Cassidy Orzel scored seven goals and assisted on four others Thursday night when Wyoming Area closed out its regular season with a 19-8 victory over visiting Dallas to finish tied for second in the Wyoming Valley Conference and move into the lead in the race for the top seed in the District 2 Class 2A girls lacrosse playoffs.
If Wyoming Area’s ratings lead holds up when the regular season concludes Monday, the Lady Warriors will be guaranteed of the home field for as long as they can remain active in the District 2 playoffs. The best season in school history has so far produced a 10-2 WVC record, an 11-2 overall mark and an average of 14.8 goals per game.
Emma Kelleher added four goals and Sydney Maguire had three against Dallas.
Makenzie Switzer had two goals and two assists while Carly Yuhas had one goal and two assists and Catie McDonough had a goal and an assist.
Morgan Beppler scored the other goal.
Switzer led the team with six groundballs and Orzel won 15 of 27 draws.
Wyoming Area outshot Dallas, 34-9.
The Lady Warriors have won four straight.
Pittston Area 10
North Pocono 9
Pittston Area went on the road Thursday and posted the WVC win that appears to have decided the eighth and final berth in the District 2 Class 2A tournament.
The district’s playoff ratings will not be official until after the last regular-season games are played Monday, but, by all indications, the win put the Lady Patriots in the playoffs.
Pittston Area finished its season 3-9 with all games in the WVC. North Pocono, which is ninth in the ratings, finished 1-11 in the conference and 2-11 overall.
Julia Emmett scored the game-winning goal with 1:18 left and Emily Rinaldi had rallied the Lady Patriots into a tie with 3:36 remaining.
Emmett and Rinaldi each finished with four goals.
Lily Savoy and Emily O’Brien also scored while Brooklyn Pedana made 23 saves.
Wyoming Area 17
Hazleton Area 3
Wyoming Area overpowered host Hazleton Area in Tuesday’s WVC game.
BOYS LACROSSE
Delaware Valley 18
Wyoming Area 9
Josh Balcarcel scored six goals and assisted three when Delaware Valley downed visiting Wyoming Area in a WVC game Friday night.
Shane Roche, who had four goals and two assists, and Jackson Melnick, who had two goals and two assists, each recored the 100-goal mark for their careers for DV during the win.
Delaware Valley is second in the WVC with a 10-1 record and is 15-2 overall.
Wyoming Area finished its conference scheduled 7-5 and took an 8-5 record into Saturday’s non-league game at Selinsgrove.
Dominic DeLuca scored four times in the loss. Jake Switzer added two goals and an assist while Ethan Hosier and Mason Hoeffer each had a goal and an assist. Matt Benton scored the other goal.
F.J. Braccini made 20 saves.
Wyoming Area 11
Coughlin 5
F.J. Braccini scored four goals and Riley Rusyn made 15 saves to lead Wyoming Area to the home-field WVC victory Thursday.
Dominic DeLuca, who had two assists, and Ethan Hosier, each scored twice.
Jake Switzer had a goal and an assist. Matt Benton and Cameron Carr scored goals. Shayne Lukasavage had an assist.
Crestwood 19
Wyoming Area 6
Crestwood, which went unbeaten in the WVC to repeat as champion, overcame a big day by Wyoming Area’s Dominic DeLuca Monday.
DeLuca scored four times, including the 1,000th goal of his career.
Anthony Caporuscio scored six goals while Wyatt Malia added three goals and six assists for the Comets.
F.J. Braccini and Ethan Hosier had the other Wyoming Area goals.
BASEBALL
Wyoming Area 8
Nanticoke 2
Freshman J.J. Hood allowed just one earned run in six innings and drove in three runs on two hits Thursday when Wyoming Area clinched a District 2 Class 4A playoff berth with the WVC Division 2 win over visiting Nanticoke.
The Warriors also remained alive in the division race at 6-6, one game behind defending champion Wyoming Area with one game remaining.
John Angelella had a single, double and two RBI. Cole Coolbaugh, who scored twice, and Ryan Petrucci also had two hits.
The Warriors are 10-7 overall.
Wyoming Area 10
Berwick 1
Jake Kelleher had a triple, single and four RBI as Wyoming Area defeated visiting Berwick in a WVC Division 2 game Tuesday.
Ryan Petrucci and Dillon Williams each had two hits and two RBI. Petrucci scored twice. One of Williams’ hits was a double.
Pittston Area 13
Coughlin 1
Joe Stella went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs in Tuesday’s five-inning WVC Division 1 victory.
Cole Cherkas drove in four runs. Hunter Ralston and Riley Brody had two hits each.
Gino Mariggi and Alex Bouika combined on a one-hitter.
Pittston Area, which is 8-4 in the WVC and 14-4 overall, was eliminated from division title contention. The Patriots continue to lead the race for the top seed in the District 2 Class 5A playoffs.
Crestwood 6
Pittston Area 4
The Patriots lost on the road Monday in a WVC Division 1 game.
SOFTBALL
Wyoming Area 8
Western Wayne 2
Wyoming Area scored all eight of its runs in the sixth inning of Tuesday’s non-league road game.
Nicole Silinskie, Kari Melberger and Jess Skladzien each had a double and two RBI.
Tinsley Sarnak had two hits.
Sarnak and Skladzien combined on a two-hitter with 13 strikeouts. Sarnak struck out eight in four innings. Skaldzien did not allow a hit in three scoreless innings to finish up.
The Lady Warriors won their fourth straight to improve to 9-8, which is good for fourth place in the District 2 Class 4A playoff race. They have allowed just four runs during the winning streak.
Pittston Area 5
Crestwood 0
Alexa McHugh threw a two-hit shutout with six strikeouts and did not walk a batter in Tuesday’s WVC Division 1 win.
The Lady Patriots are 8-2 in the WVC for second in the division behind unbeaten Hazleton Area, which has already clinched at least a tie for first. They are 14-2 overall for second in the District 2 Class 5A playoff ratings race.
Shayla Williams and Lexi Felinski each went 2-for-2 in the win. Shayla Williams had a single and double.
Wyoming Area 10
Coughlin 0
Tinsley Sarnak and Jess Skladzien combined on a one-hit shutout when Wyoming Area won Tuesday’s WVC crossover over Coughlin.
Sarnak had three hits. Nicole Silinskie, who drove in three runs, and Tinsley Sarnak, who drove in two, each doubled twice.
The Lady Warriors are 5-6 in the conference.
Wyoming Area 4
Hanover Area 0
Wyoming Area posted a non-league win at Hanover Area May 4.
Jess Skladzien worked three hitless innings to finish off a combined four-hitter with Tinsley Sarnak.
Sarnak and Kari Melberger each had a single, double and two RBI.
Skladzien also had two hits while Aleah Kranson drove in two runs.
