High School Field Hockey

DISTRICT 2 FIELD HOCKEY

November 2, 2009

Rollman saves season for WVW

By Dave Konopki dkonopki@timesleader.com
Assistant Sports Editor

KINGSTON – With a solid defense and quality players in front her, Wyoming Valley West goalkeeper Kristie Rollman always doesn’t play a key role in the outcome of her team’s games.

That wasn’t the case Monday night.

Rollman stopped five of the final six penalty strokes she faced and Maura Anistranski scored what proved to be the game-winning goal as the Spartans advanced to the District 2 Class 3A championship game with a 2-1 win against Honesdale.

The teams were tied 1-1 following regulation play and two 15-minute overtime periods. Valley West outscored Honesdale 4-3 in penalty strokes to advance to Wednesday’s championship game at 6:30 p.m. at Crestwood High School.

“There were games this season when I touched the ball just once or not at all,” said Rollman. “I wanted to show what I could bring to the team and do what I could do help them. I went in with confidence. I believe in my team that if I miss one, they’re right there to get me back in. I had confidence in myself and in my team.”

With the Spartans (12-4) trailing 1-0 in the final minutes of regulation, Valley West senior Dominique Pasqualichio was called on to take a penalty stroke after a shot from a teammate hit the body of a Honesdale (8-9) defender. Pasqualichio made the penalty stroke to make the score 1-1 with 3:22 remaining in the game.

Although Valley West controlled play for much of the first overtime, neither team could find the back of the cage in either of the two overtime periods.

That sent the game to penalty strokes.

After both teams missed their first attempt, Sauni Davenport gave the Spartans a 1-0 advantage in penalty strokes. Desiraye Mack and Alicia Manzione scored on consecutive shots for Honesdale to give the Hornets a 2-1 advantage.

Valley West’s Kelcie Hromisin made sure the advantage was short-lived, blasting a shot into the upper left corner of the cage and – following a pair of saves by Rollman – Pasqualichio gave the Spartans back the advantage, 3-2. Honesdale senior Holly Hessberger, who scored the goal for the Hornets during regulation play, tied the penalty strokes at 3-3.

Then Rollman and Anistranski took over.

Rollman stopped a pair of Honesdale shots before Anistranski blasted a shot off the pads of Hornet goalkeeper Katie Carton and into the cage to make it 4-3. Rollman ended the game by making a nice save on the final Honesdale shot – the 19th of the two teams in the special period.

“Kristie is so solid, she has so much experience,” said Valley West coach Linda Fithian. “She’s done all of the homework and all of the extra stuff she needs to be a top-notch goalie.”

Despite the tough loss, Honesdale coach Becca Maciejewski – who gave birth just three weeks ago – had a smile on her face.

“I told our girls before the (penalty) strokes that no matter how this turns out, that whatever team comes out on top, they deserve to win it,” she said. “Both teams played so hard. The one thing our girls pride themselves on is playing with a lot of heart. That’s what carried them through a lot of tough games this year.”

Rollman and Carton each finished with 14 saves, while Valley West held a 25-18 advantage in shots on goal.

“We’re going to celebrate this win tonight and start thinking about Coughlin tomorrow,” said Fithian.

CLASS 2A SEMIFINALS

Four teams who have combined for numerous Wyoming Valley Conference and District 2 championships – as well as almost 10 state titles – will compete in the District 2 Class 2A semifinals today.

Wyoming Seminary, Crestwood and Lake-Lehman – teams that have combined for a 45-3 record this season – join Dallas in the four-team semifinals. Seminary won the WVC Division I championship this season, while Crestwood and Lake-Lehman finished in second and third, respectively. Dallas finished in seventh place in the nine-team division.

Defending District 2 and PIAA Class 2A state champion Wyoming Seminary (16-0) hosts Dallas (7-8-1) at 6:30 p.m. at Klassner Field in Kingston. In the other semifinal game, Lake-Lehman (13-2) travels to Mountain Top to play Crestwood (15-1).

During the regular season, Wyoming Seminary defeated Dallas 3-0, while Crestwood posted a 6-2 win against Lake-Lehman.

The championship game will be played Thursday at Spartan Stadium in Kingston at a time to be determined. Only the district champion advances to the state playoffs, which begin Nov. 10.

Honesdale	0	1	0	0	(3)	—	1
Wyoming Valley West	0	1	0	0	(4)	—	2

First half: No scoring. Second half: 1. HON, Holly Hessberger (Elly Skinner) 11:49; 2. WVW, Dominique Pasqualichio penalty stroke) 3:22. First OT: No scoring. Second OT: No scoring. Penalty strokes: HON: Desiraye Mack, Alicia Manzione, Hessberger); WVW: Sauni Davenport, Kelcie Hromisin, Pasqualichio, Maura Anistranski.

Shots: HON 18, WVW 25; Saves: HON 14 (Katie Carton), WVW 14 (Kristie Rollman); Corners: HON 10, WVW 13.

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