HUGHESTOWN — Pittston Area and Wallenpaupack know a thing or two about taking each other right down to the wire. The two teams needed overtime not once, but twice to settle business in their two regular-season matchups.
There was no overtime necessary on Tuesday — the Buckhorns got it done in regulation.
Wallenpaupack took the lead right before the halftime whistle and never gave it up, defeating Pittston Area 3-1 in a District 2 Class 2A field hockey quarterfinal.
Both defenses proved a hard puzzle for the opposing offense to solve, but in the end, it was Wallenpaupack that pulled out the win in yet another highly competitive, evenly-matched contest between the two teams.
“It’s always a battle between Pittston and Wallenpaupack, and they got the better of us today,” Pittston Area coach Kaitlyn Connors said. “We just have to take this, and learn from it.”
It took nearly 30 minutes for the first goal to be scored as Pittston Area and Wallenpaupack battled to a stalemate through one quarter and nearly took the game to the half scoreless.
But with less than a minute left, the Buckhorns broke through. Allison Sterner sneaked one past Pittston Area goalie Sam Thomas to give Wallenpaupack a 1-0 lead and a crucial momentum boost heading to halftime.
The assist on Sterner’s goal came from Leah Haney, and Haney was able to provide a crucial bit of insurance late in the game.
After a scoreless third quarter, Haney found the back of the cage to give Wallenpaupack a two-goal lead, with some breathing room along with it.
The Lady Patriots amped up the intensity down the stretch, and had a number of looks at Buckhorns goalie Delaney Murphy, but Murphy was able to turn away several shots, ending the day with eight saves.
“Our defense overall kept stepping to the ball,” Wallenpaupack coach Elly Yatsonsky said. “They have that die-hard attitude that it’s not going in, we’re getting it out.”
Allison Kipp was finally able to put Pittston Area on the board off a Guiliana Latona assist with just over a minute left, but Wallenpaupack put the game way just 12 seconds later. Jillian Tait got a breakaway opportunity with a clean look on net, and she buried it to put the Buckhorns back up by two goals with the final buzzer blaring just seconds later.
The Buckhorns led 13-9 in shots on goal and 9-8 on penalty corners. Thomas made 10 saves.
Pittston Area finished the season 11-7-1. It went 0-2-1 against Wallenpaupack.
Wallenpaupack advanced to Thursday’s semifinals where it was eliminated by defending champion and top-seed Crestwood 7-0.
