Wyoming Seminary’s Maddie Olshemski celebrates a Blue Knight goal in the PIAA Class A field hockey state championship game on Saturday. Seminary defeated Greenwood, 3-0, to claim the championship.
                                 Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Wyoming Seminary’s Maddie Olshemski celebrates a Blue Knight goal in the PIAA Class A field hockey state championship game on Saturday. Seminary defeated Greenwood, 3-0, to claim the championship.

Fred Adams | For Times Leader

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WHITEHALL – Faced with a chance to make history, Karen Klassner wanted her Wyoming Seminary field hockey team to make Saturday’s state final as much like any other game as possible.

The Blue Knights did.

They won, yet again.

“The kids just want to win every game they play,” Klassner said after a 3-0 victory over Greenwood to complete a perfect season, win another Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class A state title and extend many impressive streaks. “Today, we told the kids it’s just like any other game for them.

“That’s kind of the approach we’ve taken. We don’t try to make it too special for them, just because they know what it means. They knew it meant to the league and to the program.”

Wyoming Seminary’s players were probably aware by game time that they were trying to become the first field hockey team from the Wyoming Valley Conference to win three state titles.

The historical significance goes far beyond that, however.

In a century of PIAA state championships, only three District 2 schools have ever won as many as three straight state titles in any sport.

In 47 years of state field hockey championships, a dozen teams have won two straight titles, but Wyoming Seminary was the first to put three straight together.

Berwick’s football dynasty under George Curry was the only to produce four straight state titles, winning in Class 3A from 1994 through 1997.

Scranton Prep won Class 2A boys cross country titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002, starting a stretch of five championships in six years.

In field hockey, District 11 power Emmaus has won consecutive titles four times. Crestwood (2003-04) and Wyoming Seminary (2010-11) had given the WVC previous back-to-back champions. The feat had also been accomplished by Perkiomen Valley, Upper Moreland, Villa Maria Academy, Warwick and Lower Dauphin before Wyoming Seminary put together its current streak.

Wyoming Seminary won 16 games this season to extend its overall winning streak to 26 games and its streak against Pennsylvania competition to 44. The Blue Knights are unbeaten in their last 58 in-state games with just one tie against Wyoming Area.

In addition, the team has won 11 straight state playoff games and 20 straight playoff games overall, counting the district tournament.

“This senior class did something that’s never been done,” Klassner said after the fourth straight state final appearance.

The last loss before all those streaks was to Greenwood in the 2017 state championship game and the Blue Knights have since defeated the Wildcats in the state tournament three straight times.

Mia Magnotta, the University of Iowa commit and returning first-team, all-state goalie, started in all four state finals and posted shutouts in the last three.

Magnotta had her busiest state final Saturday.

Wyoming Seminary had the game’s first five penalty corners and first three shots as well as the final four shots.

During the 39 minutes in between, Greenwood led 14-8 in shots and 7-3 in penalty corners, but Magnotta made 13 saves and Wyoming Seminary scored three times during that stretch.

“I’m beyond happy right now,” Magnotta said. “God is good. I’m so grateful we even had a season. Being able to finish it out with these girls four times in the state final and nice gold medals again, it’s a beautiful and amazing feeling.”

Wyoming Seminary has now won a total of nine PIAA state titles, matching the combined total of the other multiple state champions from the powerful WVC. Crestwood has won five titles while Lake-Lehman and Wyoming Valley West have two each.

Magnotta was one of four senior starters, all committed to National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I schools, who were part of the championship run.

Grace Parsons, who had a strong game both stopping the Greenwood transition and getting Wyoming Seminary’s moving, is headed to the University of Virginia. Quinn Medico is committed to La Salle and Abby Santo to Holy Cross.

The scoring came from underclassmen. Junior Anna Mozeleski scored the final goal. Sophomores Isabella Pisano and Ella Barbacci scored the first two goals and Emma Watchilla, another sophomore, had an assist.

Pisano’s goal on her own rebound, with 10:58 left in the second quarter, was the only score of the first half, making it the game-winner.

“I wasn’t even starting at the beginning of the year,” Pisano said, “but I just kept hustling at practice.”

After Pennsylvania Department of Health officials backed off their mandate on active athletes wearing masks, players adjusted as the state final progressed.

Both teams spent their final days of practice thinking they would be required to wear masks during the state championship game.

The state adjusted its position Friday, allowing for the interpretation that athletes fully exerting themselves and using equipment, such as the mouthpieces that are required in field hockey, may need to play without their masks.

PIAA associate executive director instructor the head coaches and team captains during pregame that players would be able to make their own on-field decisions about face coverings. All players, coaches and other team personnel were told to wear masks on the sidelines and during pregame and postgame ceremonies.

Most players started the game with masks on. As the first half progressed, many lowered them. By the time the second half started, the majority of players had left their masks at the bench.

Mertz said the revised state health website wording allowed more leeway for the field hockey, soccer and volleyball finals, football state finals and plans moving into the winter sports seasons.

“We felt that gave us more support that we didn’t have to mandate that during the game, while they were intensely playing or vigorously playing, that they would have to wear the mask,” Mertz said. “We felt that gave us some more flexibility and brought us back to what we originally had, which was while engaged, they didn’t have to wear them.”