph Sellers and another from Mason Quickel.

 

 

Joey Sellers (hidden) and Mason Quickel celebrate Ephrata's first goal

of Thursday night's district championship game against Carlisle in Hersheypark Stadium.

© Suzette Wenger, Intelligencer

 

 

And when Quickel followed back-to-back goals from Evan Hornberger with his own scoring blast with 4:38 left in the first half, the Mounts were off and running with a 6-0 lead.

 

"Coming out with three (unanswered) goals in the first quarter ... " Ephrata coach Kevin Pletz said. "That gets the nerves out of the way."

 

And while the Herd made some defensive adjustments to hold Ephrata in check after the break, the damage had been done.

 

Neff, and the guys in front of him, made sure of it.

 

For themselves, and for so many others.