DALLAS TWP. — Defense has been the name of the game all year for Dallas.
Wednesday night, it send the Mountaineers to the subregional title game.
Dallas held a talented Pittston Area offense to just a single goal, beating the Patriots 3-1 in the Class 2-4 Class 2A Subregional semifinals.
It wasn’t for a lack of quality opportunities for Pittston Area, either: the Lady Patriots held an 8-2 edge in penalty corners, and had a one-player advantage for the final four and a half minutes of the game due to Dallas penalties.
The Mountaineers were unflappable even with the pressure on, allowing just one Maddie Karp goal and successfully clearing the other seven Lady Patriots corners.
“I think our defense is the story of every game … defense wins championships,” Dallas coach Mackenzie Gagliardi said. “Pittston Area’s a very good offensive team, staying in control and playing with confidence was key.”
Wednesday’s semifinal marked the third meeting of the year between the top two finishers in Division 2 of the Wyoming Valley Conference, with Dallas winning both previous games in close, low-scoring fashion.
True to form, the two teams played each other to a virtual stalemate through the first quarter, with scoring opportunities few and far between.
It changed in a flash for Dallas coming back out for the second quarter. First, Zoey Sutzko found herself in the right place to collect a loose ball, firing it into the cage to put the Mountaineers up 1-0 at the 11:50 mark of the quarter.
Just 40 seconds later, Caitlyn Mizzer made it a 2-0 after she turned, fired and ripped a rocket past Pittston Area goalie Karlie Podwika.
All of a sudden, the Mountaineers had some breathing room and some momentum.
“We saw Pittston a few times this year, we knew that first quarter was going to be a battle,” Gagliardi said. “I’m just happy with how we performed as a group.”
Caroline Pitarra added another Dallas goal early in the third quarter with an assist from Mizzer to make it a 3-0 game, but Karp weaved her way through some traffic to get Pittston Area on the board a few minutes later.
That was all the Lady Patriots could find offensively, with Dallas goalie Davyn Bonvie and the rest of the defensive unit riding it out the rest of the way to the final whistle.
Bonvie made five saves, with several other shot opportunities cleared away by the defenders around her.
Podwika had a sharp game for Pittston Area in net, making 10 saves in the loss.
The Mountaineers advance to the Class 2A district and subregional championship game Monday, where they’ll take on top-seeded Crestwood after the Comets’ 4-0 win over Delaware Valley in Wednesday’s other semifinal.
Pittston Area 2, Shikellamy 1
The Patriots took an early lead, then leaned on good defense and goalkeeping to hold off Shikellamy in Monday’s Subregional quarterfinals.
Giuliana Latona and Maddie Karp both scored first-quarter goals for Pittston Area.
Karlie Podwika made 13 saves for the Lady Patriots.