Wyoming Valley West’s Lily Watchilla keeps the ball moving in the first quarter against Avon Grove.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Valley West’s Valerie Yelen keeps the ball away from Avon Grove’s Morgan Reilly in the first round of PIAA Class 3A playoffs.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Valley West’s Charlotte Yelen moves the ball close to the goal during the first quarter against Avon Grove.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Avon Grove players celebrate their 3-0 win over Wyoming Valley West in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A playoffs.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
KINGSTON — The first nine minutes made for a difficult situation for Wyoming Valley West the rest of Tuesday.
Avon Grove scored two quick goals and the kept Valley West from mustering a comeback as the Spartans’ season ended with a 3-0 loss in a PIAA Class 3A field hockey first-round game.
District 2 champion Valley West ended its season at 9-9. The Spartans, who have won three straight district titles, fell in the first round for a second consecutive year.
“This team is wonderful,” Valley West first-year coach Lois Krause said. “This is their third time being in this spot and I owe it to them. We did lose five seniors last year so we had to rebuild and fill a few holes, and they did a great job doing that.”
Avon Grove (23-1) entered states as the fifth seed out of District 1 but wasn’t an ordinary fifth seed. The Red Devils suffered their first loss in the second round of districts where they were seeded second and then fought their way into the state playoffs.
Avon Grove’s talent was evident early. The Red Devils came out strongly and scored just 64 seconds into the game. Morgan O’Donell took a crossing pass from Lyla Sarkissian, moved the ball just inside the circle and fired a shot into the cage.
O’Donell scored about seven minutes later unassisted for a 2-0 advantage.
“That’s hard,” Krause said. “That was pretty much our plan. You want to start and set the pace for the game. So (Avon Grove) did a nice job doing that.”
Valley West did a nice job evening out the play for the most part after that, but didn’t get a shot off in the first half. The Spartans’ best run came when Ava Mullery moved the ball inside the circle early in the second quarter, but was turned away.
The Spartans also had a couple scoring chances in the third quarter. Chelsea Hummel made a nice run down the right side, only to have Avon Grove goalie Kylee Mellott clear the ball. They then had a couple penalty corners, with the second resulting in a shot by Lily Watchilla off a deflection.
“It’s hard to play a team you don’t know,” Krause said, “so it takes a little bit to adjust. We did and held them for a while. We created some offense and had some corners and chances. It just didn’t work out in our favor.”
Avon Grove closed out the scoring with 2:59 remaining when Anna Keller connected on rebound of a shot by O’Donell.
Avon Grove moves to the quarterfinals on Saturday when it will play District 11 champion Emmaus (25-1).
PIAA Class 3A First Round
Avon Grove 3, Wyoming Valley West 0
Avon Grove`2`0`0`1 — 3
Wyo. Valley West`0`0`0`0 — 0
First Quarter: 1. AG, Morgan O’Donell (Lyla Sarkissian), 13:56; 2. AG, O’Donell 6:26; Fourth Quarter: 2. AG, Anna Keller (O’Donell) 2:59.
Shots: AG 8, WVW 2. Saves: AG 1 (Kylee Mellott), WVW 2 (Kaylah Sewell). Corners: AG 8, WVW 4.
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