L-L girls soccer is set for playoffs to begin
There's still a couple of matches left this week before the regular season wraps up, but the titles across the four sections of Lancaster-Lebanon girls soccer have been decided.
Manheim Township wrapped up Section One on Wednesday with a 2-1 overtime victory over Cedar Crest. The section title is the fifth straight for the Blue Streaks — four outright and one shared — and their 14th overall.
Cocalico's 2-1 victory over Elizabethtown Thursday delivered the Section Two title to the Eagles, who won the Section Three crown in 2023. The Eagles also won the Section Three title in 2013, the last year girls soccer was contested in the spring.
Lampeter-Strasburg took a giant step towards winning the 2024 Section Three title on Sept. 28 with a 2-1 victory over Elco. That gave the Pioneers a one-point advantage in the standings, a lead that held as the two teams won out.
The title is L-S's first in Section Three — second overall after winning the Section Two title in the fall of 2013 — and caps a complete turnaround for a side that was 2-17 in Section Two play the past two seasons.
After sharing the 2023 title with Pequea Valley in Section Four, Lancaster Catholic claimed its first outright title since 2019, its sixth section title overall.
Next up is the league championship playoffs, which begin with quarterfinals, held at the home field of the four section champions on Thursday, October 10, with the exception of the Lancaster Catholic-Cedar Crest quarterfinal match.
There is a band competition booked into Crusader Stadium that day. The Catholic-Crest quarterfinal will be Saturday at 2 p.m.
The semifinals will be held at either Warwick or Cocalico on Monday, Oct. 14. Lancaster Bible College makes its debut as host site for the championship match on Wednesday, Oct.16, with the girls game kicking off at 5:30 p.m., the boys championship to follow.
Here's a look at the first round pairings. Records are through games played Saturday.
Manheim Township (13-2, Section One champion) vs. Lancaster Mennonite (13-1-2, Section Four runner-up), 4 p.m.: The Blue Streaks are going for their third consecutive league title, fourth in five years and 10th overall. Keeper Elizabeth "Biz" O'Gorman has allowed nine goals in fourteen matches (0.60 GAA). Jordan Nguyen (18 goals, 4 assists, sixth in the league) and Regan Taylor (11, 12, ninth in the league) pace the Streaks attack, backed by Kate Palumbo (7, 5) and Liv Parmer (6, 3).
The Blazers have three players in the top 11 in league scoring: Macie Boyd (25, 14, second overall to Annville-Cleona's Rowan Ulrich's 30, 10), Avery King (17, 11, third) and Leah Friesen, (12, 7, 11th). Charlotte Buckwalter (6, 10) plays off Boyd to form a potent scoring pair. Keeper Dakoda Kraenbring has allowed 10 goals in 16 matches for an 0.63 GAA.
Lampeter-Strasburg (11-4-1, Section Three champion) vs. Warwick (10-2-2, Section Two runner-up), 5 p.m.: Two teams who have found their new digs to be hospitable after moving from, respectively, Section Two to Three and Section One to Two. The Pioneers have thrived with a balanced attack led by Piper Lazar (12, 8), Addie Rodriguez (11, 4), Kali O'Connell (9, 7), Chloe Bucher (8, 9) and Brianna Jackson (8, 2). Keeper Georgia Spahn has a 1.56 GAA.
Kyra Kramer (12, 3), Ella Shirk (7, 4) and Camryn Lobb (7, 3), along with Amber Garman (3, 5) and Brynn Miller (3, 0), pace the Warriors offense. Veteran keeper Mia Pautz has a 0.93 GAA.
Cocalico (11-3-2, Section Two champion) vs. Elco (12-5-0, Section Three runner-up), 5 p.m.: Breaking in a young squad the Eagles were 0-3-1 after four matches. Since then they've won 11 with a tie with Warwick — both ties are with the Warriors — as Chloe Martin (13, 4), Kira Lehman (10, 4) and Liv Smith (5, 8) have carried the scoring load along with Alyson Kaley (3, 5), Juliana Gevase (3, 2) and Clare Kelly (2, 5). Annika Fontana (0.60 GAA) and Molly Barrett (1.00 GAA) have split duties at keeper.
Haydn Boyer (14, 2) and Kenzie Eckhart (10, 9) lead the Raiders in scoring backed by Madison Nelson (7, 6) and Avery Mays (2, 1). Claire Jacoby has a 0.94 goals-against average.
Lancaster Catholic (11-4-1, with a match Saturday night with McCaskey, Section Four champion) vs. Cedar Crest (11-4, Section One runner-up), Saturday, 2 p.m.: Olivia Havrilla (19, 3) and Harper Bolesky (12, 12) are fourth and seventh, respectively, in league scoring. Caitlin Reynolds (7, 4), Erin Senkowski (7, 2), Naomi Dresch (6, 7), Rose Preiss (5, 1) and Kiera Eshleman (3, 0) have also appeared on the scoring sheet. Keep Sydney English has an 0.813 GAA.
The Falcons' Alaina Miller is third in scoring with 19 goals and 7 assists, backed by Cameron Blouch (8, 10). Supporting them are Susie Hoffman (3, 0), Hayden Wamsher (2, 3), Addie Achenbach (2, 2) and Perrin Young (2, 2). Freshman keeper Lily Harchuska has fashioned a good introductory campaign with a 1.07 GAA.
