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The Wyoming Valley West Spartans waited 14 years just to make it back to their second state title game.

Turns out, they didn’t want to wait that long to appear in No. 3.

Now they get a shot at ending another drought, while trying to bring home the school’s first championship trophy since 2003.

“It would be an amazing feeling to win one,” Spartans star Rina Tsioles said.

Especially given the opponent.

The Valley West revenge tour continues straight to the PIAA Class 2A championship game at noon today, when the Spartans face a Palmyra team that ended their season in last year’s state semifinals and ultimately prevented them from a state three-peat at Whitehall High School’s Zephyr Sports Complex.

“It means a lot for me,” said Valley West forward Ari Rupnik, a one-year transfer student from Germany. “I’ve only once been in a state championship, in Germany — the German Championship.”

She didn’t win, so she shares a a deep desire with Tsioles, Cameryn Forgash, goalie Sydney Rusnock and the rest of the Spartans who reached the 2017 state championship game — only to be turned away from a title during a 2-1 loss to Villa Maria Academy.

“We have to go out there and win,” Tsioles said. “Play our hearts out.”

Nobody’s shown more heart in the Class 2A field than Tsioles, a little lightning bug who’s struck with head-spinning frequency throughout the postseason.

A zippy, play-making midfielder with enough magic in her stick to whiz past opponents on her way to playing for Old Dominion next season, Tsioles keeps waving her wand to make goals appear for Valley West.

She scored the tiebreaking goal in a 3-1 semifinal win over Villa Maria — a victory that avenged Valley West’s 2-1 loss in the 2017 PIAA finals — assisted on the first goal in a 2-1 quarterfinal win over Northern York and hit the first goal of the Spartans’ 2-0 victory over Crestwood in the District 2 title game.

“People have no idea about what she brings to this team,” Valley West coach Linda Fithian raved. “She’s a quiet leader. She doesn’t yell, doesn’t scream. She leads by her play. And I’ve never seen her play a bad game. For our offense, really, she does it all.”

Tsioles does it despite a lack of size. Standing 4-foot-11, she’s often the smallest player on the pitch — and often, the most dangerous.

“I feel like size in this sport really doesn’t matter,” Tsioles, a senior, shrugged. “It’s how fast you are. As long as you can use your speed, you’re good.”

Rupnik has been even better.

She’s contributed to goals in all five of Valley West’s postseason games, starting her state run with scoring the only goal of a 1-0 victory over Bishop Shanahan. Rupnik followed that with an assist on the winning goal vs. Northern York and hit the clinching goal against Villa Maria.

Before that, Rupnik had two goals and two assists in a 4-0 District 2 semifinal victory over Dallas, then registered a goal and an assist in a 2-0 District 2 title win over Crestwood.

And to think she came to the United States as a defender who never stepped out of the defensive backfield.

“Our defense was set,” Fithian remembered. “I thought, ‘She’s here in America, why not give her a chance to play some forward before she goes back home.’ ”

Rupnik’s stick took the the move, even if her mind initially did not.

“It’s a switch, a big change,” Rupnik said. “You know, as a defender, what the forwards are doing. I think you have to be more active as a forward. You have to create more.”

The Spartans may have to get creative against 22-3 Palmyra, the two-time District 3 champ which brings back the nucleus of a team that beat them on the way to last year’s PIAA finals.

Senior midfielder Lauren Wadas scored the final goal of Palmyra’s 4-0 semifinal victory over Twin Valley and struck for two goals in the first seven minutes of the team’s second straight district title victory.

Valley West remembers that well, as Wadas had a goal and two assists in the final 16 minutes of the first half of last year’s semifinals, an offensive spree that sent the Spartans to a 3-1 defeat.

Other key returners back for another crack at the Spartans are forwards Lauren Derr and Anna Miller, along with defender Livy Shoemaker — although goalie Katie Knol is a first-year starter and is sharing time with converted defender Jess St. Clair in the cage.

“I think last year, we were caught off guard a little bit,” Tsioles said. “The first half was really what got us.”

Now, Valley West has a chance to get the Panthers back.

It marks the second straight game the Spartans will play against a team that destroyed their state championship dreams for the last two seasons. And if you think Valley West hasn’t thought about that, think again.

“Oh definitely,” Tsioles said. “Especially since it’s the finals. We have to come out just really hard this game.

“We just want to win.”

Rina Tsioles, second from left, scored Wyoming Valley West’s only goal in a 3-1 loss to Palmyra in last year’s state semfinals — a defeat the Spartans would love to avenge in Saturday’s PIAA Class 2A championship game at Whitehall High School’s Zephyr Sports Complex.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_WVW-Palmyra-FH-5-1.jpg.optimal.jpgRina Tsioles, second from left, scored Wyoming Valley West’s only goal in a 3-1 loss to Palmyra in last year’s state semfinals — a defeat the Spartans would love to avenge in Saturday’s PIAA Class 2A championship game at Whitehall High School’s Zephyr Sports Complex. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

The Wyoming Valley West Spartans are seeking to celebrate the second state field hockey title in school history when they face Palmyra in today’s PIAA Class 2A championship game.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_WVW-Villa-Maria-FH-3-1.jpg.optimal.jpgThe Wyoming Valley West Spartans are seeking to celebrate the second state field hockey title in school history when they face Palmyra in today’s PIAA Class 2A championship game. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

Cameryn Forgash and the Spartans are looking got the second state field hockey title in school history when they face Palmyra in today’s PIAA Class 2A championship game.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_WVW-Villa-Maria-FH-4-1.jpg.optimal.jpgCameryn Forgash and the Spartans are looking got the second state field hockey title in school history when they face Palmyra in today’s PIAA Class 2A championship game. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

Rina Tsioles has Wyoming Valley West looking for its first PIAA field hockey championship since 2003.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_WVW-Villa-Maria-FH-2-1.jpg.optimal.jpgRina Tsioles has Wyoming Valley West looking for its first PIAA field hockey championship since 2003. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

By Paul Sokoloski

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