On Tuesday, June 13, Lampeter-Strasburg's boys' lacrosse team made its second straight appearance in the PIAA semifinals. And for the second year in a row, the Pioneers' season ended in the 2A semifinals, as the District 7 champs and defending state champs, Mars, defeated L-S 11-7 at Penn State's Panzer Stadium.

L-S (20-5) got off to a fast start on Tuesday with KJ Kessler, Gavin Denlinger and Zach Labrecque pushing the Pioneers out to a 3-0 lead midway through the first period. They extended a 3-1 first quarter lead with two more goals by Kessler early in the second frame before Mars woke up. The Planets (22-2) scored three unanswered goals to get back in the game. Labrecque had the final tally of the half that left L-S in front, 6-4.

The second half was a different story, especially the fourth quarter that found L-S without goal scored. Colin Sullivan found the back of the net in the third frame, keeping the Pioneers in front 7-5 but that would be the last goal scored for L-S. Mars cut it to one with less than a minute left in the quarter and knotted the score at 7-7 with 10:40 remaining in the game. Ryan Blake gave the Planets their first lead of the day and then Mars added three more goals to extend their advantage.

"It was a bittersweet ending to the season," said head coach Mike McConomy. "We ended up 20-5 on the season. Last year we went 21-4 which is the best in L-S program history.

"Mars was able to chip away at our lead in the second and third quarters," he continued. "A few costly mistakes on both sides of the ball in the fourth quarter cost us the game. Overall, it was a tremendous season. I couldn't be more proud of all of our seniors. I wish them the best as they move on."

Kessler finished with a first half hat trick to pace the Pioneer scoring. Labrecque finished with two goals and two assists. Sullivan (1g, 1a), Denlinger (1g) and Chase Barber, with two assists, rounding out the scoring. Bryce Thomas finished with nine saves.

Ian Coulter finished with four goals to lead Mars, playing in its third consecutive semifinal, and fifth in the last six seasons. The Planets topped Susquehannock 10-5 in the quarterfinals, the same team L-S edged past in overtime in the district semifinals. The Pioneers went on to win the rubber match against Cocalico and captured the school's first District crown.

After trouncing Hampton 16-0 (the only shutout posted in the PIAA tournament) in a home game in the opening round, L-S survived South Fayette 13-11 on Saturday, June 10 at Panzer Stadium.

This game looked like it was heading in the direction of a mercy rule finish as L-S dominated play in the first half and extended their lead to 11-2 early in the third quarter.

Tied at 1-1 early in the game, Sullivan, with two goals, Barber and Labrecque combined for four straight goals and a 5-1 advantage with 2:48 remaining. Fayette came out of a timeout with their second goal of the quarter, but Denlinger scored in transition and Labrecque finished a first half hat trick, scoring with 14 seconds left in the frame, pushing the lead to 7-2.

"We had a great team effort in the first half and then struggled to hold on to the lead in the second half," said McConomy. "Credit South Fayette's coaching staff and players. They made adjustments and played hard in the second half."

The scoring slowed in the second quarter, but L-S picked up two more when Barber found the net with a soft underhand shot and Drexton Frank gathered a turnover and went the distance.

Barber took a feed from Sullivan and made it 10-2 with 9:23 left in the third and Labrecque scored again less than a minute later, giving L-S a nine-goal advantage.

Sensing a shortened game approaching, the Lions buckled down, sured up their passing and rallied with four straight goals, cutting the lead to 11-6 with one quarter remaining.

Labrecque opened the fourth quarter scoring just 15 seconds in and Sullivan found the net with 7:31 showing. The Lions cut the lead to 13-10 with 4:56 left to play and Thomas came up with a big save with 55 ticks left. South Fayatte capped the scoring with :34 showing.

"That was a huge save by Bryce," said McConomy. "He has been bailing us out late in games all season. The last thing we wanted was for the game to go into overtime since South Fayette had all the momentum in the fourth quarter. I'm glad we battled through the adversity and closed out with a win."

Labrecque finished with five goals, Sullivan, and Barber both added three with Frank and Denlinger netting one each.

"This was a great win for the program and got us to the PIAA 2A semifinals for the second year in a row," added McConomy. "Thanks to all the parents and fans who drove to Penn State to support us."

SOFTBALL ALL-STARS

The Lancaster-Lebanon League coaches recently announced this year's all-star selections. Brooke Zuber, Mackenzie Maki, and Paige Baxter were all first-team selections with catcher Julia Gerard receiving honorable mention recognition. This was Zuber's third first-team recognition.