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Wyoming Valley Conference girls soccer teams continued their major success in the postseason this year as Lake-Lehman became the third team from the league to win a district championship on Friday.
Kiera Lucarino and standout freshman Kinley Purdy scored 1:17 apart in the second half to break a scoreless tie as the Black Knights held off Scranton Prep 2-1 to win the District 2 Class 2A title.
Lake-Lehman joined Wilkes-Barre Area and Holy Redeemer, who won the Class 4A and Class A championships, respectively, on Wednesday. Crestwood will try to make it a WVC sweep in the district finals on Saturday as the No. 3 Comets travel to face top-seeded Valley View at 6 p.m.
No. 2 seed Lehman was hosting its third straight playoff game after beating No. 7 Nanticoke Area 4-1 in the quarterfinals and blanking No. 3 Honesdale in the semis. Fifth-seeded Scranton Prep, meanwhile, had already won two games on the road, eliminating No. 4 Mid Valley 2-0 and No. 1 Wyoming Area 5-0.
The Black Knights had the better of the play in the first half on Friday but couldn’t put one past Prep keeper Mira Sheehan, who came up with five saves before the break.
Lehman broke through in the 51st minute as Lucarino converted off of a corner kick. In the 52nd minute, it was Purdy scoring on a direct kick to make it 2-0.
According to Lake-Lehman, Purdy has scored in every game this season, giving her 42 goals in her freshman campaign.
The Classics wouldn’t go away, however, as a corner kick led to a Marin Purcell goal five minutes after Purdy’s strike, which stood up as the game-winner.
Kathryn Morgan finished with five saves in net for the Black Knights while Sheehan had 13.
Lake-Lehman advances to the PIAA tournament, which opens Tuesday against District 4 champion Central Columbia, with the time and site to be determined.