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A couple years ago, Addy Bielski was a freshman phenom joining a Holy Redeemer field hockey team that was coming off its finest hour.
She’s intent on helping the Royals get back there.
And she doesn’t have to turn back time to do it.
Instead, she’s speeding things up, as evidenced by Bielski’s two lightning-quick goals that sparked Redeemer’s major 4-0 upset of wounded Wilkes-Barre Area on Tuesday at the Eddie White Soccer Field.
“You can’t go into a game thinking you’re going to lose,” Bielski said. “We were really looking forward to this game.”
Suddenly, the Royals are looking to a bright playoff future.
They moved to 6-3 in league play and passed 4-3-1 Wilkes-Barre Area for fifth place in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 with Tuesday’s win.
Maybe more importantly, Redeemer went above the .500 mark overall and is now standing at 7-6 and in sixth place in the District 2 Class A rankings — and is quickly moving up in the power ratings system on No. 4 Northwest and No. 5 Lackawanna Trail for one of the top four spots and a home game in the district playoffs.
“It’s great,” said Bielski, who has helped the Royals to five wins in their last seven games. “Our first game of the season, it was an improvement from last season. It’s (because of) communication, just knowing where we’re going to be, our timing, communicating with each other on and off the field. I think it’s the amount of time we spend together.”
These days, the Royals don’t spend much time thinking about a 6-12 finish that left them out of the district playoffs during their first season in a move up from the WVC Division 2 to Division 1.
They’re looking back even further, to when Redeemer played in the first District 2 title game in school history, its first-ever state playoff game and accomplished its first PIAA tournament win.
That was 2016, the year before Bielski joined the team.
During her freshman season of 2017, the Royals completed a second consecutive 12-0 regular season to win back-to-back WVC Division 2 titles and advanced to the District 2 Class A semifinals before suffering a heartbreaking, 1-0 overtime loss to Lake-Lehman.
“I think we can definitely be back to that level,” Bielski said.
Upending Wilkes-Barre Area was a good way to show it.
The win started when Kayla Serafin slung home the game’s first goal midway through the first half to start the Royals rolling.
“I think when we score first it puts a really good thought in our heads,” Bielski said.
Moments later, the Wolfpack were thinking uh-oh.
Already without two starters due to injuries entering the game, Wilkes-Barre Area lost goalie Briannah Lee to a leg problem later in the first half.
“I just think injuries are killing us right now,” said Wilkes-Barre Area coach Colleen Wood, whose team remains the top seed in the District 2 Class 3A standings ahead of 3-6-2 Hazleton Area. “We just need to get healthy, stay healthy.”
The Wolfpack would also like to get a few breaks, after three apparent goals in the game were disallowed.
“It changes momentum,” Wood said. “When things aren’t consistent, it throws you out of your game. We dominated the entire first half. We had shots, we did play well. The little tips and rebounds, we have to get on them and get them in.”
Bielski had little trouble with that.
She charged into the circle to score under nine minutes into the second half, giving Redeemer breathing room with a 2-0 lead.
“We couldn’t let down,” Bielski said. “It only takes 16 seconds to go down the field and score a goal.”
That’s about how long it took her to race into Wilkes-Barre’s end and slam home her second score of the game, giving the Royals a 3-0 advantage with 1 minutes remaining to pretty much seal the victory.
“I’ve never seen a player be able to dodge an entire field of players like she can,” said Hannah Beach, who is in her first season co-coaching the Royals with former GAR assistant Kelsey Drozda. “Her stick skills are unmatched.”
Her shooting skills aren’t bad either, says Drozda, a former forward at GAR.
“She has a very strong mentality,” Drozda said. “That’s good to have on the team.”
Fahey got off a good shot to finish the scoring with 7:30 to play, and Holy Redeemer goalie Meredythe Baird made 13 saves — including a bat-down of a penalty stroke by super scorer Jolene Ulichney in the first half — to record the shutout.
“I think the girls kind of wanted to pull themselves out of the slump,” said Beach, whose team had dropped two of three games in an otherwise strong three weeks. “We needed to do this, to prove it to ourselves that we can hang in there against the best teams in the area.”
Wyoming Seminary 7, Wallenpaupack 0
Alex Wesneski had a hat trick as the Blue Knights ran their WVC unbeaten streak to 38 consecutive games over the last four seasons.
Hannah Maxwell and Emma Watchilla each added a goal and two assists in the victory for Sem, Max Field Hockey’s No. 8 team in the Pennsylvania Region, as the team gets ready to play nationally-ranked powers Eastern (N.J.) and Sacred Heart (Ky.) in a high-profile tournament at Eastern on Saturday.
Madison Kier made 12 saves for Wallenpaupack.
Wyoming Area 6, Abington Heights 0
Lauren Parente had a hat trick and Kari Melberger scored twice as the Warriors jumped on the Comets and remained on the heels of Wyoming Seminary in the WVC Division 1 title chase.
The victory moved Wyoming Area, ranked No. 14 in the Pennsylvania Region by Max Field Hockey, to 11-0-1 overall and to 8-0-1 in league play, just behind 10-0 Sem.
Parente scored twice in the game’s first eight minutes and the Warriors built on the momentum to take a 5-0 halftime lead.
Wyoming Area held the Comets without a shot. Makenna Thorpe made 39 saves for Abington Heights.
Lake-Lehman 4, Dallas 1
Coley Leo had a goal and an assist as the Black Knights won the battle of the Back Mountain.
Madison Lasinski finished with two assists — one in each half — as Lehman built a 4-0 lead.
Megan Ostrowski scored for Dallas to break the shutout with 19 seconds remaining.
Hazleton Area 1, Honesdale 0
Jill Buchman scored the game’s lone goal with 11:54 remaining to lift the Cougars to victory.
Amelia Bredbenner assisted on the play as Hazleton Area improved to 3-6-2 overall and remained in the hunt for the top seed in the District 2 Class 3A playoffs behind 4-3-1 Wilkes-Barre Area.
Elaina Ashman made four stops in goal to earn the victory for Hazleton Area.
Crestwood 2, Pittston Area 0
Aubrey Colo and Emily Davidson both scored goals and the Comets won for the fourth time in five games to close in on the .500 mark for the season.
Taylor Yeager added an assist for Crestwood, now 7-8 overall, and Isabella Caparusio made six saves to record the shutout.
Arianna Pisano made six stops for Pittston Area.
Wyoming Valley West 7, Delaware Valley 0
Ariane Rupnik scored two goals and dished out two assists as the Spartans stormed to victory.
Paige Williams also scored two goals for the Spartans, who are 7-2-1 with four games remaining and looking to lock up the top seed in the District 2 Class 2A playoffs.
It took little more than five minutes into the game for Williams, Rina Tsioles and Jenna Rovine to score as Valley West took a quick 3-0 lead.
Cameryn Forgash tossed in two assists for the Spartans, ranked as Pennsylvania’s No. 19 team by Max Field Hockey.
Emily Festa made eight saves for Delaware Valley.
Holy Redeemer 4, Wilkes-Barre 0
Wilkes-Barre`0`0 — 0
Holy Redeemer`1`3 — 4
First half — 1. HR, Kayla Serafin (Caton Fahey), 15:03. Second half — 2. HR, Addy Bielski, 21:08; 3. HR, Bielski, 12:00; 4. HR, Fahey, 7:30.
Shots — WB 13; HR 11. Saves — WB 7 (Briannah Lee 5-6, Olyvia Jackson 2-4, Emily Duraczewski 0-1); HR 13 (Meredythe Baird). Penalty corners — WB 15; HR 8.
Wyoming Sem 7, Wallenpaupack 0
Wallenpaupack`0`0 — 0
Wyoming Sem`3`4 — 7
First half — 1. SEM, Ella Barbacci (Emma Watchilla), 3:41; 2. SEM, Dani Reiser (Watchilla), 12:25; 3. SEM, Alex Wesneski (Hannah Maxwell), 15:13. Second half — 4. SEM, Maxwell (Wesneski), 3:37; 5. SEM, Wesneski (Maxwell), 8:41; 6. SEM, Watchilla (Maxwell), 9:49; 7. SEM, Wesneski, 10:47.
Shots — WAL 3; SEM 19. Saves — WAL 12 (Madison Kier); SEM 3 (Mia Magnotta 2, Megan Catrone 1). Penalty corners — WAL 3; SEM 9.
Wyoming Area 6, Abington Heights 0
Abington Heights`0`0 — 0
Wyoming Area`5`1 — 6
First half — 1. WA, Lauren Parente, 28:21; 2. WA, Parente (Kayla Kiwak), 22:01; 3. WA, Kari Melberger (Bianca Pizano), 15:26; 4. WA, Alexys Moore (Parente), 4:06; 5. WA, Melberger (Toni Minichello), 0:22. Second half — 6. WA, Parente, 15:52.
Shots — AH 0; WA 45. Saves — AH 39 (Makenna Thorpe); WA 0 (Ellie Glatz). Penalty corners — AH 8; WA 14.
Lake-Lehman 4, Dallas 1
Dallas`0`1 — 1
Lake-Lehman`3`1 — 4
First half — 1. LL, Rachel Galasso (Emma Hoats), 22:00; 2. LL, Grace Ciaccia (Coley Leo), 14:31; 3. LL, Leo (Madison Lasinski), 11:57. Second half — 4. LL, Maclyn Vasey (Lasinski), 3:14; 5. DAL, Megan Ostrowski (Hannah Oldt), 0:19.
Shots — DAL 2; LL 9. Saves — DAL 3 (Amanda Puza); LL 2 (Amy Supey, Post). Penalty corners — DAL 1; LL 6.
Hazleton Area 1, Honesdale 0
Hazleton Area`0`1 — 1
Honesdale`0`0 — 0
Second half — 1. HAZ, Jill Buchman (Amelia Bredbenner), 11:54.
Shots — HAZ 3; HON 4. Saves — HAZ 4 (Elaina Ashman); HON 2 (Nicole Miszler). Penalty corners — HAZ 4; HON 7.
assist 2nd half 11:54
Crestwood 2, Pittston Area 0
Crestwood`1`1 — 2
Pittston Area`0`0 — 0
First half — 1. CRE, Aubrey Colo (Taylor Yeager). Second half — 2. CRE, Emily Davidson.
Shots — CRE 8; PA 7. Saves — CRE 6 (Isabella Caparusio); PA 6 (Arianna Pisano). Penalty corners — CRE 5; PA 4.
Valley West 7, Delaware Valley 0
Delaware Valley`0`0 — 0
Valley West`5`2 — 7
First half — 1. WVW, Paige Williams (Camryn Forgash), 29:17; 2. WVW, Rina Tsioles (Ariane Rupnik), 27:51; 3. WVW, Jenna Rovine, 24:40; 4. WVW, Rupnik (Forgash), 18:34; 5. Rupnik (Jillian Bonczewski), 2:50. Second half — 6. WVW, Williams (Rupnik), 27:35; 7. WVW, Marissa Mooney (Rupnik), 17:01.
Shots — DV 0; WVW 15. Saves — DV 8 (Emily Festa); WVW 0 (Sydney Rusnock). Penalty corners — DV 0; WVW 11.