DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Ella Moore and South Williamsport face Lancaster Mennonite tonight at Balls Mills.

To say South Williamsport is riding a ton of momentum would be an understatement. The Mounties won a thriller in the first round of the district tournament in overtime against Line Mountain.

Then, there was Abby Akers coming up clutch with the game’s only goal in a 1-0 close game over Benton in the semifinals.

And of course the thrilling 3-2 comeback win, battling from a 2-0 deficit, to beat Meadowbrook to win District 4 gold for the second straight year.

South Williamsport is sparking at the right time of the year and the Mounties are ready for the PIAA Class A tournament.

It begins today as South Williamsport faces District 3 runner-up Lancaster Mennonite at Balls Mills for a 5 p.m. game.

But South Williamsport isn’t just happy to have made states. They want to once again make a run.

“We’re going to have our hands filled. But we aren’t going in with we’re just happy to be here. Why not keep going?” South Williamsport coach Marc Lovecchio said. “We battled all through these playoff games and we’re going to battle again.”

Lancaster Mennonite enters today’s game with an 11-6 record and the team has plenty of playmakers. Charlotte Buckwalter, a junior striker, has a team-high 16 goals, freshman midfielder Macie Boyd has 11 goals and eight assists and freshman midfielder Avery King has scored 10 goals and dished out nine assists.

But South Williamsport’s players have been here before. They’re coming off a state semifinal trip last year in which they fell to eventual state champion Southern Columbia, so the majority of the Mounties know what it takes to compete at this level.

“We definitely have the experience. We know how to play in playoffs, so I think we got this,” Akers said. “(Close games) definitely teach us to continue to work until the end and never give up and just work harder when we’re down.”

The district tournament has been nothing but extremely close games, but that’s not a bad thing for South Williamsport. It shows the Mounties they can dig down and win those close games where one goal is the difference.

“It definitely does (battle test us). The pressure really helps us to build, especially during practice,” South Williamsport’s Maddy Breen said. “We’re always trying hard to keep us together.”

South Williamsport has plenty of playmakers. Ella Moore leads the team in both goals scored (34) and assists (15), but Olivia Loudenslager has scored 13 goals and dished out seven assists, Akers has eight goals and 13 assists, Breen has seven goals and four assists, Addy Morrison has five goals and four assists and Naomi Pfirman has five goals and four assists. In other words, plenty can step up at any given time to score.

In goal, Althea Street has been outstanding, especially during the playoff run. She has 76 saves this year, and came up with numerous big stops down the stretch against Meadowbrook Christian when South Williamsport took the lead 3-2 to avoid a game-tying goal.

Street gets a boost by a solid backline that consists of Olivia Regan, Olivia Miller, Lucy Binkley and Lillian Bradley, and Maddy Reidy who is usually the first sub defensively off the bench.

So what are the expectations as the state tournament begins?

“Just playing together and making it as far as we can as a team,” Breen said.

“Definitely our unity (is our strength). We really came together toward the end of the season,” Moore said. “We had a rough start and toward middle, but we were really all just became one family and it helped.”