High School Homecoming football, the highlight of the season for most teams, proved to be just another game for Elizabethtown. The Bears continued their torrid pace to the 2022 season, doubling up Daniel Boone 26-13 on September 30th, to improve to 6-0.

The Bears used a stingy defense to help support their offense to collect the win, forcing four punts while holding the Blazers to 159 total yards. Meanwhile what had been a high-powered attack managed just 312 yards and four scores, all from the arm of Josh Rudy.

Rudy finished with just 190 yards passing but had those four scoring tosses, three of which went to Cade Capello. The senior wideout caught four balls for 122 yards with scores of 18, 55 and 41-yards. Braden Cummings added two catches for 44-yards and snagged Rudy's final TD pass which actually put E-town up 7-6 in the opening frame. Logan Lentz led the rushing attack with 86 yards on 24 carries.

GIRLS' SOCCER

Thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Ian the Lady Bear soccer team had just one game on the docket, a 4-1 win over Manheim Central on September 29th. Keegan Miller pitched a second half shutout to collect the win with Dani Bruno and Liana Endy taking care of the offense. Bruno scored the first and last goals with Endy taking care of the two remaining scores. Taryn Hummer and Adyson Haak provided the setup for Bruno's goals while Lily Heistand did the same for Endy's second score.

BOYS' SOCCER

If the 2022 Elizabethtown boys' soccer team had a theme song it just might be DJ Khaled's 'All I Do is Win.' The Bears sport an 11-2-1 mark and carry a whopping 10-game winning streak thanks to wins over Manheim Central and Cedar Crest with head coach James Sostack emphasizing the details of the game and maintaining mental toughness as the keys to success. "Overall, the Bears continue to take it one game at a time "respecting all and fearing none," said Sostack.

That mental toughness allowed E-town to blow by Manheim Central on September 29th, using goals from four different players to collect a 5-1 victory. Jason Stark was the lone Bear to find the net twice, striking in the 19th minute for a solo goal and using Noah Locke's feed for another in the 70th minute. Dax Kelly was not able to score twice but he did pick up two assists in setting up Xavier Giron in the first half and Hayden Flory in the second half. Flory flipped to the setting-up side of E-town's final goal, finding Tavan Schoenberger for the 5-1 final. Tyler Bell finished with four saves in the win.

The Bears kicked off October on the 3rd with a 5-0 romp over Cedar Crest. Bell needed just one save thanks to constant pressure from E-town. All that pressure on the back end paved the way for the five-goal explosion, led by Schoenberger.

"Tavan Schoenberger demonstrated excellent finishing power by netting a hat trick," said Sostack.

Hayden Flory and Zach Verghese interrupted Schoenberger's hat trick with their second half scores while Flory helped by setting up Schoenberger's final goal.

FIELD HOCKEY

With the end of the regular season in sight, Elizabethtown's field hockey team is on the cusp of their first postseason invite since 2017. The Bears currently sit at 9-5 and just inside the District 3-2A postseason field.

E-town's playoff chances took two hits with losses to Donegal and Lampeter-Strasburg but they did counter with a 4-0 win over Ephrata on September 28th. Kendra Griffie fronted that victory, turning a tight 1-0 game into a blowout with three straight goals for the 4-0 final. Caitlin Steffie scored first with help from Piper Patrick before Griffie took over. Sydney Pope finished with seven saves.

Griffie continued to find the back of the cage against Donegal on the 30th but with just one score the Lady Indians were able to steal the 2-1 win. Pope posted another seven save game while Mikaela Condran picked up the assist on Griffie's goal.

October 4th sent the Lady Bears to Lampeter-Strasburg where they were handed a 4-2 setback. Griffie and Condran both scored unassisted goals and Pope collected eight saves, but it was not enough to survive three fourth quarter scores from the Lady Pioneers.

VOLLEYBALL

The girls' volleyball team continues to inch their way to the postseason, posting wins over Manheim Central and Lampeter-Strasburg to improve to 10-1 overall. The Lady Bears are currently on pace to make the L-L field as well as qualify for the District 3-4A playoffs.

Elizabethtown was able to sweep Central on the 29th, using 37 Hailey Oller assists to bookend wins of 25-19 around a 25-16 game two win. Chloe Merkt added 14 digs and 10 kills while Liz Kerin posted a team high 12 kills. Paige O'Connell added three aces.

E-town posted their sixth straight win on October 4th, topping Lampeter-Strasburg by a 3-1 final.

CROSS COUNTRY

The cross-country teams traveled to Quarryville for their final regular season meet and the result was matching wins over Manheim Central and Solanco, giving the Bears a nice 4-0 day.

Jordan DiRisio led the way for the Lady Bears, taking first with a time of 21:32 but Ali Fink (3rd-22:06), Rowan Hess (4th-22:50), Lilah Drager (5th-23:04) and Jillian Wivell (6th-23:23) were just off the winning pace.

The boy's side was not quite as dominating but still managed a 2-0 day with eight runners in the top 10. Jaycen Conrad was the leader of that pack, finishing 3rd with a time of 18:46. Jack Myers crossed five seconds later in 4th place while Nick Mascia rounded out the top five with a 19:01.