On October 1st, the girls' soccer team battled back from a 3-0 deficit only to fall 3-2 to visiting Solanco. Flash forward 25 days to the opening round of the District Three Class 3A opener. The Pioneers were hosting Solanco after Monday night's lightning delay pushed things back and were looking to even the score. But on a chilly, wet, and windy evening, Solanco prevailed, 2-1.

And the visitors, once again, jumped out with an early lead. Hannah Wood booted a free kick into the box. It eventually found the foot of Sarah Landis who shot it past Pioneer keeper Peyton Bachman in the 22nd minute. Just over 14 minutes later, Addison O'Donnell collected a loose ball that found its way through a crowded box and nudged it to the back of the cage for the 2-0 advantage.

"I was not surprised that Solanco came with their best game," said head coach Emily Lebo. "They took a 3-0 lead on us the first, although I don't think anyone hopes to be down 2-0 going into halftime of a district game."

While L-S did create some opportunities in the first half, they had more in the second.

"I think anyone watching the game was astounded that we did not knock more in based on all of our opportunities," Lebo said. "But we need to give credit where credit is due. Solanco's goalkeeper (Caroline Drumm) and back line played one heck of a game."

Drumm carried the Mules through the second half, denying shot after shot. All told, 12 for the game. L-S also delivered seven corner kicks that bounced around in the box before being cleared, including a goal-line save by Rilyn Saner. Lampeter's Sophie Rhodes even ripped a shot off the crossbar.

The Pioneers, who end their season at 12-8, were without their senior starting goalie who went out three weeks ago with a hand injury.

"We have been playing a sophomore and freshman goalkeeper (Elayna Torres, Peyton Bachman) with no prior varsity experience," noted Lebo. "They both did a good job stepping in when they were needed. They are young with some growing to do but I am excited for their future.

"I have really enjoyed this group of girls this season," the coach went on. "We met many challenges and overcame them. I did not hope that our season would end this soon, but that is the nature of the game sometimes."

FOOTBALL

It's always nice to get a win on homecoming," said head coach Victor Ridenour.

But what he wasn't expecting was a 63-7 blowout over Ephrata in a L-L League Section Three clash Friday, Oct. 22.

"They're having a good season and they have some dynamic playmakers on offense," said Ridenour, "and they've been playing well defensively so no, I did not expect the game to go the way it did in preparing for them."

The Pioneers dominated from the start to win their eighth game in a row. They also clinched at least a tie for their second straight Section Three crown.

Giovanni Malatesta scored three touchdowns, all in the first half, rushing for 73-yards on ten carries. Quarterback Berkeley Wagner also scored three times and rushed for 72-yards on eight carries. He and Malatesta each scored twice in the first quarter as the Pioneers exploded for 35 points. Jackson Heeter's fumble recovery TD capped the scoring.

The second quarter featured three straight L-S scores, pushing the lead to 56-zip. Ephrata closed the half with a 13-yard TD run and, with the clock running in the second half, Lampeter's Julian Lopez scored the final TD of the night with 2:22 left in the game. Andrew Reidenbaugh booted all nine PATs.

The hosts held Ephrata's stud rusher, Andrew Weidman, who has gone over 1200 yards, to a slim 24. Ephrata finished with 89 yards on the night.

"That second half I wanted our young kids to execute on both sides of the ball," said Ridenour. "They had a great week of practice on our scout teams and get better each week.

"Our offensive line, as a unit, played really well. To rush for 380 yards in a game says a lot about the kind of night those kids had up front."

Other key contributors included Payton Cunningham with a 60-yard rushing night, Beau Heyser with six solo tackles and one sack, Harry Wolgemuth and Drexton Frank with five total tackles each, Luke Hines with one sack, and Hunter Hildenbrand, Malatesta and Nick DelGrande with one interception each.

The Pioneers have given up the fewest points in the L-L League with 102.

FIELD HOCKEY

For the first time in probably eight years, the field hockey team (7-10) did not qualify for districts.

"It's the first time in a couple of years that we didn't qualify for leagues either," said head coach Katrina Swarr. "We had a lot of juniors on the team that lacked varsity experience so I thought we might struggle. Plus two of our big scorers graduated. But I am confident we will come back better and stronger next year, for sure," she continued. "We have some current juniors who are rockstars and outstanding leaders and will lead the charge next year. They do not like to lose."

While the Pioneers' season ended early, they did grab a win over nemesis Donegal and had a handful of players voted as all-stars.

"It's always good to beat a team you have battled with back-and-forth for several years," said Swarr of the Donegal win.

As for the all-stars, voted as First Team selections were Tori Heiserman (forward) and Maggie Swarr (back). In the midfield, Keiva Middleton was a Second Team selection while Kara Scranton (back) was an Honorable Mention. Academic all-stars (seniors only) were Emaly Garrett and Middleton.