Click here to subscribe today or Login.
LEHMAN TWP. – When it came time to score another go-ahead goal, Ashleigh Thomas said she shut her eyes.
When she opened them, her Crestwood team still had control of a perfect season.
Thomas scored twice Monday and the Comets never blinked in a battle of unbeatens, using an aggressive second half to put away Lake-Lehman, 4-1 at Edward Edwards Stadium and lock up the top seed in next week’s District 2 Class 2A playoffs.
“We were so pumped up for this game,” Thomas said. “We knew they were going to come out hard. We were ready for them.”
It showed.
Just 34 seconds into the game, Thomas took an outlet pass from teammate Jordan Olenginski, dashed into the circle with it drilled it just inside the right corner of the cage for a quick 1-0 Crestwood lead.
“First of all, great pass from Jordan,” Thomas said. “She put it right on my stick. “Honestly, a real luck shot.”
That seemed to make Lehman livid.
The Black Knights responded by playing most of the first half in Crestwood territory, and tied the game at 1-1 on Taylor Alba’s score off a feed from Kate Supey.
“Honestly, I thought it gave them (the Black Knights) a little more energy,” Crestwood coach Patsy Moratori said of Thomas’ quick goal. “I was hoping we’d feed off that. I thought it kind of lit a fire under Lehman.”
Thomas put it out.
She deflected in a hard shot off the stick of freshman Mackenzie Kile in the eighth minute of the second half for a 2-1 Crestwood lead, and the Comets never lost the lead again.
“On the second one, I went like this,” Thomas said, closing her eyes while extending her stick outward, “tipped it and heard the net.”
It turned out to be the sound of victory.
Lizzy Dessoye and Hunter Pitman both added to Crestwood’s lead with goals over the game’s final 16 minutes, and the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 champion Comets completed a 10-0 regular season.
Meanwhile, Lehman fell to 12-1 atop the WVC Division 3 and still holds a one-game lead over Wyoming Area with two games to play.
All because the Comets created more opportunities after halftime.
They turned the momentum by turning aggressive, applying pressure in Lehman territory through most of the final 30 minutes and avoiding the Lehman defense that created so many problems for Crestwood during the first half.
“In the huddle, we discussed how they were cutting to balls harder than us,” Thomas said. “We needed to work harder at cutting off balls.”
That little adjustment cut off Lehman’s comeback hopes, as the Black Knights finished with just three total shots.
“We learned a lot from this game,” Lehman coach Jean Lipski said. “We haven’t had a game like this in a while. We were happy with our first-half play. We just have to put an entire game together. This is behind us now. We just look ahead.”
Nanticoke 7, Berwick 0
Megan Kocher finished the night with a hat trick and Carly Grabowski recored two goals and two assists to push Nanticoke past Berwick. The Trojans outshot their opponents 32-0 over the course of the game.
Kiersten Bertollo, goaltender for the Bulldogs, made 11 saves throughout the contest.
Tunkhannock 8, Hanover Area 0
Kailey Reposa score twice and assisted on two, Gracie Franko scored twice and Kady Hodge had a goal and an assist as Tunkhannock shut out Hanover Area. Dana Kuffa, the Tigers’ goalie, made five saves to secure the win.
Wyoming Area 8, Abington Heights 0
Bree Bednarski hit the back of the cage four times and assisted on two while Jillian Spak scored three goals during Wyoming Area’s defeat of Abington Heights. Grace Gober made a defensive save for the Warriors and the goalie tandem of Sam Holcomb and Katie Wolfgang made a combined eight saves to get the shutout.
Holy Redeemer 2, Dallas 1 (OT)
Abby Shorts scored off a feed from Annsley Dicton just 53 seconds into overtime as the Royals survived the Mountaineers.
Leah Mullery’s goal put Redeemer up late in the first half, but Dallas tied it on a goal from Hannah Yonovich with 1:01 to play in regulation.
Meyers 1, Northwest 1
Marissa Prince scored with 6:55 to play as the Mohawks forged a tie with Northwest.
Liz Gurzynski gave the Rangers a lead with a goal earlier in the second half off an assist from Alica Carr.
Betsy Macko assisted on Meyers’ tying goal.
Crestwood 4, Lake-Lehman 1
Crestwood`2`2`—`4
Lake-Lehman`1`0`—`1
First half — 1. CRE, Ashleigh Thomas (Jordan Olenginski), 0:36. 2. LL, Taylor Alba (Kate Supey) 15:15. Second half — 3. CRE, Thomas (Mackenzie Kile) 7:32; 4. CRE, Lizzy Dessoye, 14:24; 5. CRE, Hunter Pitman (Cara Jarmiolowski) 23:55.
Shots —CRE 17; LL 3. Saves — CRE 2 (Marlee Dillon); LL 13 (Alicia Glasso). Penalty corners — CRE 3; LL 11.
Nanticoke 7, Berwick 0
Berwick`0`0`—`0
Nanticoke`2`5`—`7
First half — 1. NAN, Megan Kocher (Krystal Daniele), 22:59. 2. NAN, Carly Grabowski (Bereniss Sosa), 11:14. Second half — 3. NAN, Amber Grohowski, 29:00. 4. NAN, Kocher (Grohowski), 22:49. 5. NAN, Kocher (Grabowski), 17:50. 6. NAN, Grabowski (Sosa), 9:47. 7. NAN, Liz Colemire (Grabowski), 5:45.
Shots — BER 0; NAN 32. Saves — BER 11 (Kiersten Bertollo); NAN 0 (Miranda Gola, Jill Maute). Penalty corners — BER 1; NAN 11.
Tunkhannock 8, Hanover Area 0
Tunkhannock`3`5`—`8
Hanover Area`0`0`—`0
First half — 1. TUNK, Gracie Franko (Kailey Reposa), 23:13. 2. TUNK, Maggie Sohns (Rachel Dillard), 13:10. 3. TUNK, Jenn Bulford (Kady Hodge), 2:35. Second half — 4. TUNK, Franko (Hodge), 23:35. 5. TUNK, Dillard, 20:45. 6. TUNK, Reposa, 14:56. 7. TUNK, Hodge (Reposa), 12:30. 8. TUNK, Reposa, 9:30.
Shots — TUNK 18; HAN 3. Saves — TUNK 5 (Dana Kuffa); HAN 10 (Christina Kratz). Penalty corners — TUNK 6; HAN 3.
Wyoming Area 8, Abington Heights 0
Abington Heights`0`0`—`0
Wyoming Area`3`5`—`8
First half — 1. WA, Gianna Gennetts (Emilie Wanko), 23:35. 2. WA, Bree Bednarski (Lexi Crossley), 14:37. 3. WA, Jillian Spak (Bednarski), 1:54. Second half — 4. WA, Bednarski (Wanko), 29:47. 5. WA, Bednarski (Madison Mulhern), 28:04. 6. WA, Spak (Wanko), 12:26. 7. WA, Spak (Bednarski), 9:30. 8. WA, Bednarski (Grace Gober), 1:50.
Shots —AH 8; WA 14. Saves — AH 8 (Olivia Mendo); WA 8 (Sam Holcomb 3, Katie Wolfgang 5). Penalty corners — AH 12; WA 3.
Holy Redeemer 2, Dallas 1 (OT)
Dallas`0`1`0`—`1
Holy Redeemer`1`0`1`—`2
First half — 1. HR, Leah Mullery (Jesse Ornoski) 28:32. Second half — 2. DAL, Hannah Yonovich (Maddie Kelley) 28:59. Overtime – 3. HR, Abby Shorts (Annsley Dicton) 0:53.
Shots — DAL 6; HR 6. Saves —DAL 4 (Melinda Ratchford)); HR 5 (Bailey Janowski). Penalty corners — DAL 6; HR 2.
Meyers 1, Northwest 1
Northwest`1`0`0`—`1
Meyers`0`1`0`—`1
Second half — 1. NW, Liz Gurzynski (Alicia Carr) 8:29; 2. MEY, Marissa Prince (Betsy Macko) 23:05.
Shots — NW 9; MEY 7. Saves —NW 6 (Jackie Jones); MEY 8 (Cameron Daughtry). Penalty corners — NW 8; MEY 10.
