HUGHESTOWN — It was sitting right on their fingertips, a long-sought playoff berth that would have signaled a re-birth of Pittston Area’s field hockey program.

The Patriots were five minutes, then four, then just three from securing a spot in the District 2 postseason.

Then Clayre Smith and her Honesdale teammates snatched it away.

Brie Meyers scored her second goal of the game with 2:29 to play in regulation to tie it Thursday, then Smith slammed a shot into the cage with 29 seconds remaining in overtime as the Honesdale Hornets rallied for a 3-2 victory that left Pittston Area heartbroken.

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“We played a lot of sophomores this season, with the freshmen class, it definitely gets you excited, gets you ready for next season,” Pittston Area coach Caitlyn Hadzimichalis said.

“It’s going to sting until then.”

The loss left 3-6-3 Pittston Area out of next week’s District 2 Class 3A playoffs and put 4-7-1 Delaware Valley in as the No.4 seed for a first-round meeting with top-seeded and 12-0 Coughlin. Wyoming Valley West and Hazleton Area will meet in the other Class 3A semifinal district game next week, while the Patriots barely missed out by finishing fifth behind those four playoff teams in the Wyoming Valley Conference Divsion 1.

And Pittston Area will wistfully wonder what the feeling of the postseason would have been like if it held onto one of the two leads the Patriots had in Thursday’s back-and-forth battle at the Pittston Area Primary Center.

“If we’d have won, we would have gotten in,” Hadzimichalis said. “A lot of sleepless nights from here until next season.”

Through much of the game, the Patriots seemed as if they’d be sleeping just fine.

Alana Platukus punched home the game’s first goal just 21 seconds in, and Pittston Area had the strong start it was looking for with a 1-0 lead.

It didn’t last, though, as Meyers scored her first goal 10 minutes later and the teams went into halftime tied at 1-1.

“One of our biggest faults was (not) coming out strong,” said Smith, whose Honesdale team wound up in sixth place in Division 1 at 3-9. “We said, ‘This is not happening. We’re not going to take it anymore.’”

Pittston Area took the lead little more than seven minutes into the second half, when Ali Dunn wound up and slammed home a go-ahead goal after a couple of kick-saves in the cage.

That held up until the final minutes, when Meyers took a feed from Smith and struck again – evening the score at 2-2 with 2:29 to play in regulation.

“When we were coming into it, we’re like, ‘We don’t have a chance of going to the playoffs. Let’s make it tough for other teams,’ ” said Smith, a junior who is already committed to play college field hockey for Penn State. “If we can’t go to the playoffs, we wanted to pull an upset.”

The ending left the Patriots with upset stomachs.

In the final moments of the 15-minute, seven-on-seven overtime, Smith stole away possession and charged down the field flanked by Meyers on a two-on-one break. She deked a Pittston Area defender, then rifled home the shot that broke Pittston Area’s hearts with less than a half-minute on the game clock.

“It felt really good,” Smith said. “When I intercepted the ball, I saw Brie Meyers on the sideline. I thought they’d probably guard her. I just knew if I could play the side (of the cage), I knew I could make a good shot in. It was nice to see our last game really come together, and to win it for the seniors.”

Meanwhile, Pittston Area’s seniors will leave knowing they helped the program reach the brink of the postseason, and helped set up the team for future playoff runs.

“All eight of our seniors believed they were going to come in with a different attitude,” said Hadzimichalis. “It’s a shame I couldn’t help them get to that (postseason goal). We didn’t have that experience last year. We spent this year kind of learning how to win.

“And we tied a lot.”

Wyoming Valley West 3, Delaware Valley 1

The Spartans used three, second-half goals to defeat Delaware Valley. Mercedes Jasterzenski netted two and tallied an assist while Irelynd Sullivan also found the back of the net for Wyoming Valley West.

Addy Ross scored the only goal of the game for Delaware Valley.

Wyoming Seminary 14, Hanover Area 0

Aubrey Mytych found the back of the cage seven times and assisted on another two as she pushed Wyoming Seminary past Hanover Area. Emily Sims scored a hat trick and tallied three assists and Kelsey Reznick had two goals and three helpers to futher the Blue Knight’s cause.

Wyoming Seminary outshot the Hawkeyes 30-1 and the combination of Alexis Sokach and Jaryah Patterson made a single save to get the win.

Wyoming Area 10, Elk Lake 0

Bree Bednarski tallied four goals, Grace Gober and Gianna Gennetts each scored two and Jillian Spak and Bre Cannel each found the back of the cage once as Wyoming Area’s win.

The Warriors registered 27 shots and held a 7-3 advantage in corners while Katie Wolfgang made four saves to get the shutout.

Lake-Lehman 5, Meyers 0

Izzy Radel scored twice and Sarah Sabaluski and Makayla Adams both registered two assists as the Black Knights stormed past the Mohawks.

Alicia Glasso made three saves in the cage to protect the shutout for Lehman.

Cameron Daughtry saved five shots for Meyers.

Hazleton Area 4, Wallanpaupack 0

Kara Sanford scored two goals and made two assists as the Cougars shut down Wallenpaupack.

Ann Amentler and Victoria Middleton also scored for Hazleton Area.

Katie Irving finished with 12 saves for Wallenpaupack, which was held to just one shot by Hazleton Area’s defense.

Lackawanna Trail 5, Nanticoke 1

Courtney Dwyer scored twice while Madison Lee, Lauren Baldwin and Elizabeth Rodenback each got a goal as Lackawanna Trail defeated Nanticoke. The Lions out shot the Trojans 16-9 and goalie Sarah Weisenfluh made six saves to get the win.

Liz Colmire scored the only goal of the night for Nanticoke.

Coughlin 5, Tunkhannock 0

Kyra Wozniak netted a hat trick and assisted on another as Coughlin shut out Tunkhannock. Savannah Robinson and Kailey Reed had the other goals for the Crusaders.

Honesdale 3, Pittston Area 2 (OT)

Honesdale`1`1`1`—`3

Pittston Area`1`1`0`—`2

First half — 1. PA, Alana Platukus 0:21; 2. HON, Brie Meyers (14:15). Second half —3. PA, Ali Dunn 7:20; 4. HON, Meyers (Clayre Smith) 27:31. Overtime — 5. HON, Smith 14:31.

Shots — HON 14; PA 14. Saves — HON 12 (Mackenzie Jackson); PA 11 (Shelby Gardner). Penalty corners — HON 5; PA 7.

Wyoming Valley West 3, Delaware Valley 1

Delaware Valley`0`1`—`1

Wyoming Valley West`0`3`—`3

Second half — 1. WVW, Irelynd Sullivan (Mercedes Jasterzenski), 22:39. 2. WVW, Jasterzenski (Nina Magnotta), 18:53. 3. DV, Addy Ross (Maecy Chlebowski), 14:12. 4. WVW, Jasterzenski (Erin Gibbins), 2:41.

Shots — DV 2; WVW 19. Saves — DV 13 (Sophia Festa); WVW 1 (Nikki Hartzel). Penalty corners — DV 6; WVW 8.

Wyoming Seminary 14, Hanover Area 0

Hanover Area`0`0`—`0

Wyoming Seminary`8`6`—`14

First half — 1. WS, Aubrey Mytych (Emily Sims), 2:01. 2. WS, Mytych (Kate Barilla), 2:43. 3. WS, Mytych (Sims), 4:05. 4. WS, Mytych, 19:59. 5. WS, Kelsey Reznick (Mytych), 21:06. 6. WS, Mytych (Reznick), 23:01. 7. WS, Sims, 25:00. 8. WS, Mytych (Reznick), 29:57. Second half — 9. WS, Melinda Holena (Sims), 8:09. 10. WS, Mytych, 13:43. 11. WS, Reznick, 16:08. 12. WS, Barilla (Reznick), 16:58. 13. WS, Sims (Mytych), 17:02. 14. WS, Sims, 18:58.

Shots — HAN 1; WS 30. Saves — HAN 16 (Morgan Korba); WS 1 (Alexis Sokach 0, Jaryah Patterson 1). Penalty corners — HAN 0; WS 10.

Wyoming Area 10, Elk Lake 0

Wyoming Area`7`3`—`10

Elk Lake`0`0`—`0

First half — 1. WA, Gianna Gennetts (Bree Bednarski), 24:16. 2. WA, Bednarski (Grace Angelella), 23:24. 3. WA, Bednarski (Madison Mulhern), 22:40. 4. WA, Jillian Spak (Bednarski), 19:10. 5. WA, Bednarski (Haley Johnson), 17:53. 6. WA, Bednarski (Angelella), 15:08. 7. WA, Gennetts (Grace Gober), 1:36. Second half — 8. WA, Gober (Mulhern), 27:45. 9. WA, Gober (Abby Gober), 20:10. 10. WA, Bre Cannel (Jalen Rhodes), 7:15.

Shots — WA 27; ELK 3. Saves — WA 4 (Katie Wolfgang); ELK 20 (Abby Hanel). Penalty corners — WA 7; ELK 3.

Lake-Lehman 5, Meyers 0

Lake-Lehman`3`2`—`5

Meyers`0`0`—`0

First half — 1. LL, Izzy Radel (Makayla Adams) 19:42; 2. LL, Taylor Alba (Maranda Martin) 24:13; 3. LL, Kate Supey (Sarah Sabaluski) 16:13. Second half — 4. LL, Lilli Stepanski (Adams) 2:54; 5. LL, Radel (Sabaluski) 13:408.

Shots — LL 10; MEY 3. Saves — LL 3 (Alicia Galasso); MEY 5 (Cameron Daughtry); ELK 20 (Abby Hanel). Penalty corners — LL 10; MEY 3.

Hazleton Area 4, Wallenpaupack 0

Wallenpaupack`0`0`—`0

Hazleton Area`1`3`—`4

First half — 1. HAZ, Ann Amentler (Kara Sanford) 18:31. Second half — 2. HAZ, Sanford 0:50; 3. HAZ, Victoria Middleton (Sanford) 5:26; 4. HAZ, Sanford 13:10.

Shots — WAL 1; HAZ 16. Saves — WAL 12 (Katie Irving); HAZ 1 (Margaret Fulton). Penalty corners — WAL 1; HAZ 8.

Lackawanna Trail 5, Nanticoke 1

Nanticoke`0`1`—`1

Lackawanna Trail`3`2`—`5

First half — 1. LT, Madison Lee (Jordan Laytos), 25:32. 2. LT, Courtney Dwyer (Lauren Beemer), 7:21. 3. LT, Lauren Baldwin (Elizabeth Rodenback), :56. Second half — 4. LT, Dwyer (Laytos), 27:30. 5. LT, Rodenback (Rachel Beemer), 21:26. 6. NAN, Liz Colemire (Amber Grohowski), 4:01.

Shots — NAN 9; LT 16. Saves — NAN 6 (Miranda Gola); LT 5 (Sarah Weisenfluh). Penalty corners — NAN 3; LT 5.

Coughlin 5, Tunkhannock 0

Tunkhannock`0`0`—`0

Coughlin`3`2`—`5

First half — 1. CGH, Savannah Robinson, 19:40. 2. CGH, Kyra Wozniak, 11:34. 3. CGH, Wozniak, 2:44. Second half — 4. CGH, Kailey Reed (Wozniak), 23:14. 5. CGH, Wozniak (Robinson), 21:01.

Shots — TUNK 4; CGH 16. Saves — TUNK 8; CGH 4 (M’Kensie Lee 1, Megan Novak 3). Penalty corners — TUNK 3; CGH 14.

Pittston Area’s Molly Walsh (10) maneuvers the ball past Honesdale’s Ellie Redick (33) as Honedale goalkeeper Mackenzie Jackson (88) watches closely during Thursday’s high school girls field hockey game in Hughestown.
http://www.psdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_pittstonhonesdale012.jpg.optimal.jpgPittston Area’s Molly Walsh (10) maneuvers the ball past Honesdale’s Ellie Redick (33) as Honedale goalkeeper Mackenzie Jackson (88) watches closely during Thursday’s high school girls field hockey game in Hughestown. Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader

Pittston Area’s Brooke Gorey controls the ball in Honesdale territory during Thursday’s high school girls field hockey game in Hughestown.
http://www.psdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_pittstonhonesdale022.jpg.optimal.jpgPittston Area’s Brooke Gorey controls the ball in Honesdale territory during Thursday’s high school girls field hockey game in Hughestown. Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader
Clayre Smith’s late OT goal keeps Pittston Area from district playoffs

By Paul Sokoloski

psokoloski@timesleader.com

Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @ TLPaulSokoloski