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When the boys soccer season started two months ago, Crestwood and Wyoming Seminary were two of the favorites in their divisions and District 2.
Those two clubs lived up to their billing by winning both to repeat as divisional and district champions.
Wilkes-Barre Area had high expectations to start the campaign, but the season was supposed to be a learning experience for everyone as many new faces were put to the test in new settings. There certainly were growing pains as the Wolfpack endured a four-game losing streak late in the season and finished fourth in Division 1 of the Wyoming Valley Conference. But they got hot at the right time and rode that to the District 2 Class 4A title last week. As the No. 3 seed they defeated second-seeded Williamsport in the semifinals before upsetting top seed Delaware Valley in the final while traveling well over an hour to play both games.
“It was extremely gratifying,” Wolfpack coach Jack Nolan said. “I think for them to see the reward of their effort is so gratifying, I cant’ describe it. To see this group of kids who were put into this situation through no fault of their own as adults were making decisions for them, and for them to succeed and to see the kids have success is gratifying. And for those who said we couldn’t do it, it is gratifying too to quiet the critics.”
The boys soccer team has the distinction of being the second-ever program for the newly reformed Wilkes-Barre Area athletic department to claim a district title. The boys did so a day after the field hockey team became the first team in history of the Wolfpack to claim district gold. Still, it was an accomplishment that not many saw coming.
“People equate that these numbers will turn us into a juggernaut and that’s not true, and you know that,” Nolan said. “The credit goes to the kids. They did a great job in figuring out their roles and what they could do. I’m extremely proud of them.”
The first round of the PIAA Championships starts on Tuesday with the Wolfpack playing Conestoga, the fourth seed from District 1 at Dallas High School at 6 p.m.
While the Wolfpack are not considered a juggernaut yet and may be on the way to being it one day, it could be argued that the Comets and Blue Knights are the juggernauts.
Crestwood claimed its third straight District 2 Class 3A title last week when it defeated Wyoming Valley West for its fourth D2 title in five years. They open state play on Tuesday with a game on the road at Loyalsock Township High School for a 7 p.m. Class 3A match against District 4 champion Selinsgrove.
Comets senior Payton Glynn has been to the state tournament before, but he knows it will be a challenge.
“The state teams, they know how to play. They pass the ball well. It’s not a lot of the teams around this area,” he said. “It’s a whole new game.”
Wyoming Seminary has also turned into a force in the district over the last handful of years. The Blue Knights picked up their second straight District 2 Class 2A title last week when they ruined Wyoming Area’s shot at a historic first D2 gold. When Sem claimed that victory, it also marked the team’s fourth crown in six years with two being in Class A before there were four classifications in boys soccer. Like Crestwood, the Blue Knights take on a District 4 champion on the road as they face Lewisburg at Danville High School at 7 p.m.
“The first round of states is gonna be tough,” said Sem senior Reggie Grayek, who had tallied a pair of goals in the team’s last two games with both being on impressive free kicks. “We just gotta work hard in practice and keep the mindset, one game at a time and see how far we can go.”
The three WVC teams will be trying to be the first team from the conference to win a game in the state tournament since Wyoming Seminary did so in 2015. Prior to Sem’s win in 2015, the conference went through a nine-year drought without getting a win in states. The previous team to win a state game before that Sem team was Wyoming Valley West in 2006.