EXETER — A shot to the forehead before the season even started made Kayla Kiwak a bit gun-shy.
Now, she’s making sure Wyoming Area is still gunning for glory.
Kiwak scored the first goal Tuesday, then assisted on the second as Wyoming Area remained unbeaten — and right in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 title hunt — with a 3-0 victory over Lake-Lehman at Atlas Field that gave the Warriors an edge for the District 2 Class A postseason.
“That was our main focus,” Kiwak said, “that if we beat Lehman, then we had a very good shot for playoffs.”
It was Kiwak’s shot that got things started for the Warriors, as she stuffed home a shot that was initially blocked off the stick of Toni Minichello to break a scoreless tie that lasted for more than 25 minutes.
“Toni got tackled by their goalkeeper and the ball was right by her pads,” Kiwak said. “I hit it in.
“Just right place at the right time.”
The timing couldn’t have been better for Wyoming Area, which hit a midseason swoon around this time last season that began with a 0-0 overtime tie against Lake-Lehman. Although Wyoming Area avenged that hiccup by beating Lake-Lehman in the District 2 playoffs, the tie with the Black Knights followed by a loss to Wyoming Valley West took the Warriors out of the running for a 2018 division title.
“And I know they wanted to beat us ever since we beat them in the playoffs last year,” Kiwak said.
Kiwak ensured there would be some scoring this time.
After her goal 4:46 before halftime, she fed Bianca Pizano for a score that gave the Warriors a 2-0 lead 4:45 into the second half.
“We were really excited,” Kiwak said, “because we knew if we kept on scoring, we felt a little more safe.”
Safety doesn’t seem to be a major concern for Kiwak right now.
It was an issue for a few weeks, she admits, when she got conked with a ball that opened a gash on her forehead during the first week of preseason practice.
“I got hit in the head before the first game,” Kiwak said. “It made me cautious for the first two weeks. Once I got my stitches out, I felt a little more at ease.”
Not that she had much time to consider the consequences.
“First week of the season, she got hit with a ball,” Wyoming Area coach Erin McGinley said. “She definitely was hesitant at first. We put her right back into the fire, we challenged her and pushed her. We didn’t want her to take time off to think about it and become more afraid.
“She’s definitely playing to her standard, we believe.”
Lake-Lehman, which won its first five games, set a standard with a defense that was strong again Tuesday.
The Black Knights turned away 13 penalty corners and goalie Amy Supey finished with 12 saves to give Lake-Lehman a chance.
“I thought our defense played really, really well,” said Lehman coach Jean Lipski, whose team fell to 4-2-1 and into a fourth-place tie with Wilkes-Barre Area in Division 1. “Our offense didn’t convert today. We had opportunities in front of the cage. And once you put a goal in, momentum changes.
“Our defense really stepped up. They kept so many balls out, the defense saved a couple goals. I was very happy with how well our defense played. Our offense has to release the ball sooner and get a couple tips on the ball.”
Then again, the Warriors made a habit of tipping momentum their own way.
After fending off a couple Lake-Lehman charges, Lauren Parente rocketed home a goal with 11:33 to play, pretty much icing the victory for the Warriors.
That gave 6-0-1 Wyoming Area its sixth consecutive victory after opening the season with a 1-1 tie against Wilkes-Barre Area, and kept the Warriors within a half-game of 7-0 Wyoming Seminary in the chase for the WVC Division 1 championship.
More importantly, it kept Wyoming Area (9-0-1 overall) in line for a No. 2 seed behind Sem (9-0 overall) in the District 2 Class A power ratings format, while Lake-Lehman fell to 7-2-1 overall and just ahead of 7-2 Lackawanna Trail for third place in the district standings.
“We know we have to be getting wins and not tying games,” McGinley said. “We’re trying hard to stay in a good position for ourselves.”
Wyoming Area had a 15-1 lead in shots on goal and 13-2 advantage in penalty corners. Ellie Glatz made the only save she needed for the shutout.
