When L-S made the trip to Glen Rock to face Susquehannock Tuesday, May 30 in the District Three 2A semifinals, last year's meeting against the Warriors was not forgotten. Susquehannock defeated the Pioneers 11-9 in the district final. It was the Warriors second straight trip to the finals. And while L-S got off to a rocky start, the Pioneers rallied down the stretch, eventually stunning the defending champs 10-9 in overtime.

"It was a great game," said head coach Mike McConomy. "We scored five unanswered goals and Colin Sullivan won it in overtime."

The hosts came out strong, determined to get back to the finals a third time. They pushed out to a 5-1 lead in the first quarter. Zach Labrecque's goal lighting Lampeter's side of the scoreboard.

L-S settled in a bit in the second frame, outscoring the Warriors 3-2 and closing the gap to 7-4 at the half. They slowly inched closer throughout the second half, despite falling behind 9-4 midway through the third quarter. Sullivan cut the lead to 9-5 and two more goals over the next two minutes made it 9-7 with 4:28 remaining. Sullivan cut the lead to one before Cole Lopez notched Lampeter's fifth straight goal and tied the game with 2:15 on the clock.

Goalie Bryce Thomas, who finished with 16 saves, was solid down the stretch, denying every Susquehannock attempt late in the game and giving L-S opportunity.

"Bryce was tremendous in goal," said McConomy.

That opportunity opened in the overtime. L-S won the draw and called timeout to set up a play that resulted in Sullivan scoring his fourth goal of the night and the game-winner, completing Lampeter's 10-9 come-from-behind stunner over the defending champs.

Labrecque, who dished a team-high three assists, and Gavin Denlinger each scored twice. KJ Kesssler (1a) and Lopez added one goal each and Chase Barber settled for one assist.

The third-seeded Pioneers punched their ticket to the semifinals with a solid 13-6 win over No. 6 Twin Valley on Thursday, May 25.

This one was back-and-forth early with L-S clinging to a 4-3 lead in the first quarter and holding a 6-5 edge at the break. Then they started to pull away. Labrecque scored the first goal of the third quarter and Sullivan made it 8-5. Twin Valley scored its final goal of the game with 2:11 left in the third as L-S took control in the fourth, pouring in five goals and denying the visitors.

"We made some key defensive adjustments at the half that led to them scoring just one goal in the second half," said McConomy. "Our offense was able to take advantage of some matchups that led to a big third quarter and Bryce had another great night in goal."

Labrecque fueled the offense with six goals. Denlinger and Sullivan each notched a hat trick and Barber scored once.

SOFTBALL

The girls' softball team qualified for the District Three 4A championships as the tenth and final seed. They were the only team to start the tournament with a losing record, 9-10. But at this point in the season, everyone is 0-0 so L-S went to work.

They opened the tournament with a 12-4 thumping of No. 4 Fleetwood and over the last week knocked off two more teams. Thursday, May 25 they upended No. 2 seed Hamburg 4-3 when they scored two runs with two outs in the top of the seventh and then retired the hosts 1-2-3 in the bottom half.

"We scored all of our runs late against a very good pitcher," said head coach Earl Rutledge. "We got some key hits in the sixth and seventh innings and then Ally Raub closed the door. It was a great win for us against a great team with a huge crowd. Totally fun!"

Hamburg scored once in the first inning and picked up two more in the second. L-S started to make its move with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Raub's sac fly plated the first run and Gabby Hiles matched that with a sac fly in the sixth, cutting the lead to 3-2.

Then, in the seventh, Raub doubled with one out and scored on Kara Scranton's two out single. Paige Baxter followed with the game-winning double that plated Scranton. Raub went on to force two ground outs and a popup in the bottom half to seal Hamburg's fate.

Baxter and Scranton combined for five of Lampeter's ten hits. Maura Savoca started in the circle and pitched the first 5.1 innings before giving way to Raub.

Tuesday, May 30, they used a five-run rally in the fifth inning to get past No. 6 Berks Catholic and in doing so, punched their ticket to the District 3 4A championship game.

"We are playing the best we have all year," said Rutledge. "Gabby Hiles came up big with four RBI and a two-run homer in that second inning. Our pitching has been very solid, and we've been able to take advantage of our opponents' mistakes."

Down 3-2 after four complete innings, L-S notched a five-spot in the fifth to take control. And they did it with two outs. Brooke Zuber was hit by a pitch and Scranton reached on a bunt base hit before two pop ups gave the hosts new life. Or did it? Hiles lined a two-run shot to left field, Hill singled to right and Meck drew a walk. Hiles scored on a wild pitch, Julia Gerard singled and Raub reached on a drop third strike that allowed Chloe Meck to score the fifth run of the inning.

The hosts got two back in the sixth on a two-run homer but went down 1-2-3 in the seventh.

Raub also went 2-4 as the only other multi-hit batter. She struck out three batters and Savoca one.

GIRLS' LACROSSE

The Section Two champions and Lancaster-Lebanon League runners-up came into the District Three 2A championships as the No. 2 seed. They faced off against Twin Valley in the quarterfinals and were dealt a surprising 13-6 home loss on Thursday, May 25. It was just their second loss of the season.

Rowan Kimmel, the Section Two MVP and a first team midfielder, led the team in scoring with 83 goals and 40 assists. Bethany Stoltzfus (52 goals, 17 assists) and Hannah Cissne (40g, 9a) were also first team midfielders. Emily Lapinsky was a first team attack player while Sophia Labrecque (36g, 26a) and Ryann Logan (35g, 17a) were second team attack players and Ellie Moyer was a second team defender. Leigha Sauerbaugh (35g, 7a) received honorable mention recognition and Rachel Lee and Abigail Wolfe were voted to the all-academic team.