High School Sports

DITRICT 2 FIELD HOCKEY

By Dave Konopki dkonopki@timesleader.com
Assistant Sports Editor

WRIGHT TWP. – There’s a reason the Crestwood field hockey team practices penalty corners every day.

click image to enlarge

Selena Adamshick of Lake-Lehman, left, advances the ball into Crestwood territory alongside Comet defender Anna Dessoye during Tuesday night’s District 2 Class 2A semfinal game in Wright Township.

PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER

click image to enlarge

Crestwood goalkeeper Kylie Licata kicks away the ball before Lake-Lehman’s Leigh Hill)man (28) can get to it during Tuesday’s game at Crestwood High School.

PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER

Select images available for purchase in the
Times Leader Photo Store

That reason became very apparent Tuesday night.

The Comets scored a pair of second-half goals off penalty corners – including the game-winning goal by Anna Dessoye with 11:39 remaining – to advance to the District 2 Class 2A championship game with a 2-1 win against Lake-Lehman.

Crestwood (16-1) will play defending D2 Class 2A champion Wyoming Seminary at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Spartan Stadium in Kingston. The Blue Knights (17-0) defeated Dallas, 5-1, in the other semifinal.

With the game tied at 1-1, Dessoye took a pass from teammate Brittany Blass off a penalty corner and blistered a shot into the back of the cage to give Crestwood a 2-1 lead.

“We work on (penalty corners) every day in practice,” said Crestwood head coach Elvetta Gemski. “We work on them during practice to get ready when we need them in a game. We know how important they are.”

The game was a far cry from the regular season contest between the teams early in the season – a 6-2 win by the Comets at Lake-Lehman.

“We’ve come a long way since the last time we played them,” said Black Knights head coach Jean Lipski, whose team finishes the season with a 14-3 record. “The kids really worked hard. I think you saw a team tonight that came out together, had good passing, and a goal in mind. I think we played very well against an excellent team.”

The teams got off to a relatively slow start and couldn’t take advantage of several scoring opportunities for most of the first half, thanks mostly to the defensive effort of both squads. Selena Adamshick and Jess Swingle each made a couple of nice defensive plays for Lake-Lehman, while Crestwood goalkeeper Kylie Licata made several good saves.

Lake-Lehman took a 1-0 lead late in the first half on a remarkable goal by Selena Adamshick. The junior was falling down when she reached out and redirected a Nikki Snyder pass into the cage with just 1:46 remaining before halftime.

“Selena said she was afraid she was going to get hit (with a stick) but she didn’t care,” said Lipski. “Her effort all night was outstanding. She has such a competitive nature. She never quits. She never slows down.”

Crestwood took advantage of a penalty corner midway through the second half to tie the game at 1-1. Emily Leo passed the ball to Jenna Chrismer, whose shot went past several Lake-Lehman defenders with 17:37 remaining in the game.

“We had our fair chances (in the first half),” said Gemski. “It was a matter of bearing down and working a little harder to make it happen.”

Lake-Lehman’s best opportunity to tie the game in the final minutes was thwarted by a fine defensive play by Leo. With less than six minutes remaining, Adamshick was quickly moving the ball toward the Crestwood goal on a breakaway when Leo made a nice stop to prevent Adamshick from getting a shot on goal.

“A lot of credit goes to Lake-Lehman,” said Gemski. “It was a great game by both teams. There was a lot of effort and fight by both teams until the end.”

CLASS 3A CHAMPIONSHIP

Two schools separated by just a few miles – and the Susquehanna River – will take the field tonight at Crestwood High School for the District 2 Class 3A championship and a berth in the PIAA Class 3A state playoffs.

Top-seeded Wyoming Valley West (12-4) will play No. 3 seed Coughlin (10-7) for the district crown at 6 p.m. at the football stadium. Both teams had to work overtime to get to the championship game. In the semifinals, Coughlin posted a 1-0 win against No. 2 seed Lackawanna Trail, while the Spartans went to penalty strokes to defeat fourth-seeded Honesdale, 2-1.

The teams met in the regular season with Valley West coming away with a 1-0 win. The Spartans are coached by Linda Fithian, while Coughlin is lead by head coach Colleen Wood.

Crestwood 2, Lake-Lehman 1

First half: 1. LL, Selena Adamshick (Nikki Snyder) 1:46. Second half: 2. CREST, Jenna Chrismer (Emily Leo) 17:27; 3. CREST, Anna Dessoye (Brittany Blass) 11:09. Shots: LL 11, CREST 9; Saves: LL 5 (Amy Denmon), CREST 7 (Kylie Licata); Corners: LL 7, CREST 8.

Wyoming Seminary 5, Dallas 0

JaJa Kentwell scored three goals as Wyoming Seminary advanced to the District 2 Class 2A championship game with a convincing win against Dallas at Klassner Field in Kingston Tuesday night.

AshLeigh Sebia and Kelsey Grossman also scored for the Blue Knights, who are the defending District 2 Class 2A champions. Sebia scored to give Seminary a 1-0 lead before Kentwell made it 2-0. In the second half, Grossman found the back of the cage and Kentwell added a pair of goals six minutes apart.

Wyoming Seminary outshot Dallas, 11-1, and held an 8-1 advantage in penalty corners.

First half: 1. SEM, AshLeigh Sebia (Madeleine Hackett), 7:50, 2. SEM, JaJa Kentwell (Hackett), 14:20. Second half: 1. SEM, Kelsey Grossman, 10:37; 2. SEM, Kentwell (unassisted), 13:50; 3. SEM, Kentwell (unassisted), 19:33. Shots: DAL 1, SEM 11; Saves: DAL 6 (Meghan Martin), SEM 1(Sierra Segear, Carly Sokach); Corners: DAL 1, SEM 8.