DISTRICT 2 FIELD HOCKEY: Wyoming Area rallies to land back on top of Class A

KINGSTON — There was no time to think about last year or how cruel it would be to have two straight perfect seasons end the same way.

There was too much work to be done in the present.

Wyoming Area scored twice in the last 15½ minutes of regulation and again just 1:20 into overtime Wednesday night to claim the District 2 Class A field hockey title 3-2 over Lake-Lehman in a championship game played at Wyoming Valley West’s Spartan Stadium.

The victory also returns the Lady Warriors to Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament play. The 2022 state finalists fell short of the tournament a year ago when, after the first perfect Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 season in school history, they were knocked off in overtime in the district final.

“We kind of put that behind us and we were focusing on the game we were playing tonight,” said Bednarski, who guided the team through its first perfect regular season overall this year.

Faced with a 2-0 deficit and an agonizing third-quarter stretch in which they practically lived in the offensive circle but still had nothing to show for it, the Lady Warriors never slowed down.

“I was like, ‘we might lose this game, but I’m going to put my all into it’,” said Ainsley Flynn, who joined Lucia Campenni and Lyla Rehill in providing a goal and an assist each to the comeback. “I don’t think I’ve ever played so hard.”

Flynn got the scoring started with 24 seconds left in the third quarter. Campenni scored in the fourth to force overtime and Rehill won it there.

Wyoming Area finished with a 19-2 advantage in penalty corners and 13-3 in shots, but the Lady Warriors still entered the 7v7 overtime period in a difficult spot.

A yellow card late in regulation meant they would play the first 25 seconds of overtime a player short. The open space of overtime was now complicated by Lake-Lehman having six field players to Wyoming Area’s five.

Ella McKernan and Rehill made sure it did not matter. Much like most of the second Wyoming Area remained in possession and in the offensive end of the field as those two kept control.

Lake-Lehman never escaped.

Wyoming Area kept the ball and less than 20 seconds after returning to full strength, a long stretch of Rehill possession inside the circle resulted in one more penalty corner.

On a night when all three Lady Warriors goals resulted from corners, Rehill delivered.

“We have a lot of faith in her,” Bednarski said. “We just wanted her to finish it.”

The first penalty corner play of overtime, determined during the five-minute break between regulation and the start of the extra session, called for Rehill to receive Campenni’s insert, fake past the flyer who was charging out to lead the Lake-Lehman corner defense, and take the shot.

“She knew the ball was going to her,” Bednarski said. “She knew we wanted her to dribble in and get a good look at the cage.”

Rehill’s stickhandling brought her to within 10 yards of the goal before flicking a shot past another oncoming defender and over the goalie’s shoulder.

“I knew I was putting the ball into the cage,” she said.

With it, she completed a spirited comeback and touched off a celebration that included teammates rushing in from the sidelines and members of the student section charging onto the field.

The comeback built for 15 minutes before it produced the first goal.

Bella DeCesaris scored a first-quarter goal and assisted Alexa Thompson’s goal with 1:16 left in the second quarter as Lake-Lehman scored on its only two shots of the first half for a 2-0 lead.

Over a 14-minute stretch from the final minute of the half to the final minute of the third quarter, Wyoming Area had 11 straight penalty corners and seven straight shots while Lake-Lehman seldom crossed midfield. Still, the Lady Warriors had nothing to show for it.

“We knew one had to go in eventually,” Bednarski said. “We were getting really good looks at the cage. We just needed to finish and put it in.”

Wyoming Area broke through on its fourth straight penalty corner of the final 2:40 of the third quarter, each by drawing a new infraction against Lake-Lehman while they tried to execute the previous corner.

Rehill passed to Flynn on the right side of the circle. Flynn’s shot made it through traffic and into the cage to cut the deficit in half.

Rehill again got the ball to Flynn on a penalty corner in the fourth quarter.

Flynn took another shot, this one toward the left post. It was slightly off the mark, but Campenni was there to make a stop and get off a quick shot that she tucked inside the post for the tie with 11:19 remaining.

Lake-Lehman (16-4-1) got off the last shot of regulation, with 1:35 left, but Rylee Muniz made her only save to get Wyoming Area into overtime.

Lake-Lehman finishes its season at 16-4-1.