BY JEFF FALK
DENVER – You need goals to win. You need shots to score goals.
But you don’t need either to compete. All that’s required for that is a will to succeed.
On a cloudy Saturday morning at Cocalico High School’s Talon Field, the Annville-Cleona girls’ soccer team was shut out by Ephrata 2-0, in the opening round of the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs. The Mountaineers tallied a pair of goals in the contest’s first eight minutes, while the Little Dutchmen were unable to muster a shot over the game’s duration.
But despite being shut down, Annville-Cleona gave a very good account itself, against a quality opponent. The runner-up from Section Four, Annville-Cleona is now 11-5-1 on the year.
The Little Dutchmen will be seeded third for the upcoming District Three Class A playoffs.
With the outcome, Ephrata, champions of Section Two, improved to 17-1-2 overall. The Mounts, who have surrendered a mere five goals all fall, will take on Section One runner-up Conestoga Valley on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Manheim Central, in the L-L league semifinals.
“It means our program is getting there,” said Annville-Cleona head coach Jim Blouch. “We were playing a team that was undefeated in the league, from a stronger division. And we battled. That was the bottom line.
“They (the Mounts) were a very good team,” Blouch added. “We hung in. I was proud of them (his players).”
Ephrata struck for a 1-0 lead 2:04 into the match.
From deep in the left-hand corner of the field, Ephrata’s Annie Slovak crossed a ball hard through the Little Dutchmen goal mouth. Mya Mahlandt was the target of Slovak’s pass, and she volleyed the ball home with her right foot.
“Our game plan was to stay in it defensivley and counter attack,” said Blouch, “and possibly knock one in.
“I can’t say it (the early deficit) really changed our plan,” Blouch continued. “We knew we were going to have to play a strong defensive game. It took two counter attacks to wake us up.”
Five minutes later, Slovak made it 2-0 Ephrata.
Sent ahead by a through-ball from teammate Abigail Wiest, Slavik took one touch on the left wing and knocked a left-footer to the right side of the Little Dutchmen net, past keeper Alyssa Ulrich.
“Playing a one-man front is a difficult task for that forward,” said Blouch of Annville-Cleona’s attack. “We played how we needed to play. Looking at our record, you can see we scored enough to win this season.”
The Little Dutchmen experienced difficulties possessing the ball and penetrating Ephrata space throughout. But Annville-Cleona did a good job of limiting the Mounts’ dangerous scoring chances, and Ulrich performed particularly well, as evidenced by her ten saves.
“Getting past those mental errors, we cleaned it up,” said Blouch. “Alyssa is a fabulous athlete. I personally think she’s the best goalie in our section.”
When the dust had settled, Ephrata had piled up 14 shots. The Mounts enjoyed a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks.
“I try not to look at that stuff too much,” said Blouch of the District Three Class A power rankings. “You play the best you can, and the results speak for themselves. We’d like to show well in district play.
“Hopefully, I think we’re getting there,” continued Blouch. “We’re getting to a point where we want to make winning an expectation, not an exception.”
To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com.
2019 Annville-Cleona Girls’ Soccer Results
| Date | Opponents | Outcomes | |
| 8/30 4:00 pm | Annville-Cleona at New Covenant Christian (Lebanon, Pa.) | ||
| 8/31 9:30 am | Annville-Cleona at James Buchanan | 0 4 | |
| 8/31 11:00 am | Fannett-Metal at Annville-Cleona | 1 3 | |
| 9/04 4:00 pm | Lebanon Catholic at Annville-Cleona | 0 8 | |
| 9/06 4:00 pm | Annville-Cleona at Lancaster Catholic | 0 2 | |
| 9/13 4:00 pm | Northern Lebanon at Annville-Cleona | 2 4 | |
| 9/16 7:15 pm | Lebanon at Annville-Cleona | 0 7 | |
| 9/17 7:00 pm | Annville-Cleona at Pequea Valley | 0 4 | |
| 9/19 4:00 pm | Lancaster Country Day at Annville-Cleona | 1 1 | |
| 9/24 4:00 pm | Annville-Cleona at Lebanon Catholic | 4 1 | |
| 9/25 6:00 pm | Lancaster County Christian at Annville-Cleona | 1 9 | |
| 9/26 4:00 pm | Lancaster Catholic at Annville-Cleona | 1 2 | |
| 9/30 4:00 pm | Pequea Valley at Annville-Cleona | 1 2 | |
| 10/02 4:00 pm | Brandywine Heights at Annville-Cleona | 0 2 | |
| 10/04 4:00 pm | Annville-Cleona at Northern Lebanon | ||
| 10/08 4:00 pm | Annville-Cleona at Lebanon | 4 1 | |
| 10/09 12:00 pm | Annville-Cleona at Northern Lebanon | 0 1 | |
| 10/10 4:00 pm | Annville-Cleona at Lancaster Country Day | 1 0 | |
| 10/12 10:00 am | Annville-Cleona Ephrata at Cocalico | 0 2 |
Class A Power Rankings
| A | School | W | L | T | Rating | TWP | OWP | TWPW | OWPW | TWPL | OWPL |
| 1 | Camp Hill | 15- | 0- | 0 | 0.767515 | 1.000000 | 0.483366 | 15.9 | 146.8 | 0.0 | 156.9 |
| 2 | Fairfield | 18- | 0- | 0 | 0.758304 | 1.000000 | 0.462898 | 16.6 | 144.1 | 0.0 | 167.2 |
| 3 | Annville Cleona | 11- | 4- | 1 | 0.561629 | 0.661074 | 0.440086 | 9.9 | 122.3 | 5.1 | 155.6 |
| 4 | West Shore Christian Academy | 13- | 3- | 0 | 0.552534 | 0.746154 | 0.315888 | 9.7 | 75.8 | 3.3 | 164.1 |
| 5 | Lancaster Country Day School | 10- | 7- | 1 | 0.493078 | 0.537838 | 0.438370 | 10.0 | 125.9 | 8.6 | 161.3 |
| 6 | Harrisburg Christian School | 8- | 4- | 0 | 0.450578 | 0.543860 | 0.336567 | 6.2 | 57.3 | 5.2 | 112.9 |
| 7 | Mount Calvary Christian School | 9- | 5- | 1 | 0.420817 | 0.488971 | 0.337517 | 6.7 | 72.6 | 7.0 | 142.5 |
| 8 | York Catholic | 7- | 11- | 0 | 0.405008 | 0.372449 | 0.444802 | 7.3 | 138.2 | 12.3 | 172.5 |
| 9 | High Point Baptist Academy | 6- | 4- | 1 | 0.390625 | 0.437500 | 0.333333 | 4.6 | 52.1 | 5.9 | 104.2 |
| 10 | Lebanon Catholic School | 5- | 11- | 0 | 0.337524 | 0.255952 | 0.437222 | 4.3 | 118.1 | 12.5 | 152.0 |
| 11 | Lancaster County Christian | 5- | 9- | 0 | 0.296344 | 0.230263 | 0.377110 | 3.5 | 71.5 | 11.7 | 118.1 |
| 12 | Millersburg | 5- | 11- | 0 | 0.294310 | 0.205882 | 0.402388 | 3.5 | 106.2 | 13.5 | 157.7 |
| 13 | Brandywine Heights Area | 3- | 15- | 0 | 0.290127 | 0.130208 | 0.485583 | 2.5 | 143.2 | 16.7 | 151.7 |
| 14 | Linden Hall | 3- | 9- | 0 | 0.284253 | 0.214286 | 0.369769 | 2.7 | 59.2 | 9.9 | 100.9 |
| 15 | Upper Dauphin Area | 3- | 12- | 0 | 0.260300 | 0.130435 | 0.419025 | 2.1 | 112.6 | 14.0 | 156.1 |
| 16 | New Covenant Christian School | 4- | 9- | 0 | 0.256030 | 0.193103 | 0.332941 | 2.8 | 56.6 | 11.7 | 113.4 |
| 17 | Halifax Area | 3- | 13- | 0 | 0.244790 | 0.117978 | 0.399782 | 2.1 | 110.1 | 15.7 | 165.3 |
| 18 | Christian School Of York | 2- | 11- | 0 | 0.204279 | 0.108844 | 0.320923 | 1.6 | 61.2 | 13.1 | 129.5 |
| 19 | Harrisburg Academy | 0- | 9- | 0 | 0.117679 | 0.000000 | 0.261508 | 0.0 | 33.0 | 10.5 | 93.1 |
| 20 | Logos Academy | 0- | 0- | 0 | 0.000000 | 0.000000 | 0.000000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
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