By Jason Guarente, LNP, Lancaster, Pa. The Tribune Content Agency
Two weeks earlier, with the toughest tournament still ahead, Lancaster Mennonite's boys soccer team talked about ribbons. Red goes with a silver medal. Blue goes with gold.
The disappointed Blazers, District Three runners-up that evening, were wearing red. Their goal was to change that color.
It was a motivational message and, it turns out, a good one. Mennonite captured the PIAA Class 1A championship by defeating Bentworth 1-0 in overtime Friday. It was the school's first state title since 2011.
Three Lancaster County teams were in action during the fall season's final weekend. Warwick field hockey and Linville Hill Christian girls volleyball joined Mennonite at Cumberland Valley's sports complex in Mechanicsburg.
To reach this stage is incredibly difficult. Consider the numbers. There are 571 boys soccer teams and 620 girls volleyball teams across the state. Eight advance to the final in each sport. There are 261 field hockey teams and only six make it this far.
Mennonite has been one of the Lancaster-Lebanon League's small school giants in boys soccer. The Blazers went to state finals in 2011, 2012 and 2014 when they were at the peak of their power.
The school's enrollment is even smaller now and it has dropped Mennonite to the lowest classification. That gave this championship a different feel. It seemed like the Blazers beat the odds. They were the No. 8 seed in districts and overcame Camp Hill, the District Three champ, in the semifinals.
Msafiri Amisi, the transcendent striker, scored the winning goal in the 89th minute. Coach Fred Winey said the senior, who moved to the United States from Tanzania at age 11 and transferred to Mennonite as a junior, became a "larger-than-life" personality in his new home.
With freshman goalkeeper Lucas Kratz playing in front of a stingy defense anchored by Jackson Harbaugh and Ethan Bell, Mennonite allowed one goal in four PIAA tournament games. It came on a penalty kick.
David Lapp, one of the team's captains and an anchor in the midfield, was overwhelmed after the Blazers lifted the trophy.
"Once we celebrate with the whole school community, that's when it'll hit us," Lapp said. "We'll realize we just did something that's only been done once before."
Warwick was on a mission over the season's 12 weeks. The Warriors were once the county's preeminent field hockey power. Coach Bob Derr guided them to state titles in 1987, 1999 and 2000.
Derr died at age 75 last week. The program he built paid him the ultimate tribute by returning to the promised land.
No one could deny Warwick. The Warriors moved down from Class 3A, where they reached the state semifinals last season, and overpowered the field.
Warwick defeated Northern York 4-0 to earn the championship Saturday. It was a rematch of the district final that the Warriors won 4-1. Warwick won its four state playoff games by a combined 13-2.
Four players provided goals in the clincher: Bree Zoccolo, Kenzie Ellis, Taylor Hess and Calli Martin. Zoccolo has the most goals in the school's decorated history with more than 100. Goalie Taryn Toboren surpassed 200 saves with the seven she made Saturday.
Two of Warwick's best players are headed down different paths in the years ahead. Karys Craver, a junior, will play at Ohio State. Addy Zimmerman, a senior, has elected to stop playing and attend cosmetology school. They controlled the middle of the field throughout the postseason.
Warwick was the favorite as soon as it dropped to Class 2A. The Warriors secured the championship everyone expected them to win. That's harder than it looks.
"We wanted to close it out with our seniors," Craver said. "Dominance is what we've been thinking of since seventh grade."
Linville Hill was the team that could compel county sports fans into a Google search. Where exactly is it anyway? The high school, which was formed in 2016, is in Gap. The elementary school, where the volleyball and basketball teams play, is in Paradise.
To say Linville Hill followed an unusual road to the state final doesn't quite cover it. These past five weeks were one of a kind.
Kate Stoltzfus, Linville's 24-year-old coach, gave birth to her daughter, Avonlea, on Oct. 11. Mom left the team for three weeks, while the Warriors kept their postseason going, then returned to help steer them to the District Three Class 1A championship and PIAA final.
Linville Hill lost to Greensburg Central Catholic in five hard-fought sets: 22-25, 25-6, 19-25, 25-10, 15-5. Greensburg, on the brink of second place, took the final two to prevail.
Kaley Higgins and Desiree Smucker powered Linville by piling up points as outside hitters. Lyndi Esh was the defensive specialist and Brianna Lapp was the setter. The Warriors hadn't won a single district tournament game before making this run.
Teams have different outlooks after losing a state final. It depends on how they reached that result. For Linville, the primary reaction wasn't sadness. It was gratitude.
"Even though we lost, we're still happy," Esh said. "The family-like relationship we have with each other, I don't know if we could ever find that on another team."
"Family" and "love" were two words that made their way into many sentences these past few days. To play on the season's final weekend is a winding journey. It bonds people together. It creates lifetime memories.
That's something the student-athletes can take with them. Red or blue ribbons, and silver or gold medals, aren't the only reward.