Wyoming Area used an overtime win to reach the District 2 Class 2A boys soccer championship game, but once there, the Warriors were unable to quite get themselves to another overtime.
After three rounds of playoff games, all decided by a single goal, Wyoming Area settled for second place in the district.
The Warriors lost 1-0 to Wyoming Seminary in the championship game for the second straight year. Wyoming Area finished 11-5-1 with three losses coming by one goal against the Blue Knights, who were also WVC Division 2 champions.
Wyoming Seminary 1, Wyoming Area 0
KINGSTON – Wyoming Seminary sophomore Owen Rowlands knocked in the game’s only goal with 13:15 remaining Friday night to lift the Blue Knights to their third straight District 2 Class 2A championship.
The Blue Knights (15-1) advance to play the District 4 champion in Tuesday’s first round of the state tournament.
The Rowlands goal came 11 minutes after Wyoming Area goalkeeper Adam Wisnewski made an incredible save on a penalty kick by Thomas Iskra. Wisnewski guessed to his right, but iskra shot straight on. Wisnewski still managed to get a foot on the ball, sending it over the goal.
Iskra came back to play a role in the game-winner.
Wyoming Area tried to head the ball out of the penalty area, but Iskra headed it back in. After another header attempt by the Warriors defense, Iskra controlled the ball and tapped a short pass to Rowlands, who scored from about 12 yards out.
“The boys put it into the box and it kept going around and Thomas got a really nice touch on it,” Rowlands said.
Luke Johns started the scoring sequence with a shot that hit off the crossbar.
Wyoming Area finished with 12 shots and seven corner kicks. It got three of the shots off one corner kick with the game still scoreless nine minutes into the second half.
The Warriors also had a solid chance late in the first half on a header by Matt Lewis and a follow-up attempt by Liam Burke.
Wyoming Area 2, Holy Redeemer 1
WYOMING — Everything changed for Wyoming Area with 29 seconds left in Wednesday’s district semifinal. Then, it changed back about 10 minutes later.
Holy Redeemer tied the score and forced overtime on a penalty kick with 29 seconds remaining, only for Wyoming Area to rally 10 minutes into the extra period for a 2-1 victory.
Defender Zach Kostik scored the game-winner with 5:05 left in the 15-minute overtime. Shawn Pawloski started the scoring play with a long direct kick from the left side into the right part of the penalty area. The ball bounced once deep on the right side where Liam Burke tapped a short pass to Kostik, who scored from about seven yards out.
“Zach, as aggressive as he is in the back, he has the same aggression and intensity in front of the opposing goal,” Wyoming Area coach Rick Branco said. “So, we like to send him forward whenever we can on set pieces for exactly what just happened.”
The Warriors took a 1-0 lead on a header by Dylan Kostik, Zach’s brother, five minutes into the second half. Redeemer finally got a steady and persistent pressure late in regulation and shortly after keeper Lance McGrane stopped a penalty kick with 14 minutes left in the second half.
“I think when that PK was called a lot of players thought if they score this is it,” Redeemer coach Mike Davitt said. “In a split second when Lance made that save everyone realized we’re not done yet. Then we started playing to our capability from that moment on.”
Meanwhile, Wyoming Area’s offense was sporadic and the Warriors played defensively in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
“It wasn’t our game plan,” Branco said. “but in a game like this, there’s always going to be nerves that kind of rile through. The natural instinct is to try to protect instead of going forward. They kind of naturally did that when we needed to settle into the game and find our rhythm again.”
While not getting off a clean shot in the waning minutes, the Royals were able to create a battle inside the penalty area where a handball foul was called on Wyoming Area. McGrane came all the way from his keeper position to rip in a penalty kick to force overtime.
Wyoming Area finished with an 11-8 lead in shots and a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Wyoming Area 1, Lakeland 0
Shawn Pawloski scored the game’s only goal with 26 minutes remaining, connecting on a long direct kick to give the second-seeded Warriors a win over seventh-seeded Lakeland in Monday’s quarterfinal.
Wyoming Area dominated, holding Lakeland without a second-half shot while building a final 26-2 advantage in that category.
Lakeland’s best chance came early in the first half when Owen Morgan broke free on a counterattack, only for Wyoming Area keeper Adam Wisnewski to make the only save he needed for the shutout. The Chiefs also had a pair of corners midway through the half, but neither amounted to a serious threat.
