The Pequea Valley golf team improved to 14-2 on the year with an impressive victory at Crossgates on Thursday, September 9. The Braves defeated Lancaster-Lebanon League foes Annville-Cleona, Lancaster Country Day, Lancaster Mennonite and Lebanon.

The Pequea putters posted a 332 score - a decisive 37 strokes ahead of second-place Annville (369), despite Annville golfer Reagan Flynn finishing with the best individual score of 78.

LCD finished at 374 while Mennonite (397) and Lebanon (493) rounded out the rest.

Kyle Ebersol and Matt Lapp led the Braves, both finishing with 79's. For Lapp, the 79 was a season best so far. Cole Stoltzfus also had a season best, shooting an 82 to finish fifth overall.

Pequea senior Easton Herr recorded a 92.

BOYS' SOCCER

The boys' soccer team had a series of strong matches, improving to 3-1-1 on the year, including an L-L League victory on Monday, September 13.

On Thursday, September 9, the Braves played to a 1-1 draw with Trinity on the road. Nevin Stoltzfus scored with five minutes left in regulation to draw the count even. The two teams played the extra periods with no scoring.

Pequea was coming off a 5-0 victory at Eastern York - an early-season non-league victory on September 4. In that high-scoring contest, Nevin Stoltzfus finished with four goals. Peyton Leitch added a pair of assists. Dylan Ratjavong also netted one goal while Sam Arena and Joey Pereira each recorded an assist.

"Dylan Ratjavong has been great for us, turning defense into offense," said head coach Peter Bennett. "We've used him in the middle as well.

"Peyton Leitch came back from a broken ankle last season," continued the coach. "He's a center midfielder, but we've used him up with Nevin to support him."

Whether, Leitch, Stoltzfus or Ratjavong were involved, there was plenty of scoring in Saturday's non-league match with Wyomissing. The Braves came up on the short end of a 4-3 final on the road.

"It was a good match between two teams that qualified for district playoffs for the past two seasons," Bennett said. "We got out to an early lead - Peyton scored off a rebound. They went up 2-1 with two quick goals.

"Nevin scored two minutes before the half," Bennett added.

Stoltzfus had provided the assist on Leitch's goal while Ratjavong assisted on the equalizer by Stoltzfus.

Leitch gave the Braves the lead 15 minutes into the second half.

"For a while we were in control," said Bennett. "Legs got heavy for the last 10 or 15 minutes - probably from the Trinity game going double overtime. Wyomissing scored two late goals for the win. It was a good end-to-end match."

The Braves upped their record to 3-1-1 and to 1-0 in the league with their Section Four triumph over Northern Lebanon on Monday, September 13. Ratjavong scored two goals within a span of five minutes in the second half, giving PV a 2-0 victory.

The Brave's goaltending has been primarily handled by senior Jazae Marina-Itegi

"Jazae got some experience as a sophomore, but not that much last year," Bennett explained. "Gabe McDonald has been getting some time as well."

GIRLS' SOCCER

The Braves' tenacious efforts netted a 1-0 Section Four overtime victory on Monday, September 13, at Northern Lebanon. It was Pequea's first league match of the year, improving the team's overall mark to 2-2-0 (1-0-0 league).

The lone goal of the game did not come until the second overtime period.

"We were having some good opportunities; we just couldn't finish," Braves' head coach Steve Morris explained.

"We had six minutes left in the second overtime," continued the coach. "We had some action in front of their goal. The ball came out and Caroline Fisher played it in toward Sierra Fisher, who put it in for the score."

The Braves were coming off a forgettable loss to Wyomissing two days earlier. The Spartans posted an 8-1 victory. Morris addressed the level of play in the Northern Lebanon game as a positive response to the lopsided defeat.

"After the Wyomissing game, we were back to what I've been expecting from the team," he commented. "I really hope that gets us going again."

The victory ended a two-game losing streak, which began with a 2-1 heartbreaking loss to Trinity on September 9.

"We played very well against Trinity," Morris said. "They're always a strong team.

"We were winning 1-0 with about nine minutes left," he continued. "They scored a tying goal and another goal with a second left."

Caroline Fisher scored Pequea's goal with an assist from Morgan Graham.

Morris was asked about the contributions on the defensive end of the pitch.

The team did lose junior Brooke Graham to a serious injury.

"She had been a starter since her freshman year," Morris noted. "That was a tough injury. But Breanne Beiler, a sophomore, has stepped up and done really well. Deena Stoltzfus, another senior, is a strong center back who's a four-year starter."

Speaking of experienced players on defense, the Braves return senior goalie Madison Weaver.

FOOTBALL

In a high-scoring non-league game at home, the Pequea Valley football team lost to Kutztown 76-37 on Friday, September 10.

Peyton Temple showed off his skills again, throwing for three touchdowns as he completed eight passes for 171 yards.

The Braves (0-2) in fact grabbed an early lead as Temple connected with Dominic Wallace for a 47-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. Temple himself converted on the two-point conversion.

Kutztown scored 24 unanswered points on three touchdowns, each with a two-point PAT's, to make it 24-8. The Braves responded in the first quarter with an Orlando Stoltzfus rushing touchdown and Jonathan Carter's PAT kick to cut the deficit to 24-15.

Kutztown went on to score 28 unanswered points before Temple's 17-yard scoring toss to Wallace stopped the bleeding.

The Pequea defense was victimized by a 50-yard rushing touchdown, but the special teams gained the points right back on the 55-yard kickoff return by Stoltzfus, who ran in the two-point PAT himself.

Carter also caught a 50-yarder from Temple and watched as the quarterback scored the two-point PAT.