PLAINS TWP. — Wyoming Area girls soccer has been on the cusp for more than 10 years, always putting a quality product on the field yet unable to pass either Lake-Lehman or Holy Redeemer for a divisional championship.
That changed Monday night.
Wyoming Area overcame some late first-half adversity with three second-half goals, defeating Lake-Lehman 4-2 for the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 championship at Wilkes-Barre Area High School.
Ava Musinski scored two goals, including the go-ahead goal midway through the second half as Wyoming Area finished 10-1 in the division and improved to 16-1 overall. She also assisted Ella Yankovich with a goal with about six minutes left that essentially sealed the win.
For Wyoming Area, it was its first divisional title since 2012.
“The last couple of years we’ve been very competitive,” Wyoming Area coach Chad Kranson said. “Obviously, with Lehman it’s a battle every time. I’m just really glad for the kids. I’ve told the kids since day one that hard work pays off.
“We faced some adversity during the season, but no excuses. It’s next player up and the girls were able to finish tonight. I’m proud of them.”
Defending divisional champ Lake-Lehman finished 9-2 in the division and fell to 14-3 overall. The Lady Knights had won seven of the last 10 Division 2 championships, with Holy Redeemer winning the others.
Wyoming Area struck first as Musinski scored from 16 yards out on a high shot off an assist from Alaina Zdaniewicz. The lead held up throughout fast-paced play until Lehman’s Kinley Purdy angled in a grounder from the right penalty area with 79 seconds left until halftime.
“We knew when we got the first one obviously we could get more,” Musinski said. “Them scoring brought us down, but then it was no this can’t bring us down. We had to keep it up.”
Lake-Lehman had the better of the attack to start the second half, with Purdy putting two shots on goal saved by Wyoming Area keeper Abigail Francis.
Wyoming Area, though, was able to break the 1-1 tie as Zdaniewicz poked a short pass to Kinley Park in front of the goal. Park converted with just under five minutes elapsed.
Lake-Lehman answered the goal 13 minutes later, with Purdy taking a long pass from Lexi Peiffer to knot the score 2-2.
Musinski gave Wyoming Area the lead for good about two minutes later, connecting on a 23-yarder from a sharp angle from the right side.
Before Yankovich finished off the scoring, Wyoming Area kept Purdy and Blazes in check. Sofia Menta kept close to Purdy and Francesca Pizano did the same with Blazes, preventing the Black Knights’ top scorers ample room to work. Bella Costa, Jailynn Park and Lilly Flynn also contributed to a strong defensive effort.
“Our plan wasn’t to mark anybody,” Kranson said. “We did have a plan in place and I think the girls executed it perfectly. Everybody stuck with what we were doing. When you execute, you see the results.”
Wyoming Area had a 14-10 lead in shots.
Francis made six saves.
The two teams could meet for a fourth time in the District 2 Class 2A tournament championship game where Wyoming Area is the top seed and the Black Knights the second seed.
Wyoming Area 2, Scranton Prep 1
Wyoming Area was put to the test in Saturday afternoon’s district quarterfinal, escaping with the home-field win in overtime.
The Lady Warriors will host Western Wayne in Wednesday’s semifinal at 3:45. The Lady Wildcats beat Honesdale 4-3 Saturday.
Lake-Lehman advanced to the other semifinal with an 11-1 rout of Old Forge.
