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KINGSTON — Unrelenting pressure created the repeated opportunities that eventually pulled Wyoming Area out of its first two-goal hole of the season and into overtime Wednesday night.
Once there, poise and patience made sure the Warriors were able to end the District 2 Class A field hockey championship game on just one shot.
Lyla Rehill’s goal on a penalty corner lifted Wyoming Area back to the top of the district with a 3-2 overtime victory over Lake-Lehman at Wyoming Valley West’s Spartan Stadium.
Rehill, Ainsley Flynn and Lucia Campenni all had a goal and an assist for Wyoming Area, which was scoreless until the last 24 seconds of the third quarter.
Campenni, who scored the goal that forced overtime, handled the insert on the first penalty corner of overtime, putting the ball cleanly on Rehill’s stick just to the left of center at the top of the circle.
Following the play coach Bree Bednarski called in the five-minute break between regulation and overtime, Rehill let the Lake-Lehman flyer – the lead defender on a penalty corner defense – soar right on past as she faked instead of taking a shot.
Rehill then dribbled in a little closer before firing the decisive shot 1:20 into overtime.
There may have been some moments of doubt along the way for Wyoming Area during its comeback, but by the time Rehill launched the winning shot, none remained.
“I knew I was putting the ball into the cage,” she said.
The goal emptied the Wyoming Area bench and, from across the stadium, the student section of the bleachers to join in a midfield celebration.
The win sends the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 champion Warriors back into PIAA state play a year after they were stopped short with an overtime loss to Lackawanna Trail in the district final. Both Wyoming Area, in 2022, and Lackawanna Trail, last year, wound up playing in the state final.
It was not easy getting back to the state tournament.
Lake-Lehman scored on both its first-half shots.
Bella DeCesaris scored on an assist from Sage Morgan with 9:52 left in the first quarter, then sent the ball into the circle to assist Alexa Thompson’s goal with 1:16 left in the half.
Wyoming Area immediately started fighting back, although it took a while for the effort to pay off.
Over a 15-minute stretch from the final minute of the half to the final minute of the third quarter, Wyoming Area had 12 straight penalty corners and eight straight shots.
Lake-Lehman seldom got out of its own end and, in trying to hold off the onslaught, often wound up with all 10 field players backed to within 25 yards of the goal they defended.
“I was like, ‘We might lose this game, but I’m going to put my all into it,’ ” Flynn said. “I don’t think I’ve ever played so hard.”
The work eventually was rewarded.
As it did frequently in the game, Wyoming Area turned one penalty corner chance into another as six Lake-Lehman players retreated to midfield for another 40-yard run to come in and try to help out defensively.
On the fourth straight corner in one of those sequences, Rehill got the ball to Flynn on the right side of the circle. Flynn’s shot made it through traffic and into the cage to cut the deficit in half.
Rehill again got the ball to Flynn on a penalty corner in the fourth quarter.
Flynn took another shot, this one toward the left post. It was slightly off the mark, but Campenni was there to make a stop and get off a quick shot that she tucked inside the post for the tie.
Lake-Lehman got off the last shot of regulation, with 1:35 left, but Rylee Muniz made her only save to get Wyoming Area into overtime.
Wyoming Area (18-0) opens state play Tuesday close to home against the sixth-place team from the District 3-5-6 subregional.
Lake-Lehman finishes its season at 16-4-1.
District 2 Class A Championship
Wyoming Area 3, Lake-Lehman 2 (OT)
Lake-Lehman`1`1`0`0`0 — 2
Wyoming Area`0`0`1`1`1 — 3
First — 1, LL, Bella DeCesaris (Sage Morgan), 9:52. Second – 2, LL, Alexa Thompson (DeCesaris), 1:16. Third – 3, WA, Ainsley Flynn (Lyla Rehill), 0:24. Fourth – 3, WA, Lucia Campenni (Flynn) 11:19. Overtime – 5, WA, Rehill (Campenni) 8:40.
Shots at goal — LL 3, WA 13. Goalie saves — LL 6 (Ruby Sorber), WA 1 (Rylee Muniz). Penalty corners — LL 2, WA 19.