Pequea Valley won three consecutive Lancaster-Lebanon League girls' soccer matches without giving up a goal to the opposition, improving to 3-0-0 in the league. Following their 1-0 defeat of Northern Lebanon on September 13, the Braves topped Lebanon 14-0, September 15, edged Lancaster Country Day 2-0 two days later and triumphed at Annville-Cleona last Tuesday.

The Braves overcame a 3-0 non-league loss to Eastern York last Monday by blanking Annville-Cleona 1-0 to hold on to first place in Section Four while improving to 5-3-0 overall.

"We are 4-0 in our section," said head coach Steve Morris. "In section play we have not allowed a goal; we've won all four games by shutouts."

In the victory at LCD, the midfield and defense limited the Cougars to only one shot on goal - one which goalkeeper Maddy Weaver saved to earn the shutout win.

"In the middle of the field, Emily Diller, a senior, and Kendyl Keen are very solid," Morris said. "In the back, Deena Stoltzfus, another senior, has been having a tremendous season. We lost Brooke Graham in the first game of the season, but Breanne Beiler has filled in nicely."

Elena Esh gave PV an early lead and Morgan Graham doubled the Braves' advantage early in the second half.

"It was one of those games where we were all over them the whole game," Morris added. "We couldn't capitalize on as many opportunities."

Esh gave the Braves a quick 2-0 lead in the Lebanon match. Caroline Fisher added another goal to make it 3-0 at the 6:00 mark of the match.

Avery Fisher, who also had an assist, Trinity Rosa and Emily Diller added first half goals. Morgan Graham also scored twice in the first half. Esh also registered two assists. Graham, Sarah Arment, Deena Stoltzfus, and Isabelle Huyard also contributed with assists.

In the second half, Abrielle Fisher scored twice with Allison Hershey's goal sandwiched in between. Maria Weaver and Carly Anderson also scored in the 14-goal barrage as did Arment.

Anderson scored the lone goal of the game at Annville-Cleona.

"She came in as a substitute," Morris explained. "Elaine Esh played the ball through. Carly is very quick, and she was able to capitalize."

As for the loss to Eastern York, Morris said, "We had some opportunities. It was 1-0 into the second half. They scored a second goal and then there was a penalty kick."

GOLF

Off to one of the best starts in program history, the Pequea golf team dominated on Thursday afternoon, September 16, at Honeybrook, defeating Section Four rivals Lancaster Mennonite, Annville-Cleona, Lancaster Country Day, and Lebanon.

The 18-2 record earned Pequea Valley a section championship.

It was a tight race at the top of the standings between Annville's Reagan Flynn, who shot a 73, and Mennonite's Ian Kennett (74).

A pack of Pequea players finished third through fifth - Kyle Ebersol, Matt Lapp, and Cole Stoltzfus. They each shot a 76. Easton Herr finished with an 84.

The Braves finished with a score of 312, which was 42 strokes better than second place Annville-Cleona (354). Lancaster Country Day finished at 363 with LMH scoring 383 and Lebanon 434.Lady

FOOTBALL

On a night where defense, offense and special teams helped compose a winning symphony, the Braves strung together a 17-14 non-league win over visiting Jenkintown, Friday, September 17.

Nevin Stoltzfus drilled a 37-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter to turn away the Drakes' 14-point comeback in that final period. Jenkintown charged back to tie the score on a Ben Spector 53-yard touchdown pass and a rushing TD by Alon Harris.

The victory was Pequea's first of the season.

Early in the contest, Orlando Stoltzfus put Pequea on the board with a three-yard rushing TD followed by the PAT from Nevin Stoltzfus.

Peyton Temple connected with Jonathan Carter on a 75-yard touchdown strike to give the Braves a 14-0 lead heading into the final period.

Temple finished with 113 passing yards on six completions and no interceptions. Carter hauled in three passes for 96 yards, including the touchdown. He also ran for 30 yards while Orlando Stoltzfus (15 carries) led the Braves with 56 rushing yards.

Dominic Wallace had 21 receiving yards on his two catches.

BOYS' SOCCER

With two dominant victories, the boys' soccer team improved to 6-1-1 on the year (4-0-0 league). The Braves were coming off a dominant 10-1 defeat of Lebanon on September 15, with Peyton Leitch notching a hat trick, followed by shutout wins against Lancaster Country Day and Annville-Cleona.

"We moved Leitch to forward," Pequea coach Peter Bennett said. "He figured it out and has hit the ground running of late. He has had a nice run of games for us."

On Friday, the Braves blanked Lancaster Country Day 5-0 with Dylan Ratjavong scoring two goals and providing an assist for a Joey Pereira goal in the 17th minute of the match.

Nevin Stoltzfus was also busy scoring and assisting as he recorded one of each. Jackson Neff also added a goal while Sam Arena's contribution was an assist for the Stoltzfus goal 12 minutes into the second half.

Against Lebanon, Leitch scored PV's first goal, made it 5-0 three minutes into the second half and claimed the hat trick at the midway mark of the second half.

Also scoring multiple times was Stoltzfus, with two goals three minutes apart in the first half. Ratjavong, Pereira. Neff, Wade Stoltzfus and Ethan Garber also scored in the 10-goal attack.

Jazae Itegi recorded three saves in goal.

Itegi claimed another shutout on Tuesday, September 21, as the Braves defeated Annville-Cleona 4-0.

"Jazae has helped stabilize our backfield," Bennett said. "He is very athletic and does a nice job of commanding the 18 box. He is quick to come off the line on the breakaways. I think his aggressiveness can be intimidating, extending the goal mouth, and cutting off crosses."

The Braves went into the Annville game knowing they had to keep pace with Lancaster Catholic in a tight race in Section Four.

"We wanted to emphasize a quick start - to put them on their heels," Bennett explained. "Nevin Stoltzfus scored 1:12 into the game and so we achieved that objective."

Stoltzfus finished with two goals while Neff and Leitch also scored.

As for the race with the Crusaders, both teams finished the day 4-0-0 in Section Four.

"I'm proud of how hard the boys have been working," Bennett said. "We lost two very close games to Catholic last year."