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WILKES-BARRE — When the ball rocketed toward the front of the cage, Alex Wesneski felt she was too far out to make a difference.
Turns out, she was in perfect position.
And Wyoming Seminary remained perfect because of it.
For the second straight game, Wesneski slammed home the winning goal in the second half against an unbeaten opponent, this time with 10:29 remaining Thursday as Sem shrugged off an old nemesis and stormed back to beat the Wilkes-Barre Area Wolfpack, 3-2 in a tense field hockey battle for first place that left the Blue Knights still standing at the top of the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1.
“It’s all grit and it’s all heart,” Wesneski said.
It was all groans at the start for Sem.
Back at Guthrie Field — where the Blue Knights last lost a league game in 2016 — and on a grass surface that always seems to make them struggle, Sem immediately got stung.
Abie Sorokas — playing with a heavy heart this week following the death of her father Bob on Monday — dished an assist that teammate Jolene Ulichney powered home as the Wolfpack took a 1-0 lead under six minutes into the day.
Then Sorokas had Wilkes-Barre going wild when she scored her seventh goal since her father’s passing, a sizzler 17:28 before halftime that put the Wolfpack up 2-0.
“I know he’d yell at me if I didn’t play,” said Sorokas, who will be joined by her Wilkes-Barre Area teammates during her dad’s funeral services tonight. “I know he’s cheering me on. It kind of helps me get it (her dad’s death) off my mind for a bit. I think it’s kind of amazing how well I’ve played. I’m very surprised.”
Sem, which offered its condolences with a sympathy card before the game, was stunned by the score.
“I don’t think we’ve been down 2-0 all year,” Sem coach Karen Klassner said.
That didn’t mean they weren’t determined to change it.
Hannah Maxwell ripped in a wide-angle shot 10:54 from halftime, and with 50 seconds to play in the opening half, Emma Watchilla tied the game by slithering a shot through the goalie’s legs off a penalty corner feed from Bari Lefkowitz.
“They did a great job of getting a quick start on us,” Wesneski said. “They got us when we were on our heels. It (stinks) to be down 2-0.
“That motivated us a lot.”
But Wilkes-Barre Area, a combination of players from Coughlin, GAR and Meyers which uses Coughlin’s Guthrie Field as its home site until the new Wilkes-Barre Area High School and its accompanying sports facilities are built, proved just as determined.
“We are a good team, too,” Wilkes-Barre Area coach Colleen Wood said. “That’s how we play.”
Then Wesneski, who scored the lone goal of a 1-0 victory over 4-1 Wyoming Valley West in the second half Tuesday, made another play to put the Blue Knights over the top.
She lunged after a sweeping shot by Anna Mozeleski and slid home the wining goal with 10:29 remaining in the game, sending Sem swarming to her in celebration.
“I just happened to be in the right spot at the time,” Wesneski said. “I thought I was too far away from the ball. Then I saw the ball go through the defender’s legs and I turned up on it. We wanted that.
“No on on this team likes to lose.”
Instead, the winning continued for defending Class A state champion Sem, which ran its league unbeaten streak to 33 consecutive games over the past four seasons.
The Blue Knights played Wyoming Area to a scoreless tie in last year’s regular season finale, but were last defeated in WVC play by Coughlin, 2-1 on Oct. 17, 2016, at Guthrie Field.
“The kids knew what they had to do,” Klassner said. “I told them before the game, a loss or a tie would really hurt us right now. We knew today was going to be a tough game because of the surface. To come back from a 2-0 deficit is pretty darn good.
“Our kids played with a lot of heart.”
They also remained alone at the top of the WVC.
Wyoming is right behind at 5-0-1, while Wilkes-Barre Area and Valley West now have one loss after one-goal defeats to Sem this week, while Lake-Lehman suffered its first loss against Valley West on Thursday.
“I think we’ve got to carry the energy forward to get better each and every game,” Wesneski said.
The Wolfpack can see better days ahead, too.
“Obviously, you don’t ever want to lose,” Wood said. “We were right there. It usually is a good game between us when we play.
“I just told the kids they can play with anybody.”
Valley West 3, Lake-Lehman 0
Cameryn Forgash registered a goal and an assist and the Spartans rebounded from their first loss of the season by blanking the Black Knights.
Jillian Bonczewski opened the scoring with a goal for Valley West 71 seconds into the game.
Valley West improved to 5-1 after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Wyoming Seminary on Tuesday. Lehman, unbeaten entering the week, fell to 4-1-1.
Crestwood 5, Abington Heights 1
Sarah Richards had a hat trick and added an assist as Crestwood cruised to victory.
Emily Davidson and Emma Guydish also scored in the victory.
Shaelyn Kabrynich converted a goal for Abington Heights to break the shutout bid with 7:20 to play.
Holy Redeemer 2, Honesdale 0
Kayla Serafin and Lauren Kane scored goals and the Royals improved to 4-2 with the victory.
Addy Bielski added an assist for Holy Redeemer and Meredythe Baird stopped six shots in goal to preserve the shutout.
Wyoming Area 3, Hazleton Area 1
Toni Minichello scored two goals 84 seconds apart in the final three minutes of the first half and Lauren Parente wrapped up victory for the Warriors with a goal with 3:39 to play.
Hazleton Area took the lead when Haylee Petroski scored just over two minutes in, but Minichello tied the game with 2:45 to play in the first half, then gave the Warriors the lead with another goal 1:21 before halftime.
Berwick 1, Nanticoke Area 0
Alexis Nevel scored the game’s lone goal 3:26 in as the Bulldogs pulled out victory in a game played Wednesday.
Jackie Nevel stopped 24 shots in goal to give Berwick the win. Alexus Nichols made six saves for the Trojanettes.
Wyoming Sem 3, Wilkes-Barre Area 2
Wyoming Sem`2`1 — 3
Wilkes-Barre`2`0 — 2
First half — 1. WB, Jolene Ulichney (Abie Sorokas), 24:20; 2. WB, Sorokas (Ali Tedik), 17:28; 3. SEM, Hannah Maxwell (Emma Watchilla), 10:54; 4. SEM, Watchilla (Bari Lefkowitz), 0:50. Second half — 5. SEM, Alex Wesneski (Anna Mozeleski), 10:29.
Shots — SEM 10; WB 10. Saves — SEM 8 (Mia Magnotta); WB 7 (Briannah Lee). Penalty corners — SEM 5; WB 11.
Valley West 3, Lake-Lehman 0
Lake-Lehman`0`0 — 0
Valley West`2`1 — 3
First half — 1. WVW, Jillian Bonczewski (Ariana Rupnik), 28:49; 2. WVW, Rina Tsioles (Camryn Forgash), 19:39. Second half — 3. WVW, Forgash, 15:22.
Shots — LL 4; WVW 11. Saves — LL 8 (Amy Supey); WVW 1 (Sydney Rusnock). Penalty corners — LL 6; WVW 5.
Crestwood 5, Abington Heights 1
Abington Heights`0`1 — 1
Crestwood`4`1 — 5
First half — 1. CRE, Emily Davidson, 20:58; 2. CRE, Emma Guydish (Sarah Richards), 12:37; 3. CRE, Richards, 7:41; CRE, Richards, 1:44. Second half — 5. CRE, Richards, 15:52; 6. AH, Shaelyn Kabrynich, 7:20.
Shots — AH 9; CRE 19. Saves — AH 14 (MaKenna Thorpe); CRE 8 (Isabella Caparusio). Penalty corners — AH 3; CRE 7.
Holy Redeemer 2, Honesdale 0
Holy Redeemer`1`1 — 2
Honesdale`0`0 — 0
First half — 1. HR, Kayla Serafin (Addy Bielski), 15:56. Second half — 2. HR, Lauren Kane, 2:02.
Shots — HR 8; HON 6. Saves — HR 6 (Meredythe Baird); HON 6 (Nicole Miszler). Penalty corners — HR 7; HON 10.
Wyoming Area 3, Hazleton Area 1
Wyoming Area`2`1 — 3
Hazleton Area`1`0 — 1
First half — 1. HAZ, Haylee Petroski (Jill Buchman), 27:42; 2. WA, Toni Minichello (Kari Melberger), 2:45; 3. WA, Minichello, 1:21. Second half — 4. WA, Lauren Parente (Kayla Kiwak), 3:39.
Shots — WA 15; HAZ 8. Saves — WA 7 (Ellie Glatz); HAZ 12 (Elaina Ashman). Penalty corners — WA 10; HAZ 5.
Berwick 1, Nanticoke Area 0
Nanticoke Area`0`0 — 0
Berwick`1`0 — 1
First half — 1. BER, Alexis Nevel (Abbie Nevel), 26:34.
Shots — NAN 24; BER 8. Saves — NAN 6 (Alexus Nichols); BER 24 (Jackie Nevel). Penalty corners — NAN 17; BER 5.
