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KINGSTON — No messing around this time.
In a big-game atmosphere, nobody came up bigger than Emma Watchilla.
The junior forward jumped Wyoming Area early, scoring the first two goals of her hat trick in the opening quarter Wednesday as Wyoming Seminary dominated a 4-0 victory over the Warriors in a battle of WVC field hockey unbeatens at Klassner Field.
“It felt great to help my team,” Watchilla said. “We practice a lot of transition drills. That really helps our gameplan, getting shots, getting shots off quick. I think that really put them under pressure.”
In the blink of an eye, Watchilla served notice there may be little chance for a transition of power in the WVC.
She took a feed from Emma Barbacci and blasted the ball into the back of the cage just over three minutes into the game to give Sem a quick lead, then used a reverse chip to score again 96 seconds later.
Five minutes into the night, the three-time defending PIAA Class A state champion and four-time defending District 2 champion Blue Knights were already up 2-0.
“We knew it was a big game,” Wyoming Seminary coach Karen Klassner said. “We told our forwards they had to turn it on.
“They turned it on.”
And turned down Wyoming Area’s chance to make a statement.
The Warriors played Sem to the wire in just about every meeting between the teams during the previous four seasons, with all six of those meetings decided by two goals or less.
Wyoming Area ruined Sem’s perfect 2018 season when the two played to a 0-0 tie, but that was as close as the Warriors have come to upending Sem’s reign at the top of the WVC Division 1.
The Blue Knights carved out a 2-0 victory in 2017, a 3-1 win in 2019 and a 1-0 win last year in regular season meetings with Wyoming Area. Sem also staved off Wyoming Area for the past three District 2 Class A titles, starting with a 3-2 win in 2018. That trend continued with Klassner’s 700th career coaching victory, a 2-0 Sem victory in the 2019 District 2 championship game and the Blue Knights claimed a 1-0 victory in last year’s district championship against Wyoming Area.
The Warriors believed they could finally upend Sem this time around.
Instead, they fell to 4-1 overall and to 2-1 in the WVC Division 1, behind a Sem team that’s 4-0 overall and carries the same record to the top of the Division 1 standings.
“They’ve been our biggest competition for a while,” Watchilla said. “They’re a great team. We just want play the best we could.
“It’s our standard.”
Turns out, it’s a standard few teams can match.
With 12 saves, Sem’s sophomore goalie Laine Cabell ensured the Blue Knights season shutout streak continued – as they’ve now outscored their four opponents 22-0.
“For a sophomore, I thought she did an amazing job,” Klassner said. “We have three very amazing goal keepers right now. Laine was so hot, we certainly didn’t want to break that up.”
And as Wyoming Area had trouble breaking through Sem’s collapsing defense, that 2-0 Blue Knights lead carried right through halftime, before Barbacci clubbed home another Sem goal late in the third quarter.
Then Watchilla put the finishing touches on Sem’s most lopsided victory over Wyoming Area during the past five seasons midway through the final quarter to put an exclamation on the victory.
“There’s always room to improve,” Watchilla said. “We’re going to come to practice and work our butts off.
“But this feels great.”
Lake-Lehman 2, Delaware Valley 1
Callie Dieffenbacher and Ava Klopp each scored to lead Lake-Lehman past visiting Delaware Valley.
Faye Post made four saves in goal for the Black Knights, while Delaware Valley’s Jo Liaurado had six.
Dallas 0, Holy Redeemer 0
Olivia Podskoch made four saves for Dallas and Emma Humm made two for Holy Redeemer as the two teams played to a scoreless tie.
Wyoming Seminary 4, Wyoming Area 0
Wyoming Area`0`0`0`0` — 0
Wyoming Sem`2`0`1`1` — 4
First quarter — 1. SEM, Emma Watchilla (Ella Barbacci), 11:36; 2. SEM, Watchilla, 10:00. Third quarter — 3. SEM, Barbacci, 4:31. Fourth quarter — 4. SEM, Watchilla, 6:54.
Shots — WA 12; SEM 10. Saves — WA 6 (Karly Saranchik); SEM 12 (Laine Cabell). Corners — WA 13; SEM 3.
Lake-Lehman 2, Delaware Valleo 1
Delaware Valley`0`0`1`0`–1
Lake-Lehman`0`1`0`1`–2
Scoring: First Period – None. Second Period – 1. LL, Callie Dieffenbacher (Madison Lasinksi), 7:39. Third Period – 2. DV, Mackenzie Olsommer (UA), 1:15. Fourth Period – 3. LL, Ava Klopp (Sarah Keebles), 8:46.
Shots: KK 12, DV 1. Corners: LL 12, DV 1. Saves: LL (Faye Post) 4, DV (Jo Liaurando) 6
Dallas 0, Holy Redeemer 0
Holy Redeemer`0`0`0`0`–0
Dallas`0`0`0`0`–0
Scoring: First Period – None. Second Period – None. Third Period – None. Fourth Period – None.
Shots: HR 4, DAL 10. Saves HR (Emma Humm) 2, DAL (Olivia Podskoch) 4. Corners: HR 11, DAL 6.