Boys Soccer update

OK gang, we're finally back on track here at the Den. Since we haven't been around the wide world of E-town sports in a while, let's go around and do some updates.

We'll kick things off today with the E-town boys soccer team, which is in the process of another outstanding season.

The Bears are 6-1-2 overall and have the fewest losses in Section Two. In fact, here are the latest Section Two Standings.
E-town – 6-1-2
Ephrata – 7-2
Conestoga Valley – 6-2-2
Garden Spot – 5-4-1
Solanco – 2-8
Lebanon – 1-9

Ephrata has more points (21) than E-town (20) and CV (20), but the Bears have a better winning percentage than both. E-town lost to Ephrata 1-0 back on Sept. 5 and tied CV 2-2 on Saturday, Sept. 20. It's definitely a great battle in Section Two that should go down to the wire. And Garden Spot could certainly put itself up in the mix before it's all said and done.

The Bears got off to a bit of a slow start, tying Garden Spot in their opener and then falling to Ephrata in their second game. But after that, goodness. E-town went out and beat Warwick in overtime and then reeled off four more wins in a row, including a win over Manheim Township. Township and Warwick both have only one loss in league play so far this year – and the Bears are responsible for them.

After the tie with CV last Saturday, they rebounded to beat Penn Manor 1-0 in double OT.

The offense has been solid, scoring 23 goals in nine games so far, for an average of 2.5 per game. Here are the offensive stats for the Bears:
• Brian Savage, five goals, one assist.
• Sean Strangeway, four goals, one assist.
• Joey Funck, four goals, one assist.
• Kevin Romanauskas, three goals.
• Austin Florey, two goals, one assist.
• Ryan Sostack, two goals, two assists.
• Drew Reinhold, two goals.
• Josh Reem, one goal, two assists.
• Jason Good, one assist.
• Shane Long, one assist.

But the defense has been simply outstanding. E-town has allowed only seven goals so far in nine games, and has not allowed more than two in a game yet. The Bears have four shutout wins, including three in their last four games. The defense is led by Jason Good, Shane Long, Mitch Capelli and goalie Quinn Cozzens, who is one of the very best keepers in the Lancaster-Lebanon League.

E-town will host Hempfield tonight at 7 p.m., the third place team in Section One. They are calling for rain tonight, so there is a possibility of the game getting pushed back. If that happens, I'll post here as soon as I know.

But keep your calendar circled for Oct. 4 at Ephrata and Oct. 11 vs. CV at E-town College, because those will be two huge games.