LEHMAN TWP. — Entering Thursday night’s District 2 Class 2A girls soccer championship game, Lake-Lehman scored well more than 100 goals this season, including 26 in two playoffs games.
The Black Knights’ opponent, Wyoming Area, certainly had its work cut out trying to contain the potent offense.
Like always though, Wyoming Area coach Nikki Sitkowski put 10 players on the Lake-Lehman side of the field to try to minimize the Black Knights offense, leaving just one player, Aleah Kranson, on offense most of the game.
“It’s the system to play,” Sitkowski said. “Defensively, it sets you up, you’re good in the middle and it gives us that little push where she can hold the ball long enough; she’s always been able to do it and I had to go with her today.”
The strategy worked to perfection as the Lady Warriors shut out the two-time defending district champion, 1-0, and made history by winning the school’s first district championship in girls soccer.
“It’s really unreal,” said Kranson, who scored the game’s only goal. “From my freshman year, we weren’t too good and we progressively got better, and this year I knew going in if there was going to be a year for Wyoming Area girls soccer, it was going to be this year.
“It’s just so amazing to see us all working so hard together every day, day-in and day-out, and it proved today.”
The Lady Warriors advance to the first round of the PIAA championships and will play the District 4 champion Tuesday at a site and time to be announced. The District 4 title game was scheduled for Saturday between Midd-West and Lewisburg.
Both teams had plenty of opportunities Thursday night.
Before scoring, the Warriors had a breakaway with under 20 minutes left in the first half, but it didn’t last too long as Lake-Lehman defenders quickly got to the area, forcing a pass that was broken up about 10 yards in front of the net.
About five minutes later, the Warriors were in another similar position with Amanda McCormick and Tierney Porfirio in the box, but Lake-Lehman defenders once again swarmed around the ball to kick away the threat and not allow a shot on goal.
They finally converted with 11:53 to go in the first half when Kranson broke through defenders and beat the keeper from about 10 yards out for a 1-0 advantage.
“Somebody got the ball to Christina Kosco and I knew that me and her, we have a very good bond this year — I know where she’s going, she knows where I’m going,” Kranson described. “I knew she was going to pooch it over the back line’s head, and when she did that and their keeper was coming out, I looked and took a touch from the outside and I just hit it with my left foot.”
The Black Knights started to threaten early in the second half. Three minutes in, Keera Naugle shot a laser from the left side that grazed the hand of keeper Lauren Kelly before hitting the right post. Three other Lake-Lehman shots in the half hit the crossbar.
Lauren Kelly made seven saves for the shutout.
“All I can say as a goalkeeper from college, luck was on our side, I’ll take it,” Sitkowski said. “We’ve been on the other side where the ball has gone in or we have that shot and it hits the crossbar.
“We’ve all been there. It’s part of sports. Somebody’s gotta win, somebody’s gotta lose. We came out on the winning end this time. We got a little bit of luck our way.”
Wyoming Area 4
Holy Redeemer 3
HUGHESTOWN — These big games are such a rarity for the Wyoming Area girls soccer program that the reaction was raw, unscripted, completely authentic.
The Wyoming Area bench was beside itself post-game. Half had tears. A few were sheepishly looking for their mothers. The majority screamed as if Taylor Swift had just come out for a second unannounced encore performance.
It was that crazy.
Wyoming Area defeated rival Holy Redeemer, 4-3, in overtime Tuesday at the Pittston Area Primary Center fields in the District 2 Class 2A semifinals.
“It means everything,” Wyoming Area coach Nikki Sitkowski said. “Five years ago, we started from nothing. We had (three) wins under our belt and each year we’ve built on that. I knew two years ago that this is the team – this is the team that has it. It just matters that they have to do it.”
Tierney Porfirio scored the game-winning goal in the 94th minute to send the Warriors into the championship game. Christina Kosco hit a corner kick to the far post that was met by Aleah Kranson. Kranson fed the ball into the middle of the box for Porfirio to strike into the back of the net.
“I think I screamed,” Porfirio admitted. “We work so hard as a team.”
Kranson, a senior, factored in on all four goals with a hat trick and an assist.
“I felt pretty good out there today,” Kranson said. “I just tried to do what is best for my team. The hat trick doesn’t really mean much to me. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter who scores to me.”
Her third goal of the game kept the Warriors from losing the momentum tug-of-war that both teams seemed to play for 94 minutes.
In the 71st minute, Holy Redeemer executed a counter play to take a 3-2 lead. Kalie Quaglia sent a long ball 40 yards downfield just before a Wyoming Area midfielder’s boot. Kasey Danko retrieved possession, took two cuts on a defender, and fired into the upper corner.
Less than two minutes later, Kranson was at work on a set piece. She found the net on a 27-yard direct kick for an equalizer.
She scored her first two goals in a four-minute span. Trailing by one, Kranson corralled a loose ball in the box and scored falling down in the 25th minute. She gave the Warriors a 2-1 lead in the 29th off of a Julie Bonsavage pass.
As expected, Holy Redeemer junior Annie Bagnall posed difficulties for the Wyoming Area defense. Bagnall assisted an Olivia Murray goal in the ninth minute for the game’s first score. She sailed a 30-plus yard shot that seemed to knuckleball in mid-air and cause the goalkeeper to lose grasp to tie the game at 2-2 in the 53rd minute.
Despite the seven goals scored, the game was not without its defensive brilliance. Wyoming Area goalkeeper Lauren Kelly made a genius save on an 18-yard Bagnall attempt in the 36th minute. The Royals’ defender Carly Cavanaugh kept the score tied at 2-2 with a team save on a 63rd minute Kranson shot that got past the goalkeeper. Carley Yuhas made a key block on Danko just before the Royals’ third tally.
Kelly had 10 saves.
