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WEST WYOMING — Trapped in a defensive battle, Wyoming Seminary turned to a little trickery to finally score.
And it stopped the Blue Knights from falling prey to a hungry opponent — as well as out of first place.
Light-scoring Dani Reiser pounded home the winning goal with 10:56 to play Monday and Sem stayed unbeaten and tied at the top of the WVC Division 1 with a 2-1 victory over stubborn Wyoming Area at Atlas Field.
It was the first time Reiser, who comes off the bench, scored a goal during the regular season.
“I can,” Reiser said. “But I will play wherever coach puts me. I took a deep breath and realized I can do it. I realized it was time to get it done.”
Her score came just in time to keep Sem tied for the league’s Division 1 lead with Wyoming Valley West at 10-0, and on a day that goals proved precious.
It took more than 16 minutes before Aubrey Mytych put Sem up 1-0 with the game’s first goal, and Wyoming Area’s was stifled until Lauren Parente punched home a penalty corner 89 seconds from halftime.
“We did not come with our A-game,” said Wyoming Seminary coach Karen Klassner, whose team’s next game will be against Valley West next Monday. “It looked like Wyoming Area wanted it more than we did. It was one of those — I call them trap games.”
Reiser and the Blue Knights found a way to free themselves.
With Wyoming Area goalie Ellie Glatz stopping 20 shots, Sem stopped trying to crash the cage and added a slick move to its offense.
First, Reiser shook loose by changing direction to generate a late-game chance in the circle.
“I just was switching in and out,” Reiser said. “I moved in one direction, so the defender didn’t see me. The goalie didn’t see me either.”
If her teammate Alex Wesneski didn’t see the opportunity, she certainly heard Reiser.
“I just said, ‘Hey, I’m open,’ ” Reiser said. “I think she (Wesneski) heard me.”
Everyone at Atlas Field heard the result.
Wesneski sent a pretty, cross-field pass to the uncovered Reiser, who controlled it on her stick and slipped a shot into the open, left side of the cage.
“I just knew my teammates were going to be in the right position,” Wesneski said.
The defeat damaged Wyoming Area’s chance of positioning itself for a division title shot, but not the team’s enthusiasm.
The Warriors fell to 7-2 with just over two weeks remaining in the regular season, and would need to win out and hope both Sem and Valley West to lose twice in the span of four games while winning out to force a playoff.
But Wyoming Area may see Sem again in the District 2 Class A playoffs, and gained a moral victory by engaging in a fight to the finish with the undefeated Blue Knights.
“We talked about stepping on the field and showing we can compete the whole way,” said first-year Wyoming Area coach Erin McGinley, a former Sem standout during her playing days. “We changed a lot of things going into this game and we did an excellent job with them.
“They showed what Wyoming Area field hockey is now about.”
The Warriors showed some toughness, too.
After losing key starter Abby Gober, who suffered a jaw injury and left the field by ambulance for stitches after taking a stick to the face in the second half, the Warriors didn’t back away.
“When Abby got hurt,” McGinley said, “we talked about, ‘You’re now playing for your teammate, who gave her all.’ We did a great job, the total effort.”
It took some extra effort for Sem to pull out the victory.
More accustomed to playing on artificial surfaces, the Blue Knights battled Wyoming Area’s grass field, as well as the Warriors.
“It’s a huge, huge difference,” Wesneski said. “It’s bumpier, you never know where the ball’s going to go. In warmups, we hit one that jumped up and went into the goal.”
So Reiser’s ability to control Wesneski’s feed was well appreciated by the Blue Knights.
“She really kept her head down,” Klassner said. “She didn’t hurry it. She executed. We had lots of opportunities to score and did not. She (Reiser) took the opportunity. That’s what happens when you get a kid who’s pretty hungry to show you they want to play.”
Holy Redeemer 9,
Nanticoke Area 0
Leah Mullery scored four goals Addy Bielski struck for two more as the Royals ran their record to 8-0 and moved to within four games of a second straight undefeated regular season at the top of the WVC Division 2.
Kayla Kruk added a goal and two assists in the victory, which gave Redeemer some breathing room in Division 2 when 6-1-1 Northwest played to a scoreless tie with Hanover Area.
Hanover Area 0,
Northwest 0 (OT)
Rebecca Merth stopped eight shots for Hanover Area as the Hawkeyes battled Northwest to an overtime tie, damaging the Rangers’ bid to battle Holy Redeemer for the WVC Division 2 title.
Jackie Jones made five saves in the cage for the Rangers, who host 8-0 Redeemer on Wednesday but slipped to 6-1-1 while remaining in second place in the standings with four regular season games remaining.
Hanover Area fended off 11 penalty corners in the game.
Berwick 7,
GAR 1
Maddy Isenberg scored the game’s first and last goals and Sammie Starr and Nadia Lombari also scored twice as the Bulldogs dominated.
Lexi Nevel made three assists in the vicotry and Hailey Stein finished with two assists for the Bulldogs.
Jordyn Catina scored GAR’s lone goal, pulling the Grenadiers within 2-1 at halftime.
Coughlin 7,
Pittston Area 1
Abie Sorokas had a hat trick and Jolene Ulichney drove home two goals and two assists to power the Crusaders.
Briannah Lee stopped six shots in goal for Coughlin.
Bailey Jordan broke the shutout by scoring for the Patriots with six seconds remaining.
Holy Redeemer 7,
Meyers 0
Leah Mullery had a hat trick and McKenna Dolan added two goals and two assists as the Royals won a game played Saturday.
Wyoming Seminary 2, Wyoming Area 1
Wyoming Seminary`1`1`—`2
Wyoming Area`1`0`—`1
First half — 1. SEM, Aubrey Mytych, 13:43; 2. WA, Lauren Parente, 1:29. Second half — 3. SEM, Dani Reiser (Alex Wesneski).
Shots — SEM 22; WA 6. Saves — SEM 5 (Mia Magnotta); WA 20 (Ellie Glatz). Penalty corners — SEM 10; WA 7.
Holy Redeemer 9, Nanticoke Area 0
Nanticoke Area`0`0`—`0
Holy Redeemer`3`6`—`9
First half — 1. HR, McKenna Dolan, 24:27; 2. HR, Leah Mullery (Kayla Kruk), 14:28; 3. HR, Mullery (Kruk), 5:20. Second half — 4. HR, Lexi Fumanti (Mullery), 29:18; 4. HR, Mullery, 24:40; 5. HR, Mullery, 24:56; 6. HR, Mullery (Madison Zulkoski), 23:49; 7. HR, Addy Bielski (Becky Revitt), 9:47; 8. HR, Kruk (Madison Stoltz), 7:02; 9. HR, Bielski (Jesse Ornoski), 2:37.
Shots — NAN 0; HR 41. Saves — NAN 32 (Jill Maute 27, Kaylee Simmons 5); HR 0 (Meredythe Baird). Penalty corners — NAN 1; HR 9.
Northwest 0, Hanover Area 0 (OT)
Hanover Area`0`0`0`—`0
Northwest`0`0`0`—`0
Shots — HAN 5; NW 8. Saves — HAN 8 ((Rebecca Merth); NW 5 (Jackie Jones). Penalty corners — HA 1; NW 11.
Berwick 7, GAR 1
GAR`1`0`—`1
Berwick`2`5`—`7
First half — 1. BER, Maddy Isenburg (Hailey Stein), 22:48; 2. BER, Sammi Starr (Lexi Nevel), 9:19; 3. GAR, Jordyn Catina, 3:18. Second half — 4. BER, Sammi Starr (Stein), 28:40; 5. BER, Kaylee Houser (Lexi Nevel), 27:27; 6. BER, Nadia Lombari (Lexi Nevel), 26:44; 7. BER, Lombari (Kaitlyn Boucek), 17:25; 8. BER, Isenberg (Abbie Nevel), 1:14.
Shots — GAR 6; BER 25. Saves — GAR 18 (Reilly Holden); BER 5 (Jackie Nevel). Penalty corners — GAR 1; BER 10.
Coughlin 7, Pittston Area 1
Coughlin`1`6`—`7
Pittston Area`0`1`—`1
First half — 1. COU, Abie Sorokas, 9:12, Second half — 2. COU, Hannah Rushkowski (Jolene Ulichney), 29:03; 3. COU, Sorokas, 26:06; 4. COU, Ulichney (Hannah Chocallo), 20:01; 5. COU, Ulichney (Candladia Washinsky), 18:43; 6. COU, Sorokas (Ulichney), 18:00; 7. COU, Khiana Stets, 7:20; 8. PA, Bailey Jordan (Abbie Vaxmonsky), 0:06.
Shots — COU 15; PA 7. Saves — COU 6 (Briannah Lee); PA 8 (Jess Zaladonis 7, Hannah Waleski 1). Penalty corners — COU 5; PA 7.
Holy Redeemer 7, Meyers 0
(Saturday)
Holy Redeemer`4`3`—`7
Meyers`0`0`—`0
First half — 1. HR, Leah Mullery, 28:46; 2. HR, Mullery (McKenna Dolan), 27:00; 3. HR, Jesse Ornoski (Mullery), 14:44; 4. HR, Dolan (Kat Finnegan), 10:22. Second half — 5. HR, Kayla Kruk (Dolan), 25:18; 6. HR, Dolan, 15:40; 7. HR, Mullery (Ava Fino), 12:38.
Shots — HR 29; MEY 0. Saves — HR 0 (Meredythe Baird); MEY 22 (Olyvia Jackson). Penalty corners — HR 12; MEY 0.
