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Hempfield and Donegal advance to league semis


LITITZ - Held in check by Lampeter-Strasburg's stout defense and aggressive goalkeeper Autumn Peters for much of the game, the undefeated Donegal Lady Indians nonetheless prevailed over the Lady Pioneers by a 4-0 count Saturday morning in the first of two Lancaster-Lebanon League quarterfinals held at Warwick high school.

The win advances section three champion Donegal (19-0 overall) to the L-L League semifinals Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Penn Manor's Comet Field where they will face section one runner-up Hempfield (14-5), likewise a 4-0 winner, albeit over section three runner-up Lancaster Mennonite (9-8).

For the Lady Indians, Saturday's victory may have continued their undefeated season, but both the players and head coach were less than enthused with their output despite two goals from freshman Mackenzie Allessie and a pair of assists and converted penalty stroke from junior Rachel Robinson.

"I asked them how they felt when they walked off the field, and Rachel said 'not good,' " said Jess Shellenberger, the Indians' head coach. "They all agreed. I've had losses in my playing career where I step off the field and feel like I did everything, and I said 'that's how I want you to feel.' I don't care what the score was. We didn't feel good about it today."

Lampeter-Strasburg (8-10, section two third place) actually tallied the game's first shot, albeit wide.

Donegal responded with their usual series of shots (21) and penalty corners (16), looking to rattle the cage nine minutes in on Allessie's penalty stroke opportunity.

But Peters (15 saves) gloved the shot, giving Shellenberger an excuse to call timeout.

"After I missed I was a little mad at myself," Allessie said, saying Shellenberger entreated her players with a "do or die" mantra.

The Indians eventually broke-through the Pioneers' wagon "D", Robinson passing from the arc to Allessie, who deked Peters forward and lifted a shot over a pair of defenders for the game's first goal and her 44th of the season.

"Mack and Rachel are going to do their thing on corners, we kind of saw an opening there and we kept doing the same thing," Shellenberger said.

The duo indeed combined for another goal as the first half ended, giving the Indians a 2-0 lead before a penalty stroke from Robinson and a transition goal from Kayla Walker - following two successive Pioneer corners - broke the game open.

"We know we didn't have our best game," Robinson said, "but we still found a way to get the ball in the back of the net."

A scenario which would bear repeating on Tuesday versus Hempfield's Louisville-bound goalkeeper Hollyn Barr, who like Peters is an aggressive goalkeeper with a willingness to dive.

Saturday wasn't nearly as busy for Barr (3 saves) as it was for Peters, however, as the Knights tallied early goals by Ally Letavic and Taylor Nolan in the first half, putting the game away in the second with Kyra Brakefield's successful tip-in from Nolan and Cassidy Stauffer's redirect from Letavic.

As such, Knights' head coach Julianne Bojanic-Collier was overall happy with her offense.

"We had some stuff at halftime that we wanted to work on from the first half to the second half and the girls did a nice job adjusting and making changes," said Bojanic-Collier, who adequately summarized Tuesday's challenge with a succinct "it's going to be a tough game" reference.

In a pair of quarterfinals held at Ephrata Middle School, section one champion Penn Manor defeated section two runner-up Elizabethtown 5-0 while section one third-place finisher Conestoga Valley prevailed 1-0 in overtime over section two champion Manheim Central. Both winners will meet in Tuesday's second semifinal, slated for 7 p.m. at Penn Manor.

Lampeter-Strasburg and Lancaster Mennonite await word on their eligibility for the District 3 playoffs, with play-in games to begin next Saturday, with sites, times, and opponents to be determined.

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Game 1 Box Score

Donegal 4, Lampeter-Strasburg 0

LS 0 0 - 0

DN 2 2 - 4

Lampeter-Strasburg Scoring: NA

Lampeter-Strasburg Assists: NA

Donegal Scoring: M. Allessie 2 (10:50, 30:00), R. Robinson (45:50, pen. stroke), K. Walker (47:45)

Donegal Assists: R. Robinson 2

Corners-Shots: LS 2-0, DN 16-21

Saves: LS A. Peters 15, R. Feaster 2; DN K. Jean 0

Game 2 Box Score

Hempfield 4, Lancaster Mennonite 0

LM 0 0 - 0

HM 2 2 - 2

Lancaster Mennonite Scoring: NA

Lancaster Mennonite Assists: NA

Hempfield Scoring: A. Letavic (8:06), T. Nolan (10:42), K. Brakefield (37:10), C. Stauffer (39:20)

Hempfield Assists: T. Nolan, A. Letavic

Corners-Shots: LM 2-3, HM 9-13

Saves: LM M. Peck 9; HM H. Barr 3