The girls' tennis team opened the post-season with a hard-fought 3-2 loss to Elco, the second-place team out of Section Three, in the L-L League teams championships that got underway Sept. 30.

"Playoffs are always a 3-2 no repeat format," explained head coach Mark Trach. "We've played that several times with non-section teams this year. We've qualified for the playoffs each of the last four years now."

Lampeter's team points came via doubles play with Katie Finn and Eve Miller scoring the only shutout of the day (6-0, 6-0) and Jess Salgado and Emma Williams winning the second tandem 6-1, 6-2.

Kylie Gerhardt battled at No. 1, dropping a tough one to Ali Bender (6-4, 5-7, 10-6) while Rowan Kimmel and Laura Leaman suffered straight set losses at No. 2 and 3 respectively.

"Kylie got off to a slow start in the super tiebreaker, losing the first five points, and could not recover," stated Trach. "It was a high quality, heavy hitting match throughout. Laura was close but a couple key points here and there amounted to the difference.

"Our doubles teams were solid and played great," he continued.

GIRLS' SOCCER

The girls' soccer team played four times over the last week but came away empty handed. They opened with a 3-1 loss to Solanco on Thursday, Sept. 30 and followed that up with a 6-1 non-league loss to Hershey, their most lopsided defeat of the season. Back in league play last week, L-S dropped a 2-0 final at Garden Spot on Monday before traveling to Elizabethtown Wednesday, where they suffered a 6-1 loss.

"We have a team of girls who work very hard, and it seems that sometimes that hard work doesn't transpire into goals or even a result that reflects our efforts," said first-year head coach Taylor Garraffa. "Kali O'Connell and Chloe Bucher have been working well together in the attacking third, creating dangerous opportunities, and Kate Malcom, who recently joined our back line, has been a solid defender."

After a scoreless first half, Bucher scored an unassisted goal against Solanco while O'Connell found the back of the net against Hershey. Madison Weichler was the goal scorer against E-town.

BOYS' SOCCER

The boys' soccer team continued its strong play over the last week, posting a pair of shutouts over Cedar Crest and Solanco before settling for a 1-1 tie against Garden Spot. They rounded out the week last Wednesday night with a 4-1 home loss against Section Two leader Elizabethtown.

L-S scored four first half goals, two each by Jack Kelly and Dan Marcroft, en route to the win at Cedar Crest Thursday, Sept. 29. Landon Rice dished a hat trick of assists with Kelly adding one.

Saturday morning the Pioneers held a slim 2-0 first half lead against a no-win Solanco squad but found the back of the net three times after the break for a convincing 5-0 win.

"We were missing our top two scorers and two team captains in Marcroft and Rice so we needed others to step up," said head coach Chris Garraffa. "It was a total team effort."

Jack Frego and J. Kelly notched those first half goals with Chase Lauver, Kunj Savani and Matthew Westcott scoring after the break. Van Dietrich assisted three times with Frego adding one more.

Against Spot, it was Marcroft finding the back of the net while Rice prevented the shutout against the Bears.

FOOTBALL

In keeping pace with undefeated Wyomissing, the Pioneer gridiron team improved to 5-1 with a 49-13 blowout win at Octorara Friday, Sept. 30.

The Pioneers scored three times in each of the first two quarters to quickly put the game out of reach.

A balanced attack featured seven different players finding the endzone. Carson Coleman, who rushed seven times for 71 yards, scored the second TD of the game, a 35-yard run in the first quarter and capped the halftime scoring with a 24-yard burst.

Julian Lopez got things rolling with a two-yard burst while Drexton Frank's 20-yard fumble recovery made it 21-0 in the first half. Trent Wagner opened the second half scoring with an 8-yard keeper while Jonathan Mellinger (6 rushes- 42 yards) reached the endzone on a five-yard run. Sophomore Dominic Brown, with a 25-yard carry, scored Lampeter's only touchdown of the second half.

The defense held the Braves to 94 rushing yards, caused three fumbles and recorded three sacks, one each by Harry Wolgemuth (11 tackles), Danny Weichler and Aven Cunningham. Brown and Ezechiel Lukusa chipped in with seven tackles each.

Peter Fiorello booted all seven PATs.

FIELD HOCKEY

It's never a dull moment for the field hockey team. Over the last week they suffered a 2-1 overtime loss to Donegal (Sept. 29) but bounced back with a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Cedar Crest (Oct. 1) and then exploded for three fourth quarter goals to get past Elizabethtown 4-2 (Oct. 4).

"That loss to Donegal was our third OT game in a week," stated head coach Katrina Swarr. "We led and dominated the entire game, but their intensity rose over the last six minutes, and we did not adjust. They scored with 1:47 left and rolled right into overtime with their energy. It was fair week and we were missing a couple of starters."

Marissa Rice, assisted by Maggie Swarr, gave L-S the lead in the second quarter.

Saturday morning Crest scored with no time left in the second quarter, but L-S pulled out the win with two goals scored in the last five minutes of the game. Tori Heiserman knotted the score with a bullet of a shot at the 4:44 mark and Lyndi Wall netted the game winner with 3:06 left to play.

"We did everything right but finish," said Swarr.

The dramatic finishes continued against Elizabethtown in last Tuesday's cold and wet weather. Tied at 1-1 after three complete quarters, L-S scored three times in the fourth and held the visitors to one.

Maggie Swarr's tip with 7:10 remaining tied the game at 2-2. Less than a minute later Heiserman was credited with a goal that E-town's keeper did not think was touched inside the circle as she let it hit the back of the cage. The goal was ruled good and L-S clung to a 3-2 lead with 6:49 left. Kara Scranton sealed the deal at the 3:16 mark.

"While Tori's goal was the go-ahead goal, we by no means had the game won," said Swarr. "I felt bad for their goalie. She does an excellent job and wouldn't have just let it go in."

VOLLEYBALL

The volleyball team swept Garden Spot with a second 3-2 (25-15, 23-25, 25-11, 26-28, 15-8) victory on the 29th and used that momentum to split the series against Manheim Central on Oct. 4, winning 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 25-22, 25-19).

"In those two close games we lost to Garden Spot, we beat ourselves," said head coach Sharon Mullin. "We missed some serves in the second set and in that fourth set we made some hitting and passing errors. They capitalized on our mistakes."

Jenna Hoover (16 kills), Emily Mullin (5 aces, 40 assists) and Chloe Nolt (7 blocks) recorded match-high totals. Hoover also finished with 10 digs.

Against the Barons, who swept L-S on Sept. 13, it was Megan Platt (4 aces) registering 14 kills, one more than Manheim's top gun, Maddie Knier. Hoover recorded 12 and added a 6-0 serving run in the third set to erase an early deficit. She also finished with 11 digs. L-S led from start to finish in the fourth.

"We struggled with mistakes in the second set, but pulled it together in the third and fourth," said Mullin. "Emily ran the offense well and when we served tough, we capitalized. So proud of the girls and the way they played."