Wyoming Area’s Lucia Campenni, far left, celebrates after scoring from the ground in Thursday’s District 2 Class A semifinal game against Wyoming Seminary in Kingston.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
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Wyoming Area’s Lyla Rehill (7) shoots and scores for the second of her three goals in Thursday’s district tournament win. Rehill figured in on all four Warriors goals, adding an assist.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
KINGSTON — Wyoming Area’s unblemished run through the district’s field hockey scene showed no signs of letting up as its playoff run began on Thursday night.
Against Wyoming Seminary in the District 2 Class A semifinals, the Warriors did what they’ve done all year: dominate the time of possession, put unrelenting pressure on the opposing defense and pick up the win.
Lyla Rehill scored three goals and assisted on a fourth, with Lucia Campenni adding that fourth goal for the Warriors in a 4-0 win over Wyoming Seminary at Klassner Field.
Wyoming Area’s overall record on the year improved to 17-0-0 with the victory, and the Warriors will head back to the district title game trying to avenge a loss in last year’s final.
Initially scheduled for the grass at Wyoming Area’s Atlas Field, Thursday’s game was moved to make use of the turf field at Wyoming Seminary instead.
It didn’t slow down the Warriors, who wore down a very game Wyoming Seminary defense from start to finish.
“I think we’re a better turf team than we are on grass,” Rehill said after the game. “Passes are just easier to connect when we’re on turf.”
From the opening whistle, Wyoming Area pushed the ball into Seminary’s half of the field and, with very few exceptions, kept it there throughout.
The Sem defensive unit did a good job fending off several early attempts from Wyoming Area to get the ball into the circle, but the Blue Knights couldn’t clear the ball out with any consistency, allowing the Warriors to continue sending the ball back in to their attackers.
Rehill put the Warriors on the board after a save from Seminary goalie Dallas Hanson-Richart bounced right to her, burying the second-chance for the first goal of the day.
A few minutes later in the first quarter, Rehill created her own shot opportunity with a defender on her, creating some space and turning to fire a shot past Hanson-Richart to make it 2-0.
The senior then found Campenni for the team’s third goal in the second quarter with Campenni managing to find the back of the cage even as she was falling to the ground. Rehill completed her hat trick in the third quarter with an assist from Ainsley Flynn.
“I’m very confident when Lyla has the ball, she’s a very skilled player and very quick,” Wyoming Area coach Bree Bednarski said. “She could get her shots off. … I think she leads this team, and everyone looks to her.”
The intensity from the Warriors’ offense kept up after halftime, but Wyoming Seminary’s defense stepped up, too.
The Blue Knights allowed just one goal in the second half, and held up admirably despite playing essentially the whole game under fire.
But there just weren’t any chances to turn that solid defense into solid offense, with Wyoming Seminary not putting a single shot on goal against the Warriors.
“I thought our defense was really good tonight,” Wyoming Seminary coach Margaret Kerrick said. “Our goalie, Dallas (Hanson-Richart), has only been in the cage for a month, I’m so impressed with how far she’s come.”
Wyoming Area will take on Lake-Lehman in the district title game after the Black Knights held off Lackawanna Trail in Thursday night’s other semifinal.
The Class A district championship will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Wyoming Valley West’s Spartan Stadium.
Lake-Lehman 2, Lackawanna Trail 1
The Black Knights leaned on strong defense to reach the Class A district championship, holding off Lackawanna Trail to win in the semifinals.
Sage Morgan and Olivia Oliver each scored for Lake-Lehman. The Black Knights only allowed one shot on goal, an Emma Thomas score late in the fourth quarter.
District 2 Class A Semifinals
Wyoming Area 4, Wyoming Seminary 0
Wyo. Seminary`0`0`0`0 — 0
Wyoming Area`2`1`1`0 — 4
First Quarter — 1. WA Lyla Rehill, 6:02; 2. WA Rehill, 2:38. Second Quarter — 3. WA Lucia Campenni (Rehill), 1:41. Third Quarter — 4. WA Rehill (Ainsley Flynn), 6:43.
Shots — SEM 0, WA 10. Saves — SEM 4 (Dallas Hanson-Richart), WA 0 (Rylee Muniz). Corners — SEM 0, WA 7.
Lake-Lehman 2, Lackawanna Trail 1
Lack. Trail`0`0`0`1 — 1
Lake-Lehman`1`o`1`0 — 2
First Quarter — 1. LL Sage Morgan (Avary Jacob), 8:00. Third Quarter — 1. LL Olivia Oliver (Morgan), 2:10. Fourth Quarter — 1. LT Emma Thomas (Megan Fahey), 4:57.
Shots — LT 1, LL 13. Saves — LT 9 (Kiera Mulhern), LL 0 (Ruby Sorber). Corners — LT 4, LL 8.