WYOMING — Wyoming Area’s Casey McNew didn’t start the game, but she finished it.
The junior was one of the reasons Wyoming Area scored one of its biggest wins in school history with a 2-1 decision over Meyers on Tuesday at Tenth Street Elementary. McNew scored a first-half goal, and added the game-winner with four minutes left as the Warriors advanced to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association District 2 Class 2A girls soccer quarterfinals against Dunmore.
Originally scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 27, the quarterfinal game was pushed back to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29 due to rain.
Wyoming Area entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed, while Meyers was the No. 9 seed. The win marks Wyoming Area’s first playoff win since the spring of 2012, but possibly the biggest in school history.
“This day has finally come,” Wyoming Area head coach Nikki Sitkowski said. “We worked so hard to put everything into it and it was just a matter of time. They deserved it.”
The win wasn’t easy, as the teams were tied at 1 through the first 76 minutes.
On the game-winner, McNew saw an outside feed coming from Caitlin McDonough, and the junior raced to the far post. All game, she said, the Warriors noticed it would be best to go low against Meyers keeper Devon Keiper. McNew did that with four minutes to play to give the Warriors the lead.
“I saw the corner was wide open so I thought I should go for it,” McNew said of the winner. “We were making some runs on the outside and everyone was crashing the net.”
McNew came off the bench to give Wyoming Area a spark in the first half. Trailing 1-0 after Meyers’ Erin Morris cashed in with eight minutes to play in the first half, McDonough and McNew got to work.
McNew got her feet on a Meyers’ pass in the box, and after McDonough touched the ball back to McNew, the junior scored her first goal of the game.
“We were trying to crash the back post because it was wide open,” McNew said.
Prior to McNew’s second half goal, Wyoming Area controlled most of the possession on its side of the field. With 17 minutes to play, Warrior Erica Gallagher attempted a penalty kick, which was thrown away by Keiper. Aleah Kranson, Bella Waltz and Carly Yunas all had chances to get one past Keiper, but couldn’t.
Eventually, McNew’s persistence in the box paid off for Wyoming Area. The Warriors finished with 23 shots on goal, while keeper Caitlin Butchko held Meyers to the one goal.
Sitkowski, in her third year at Wyoming Area, said this was the biggest win of her career.
“We finally moved up to that group of kids that have dominated for so long,” she said. “We’re here for presence and we’re going to surprise some people.”
Patriots eliminated by Prep
Something clicks for Pittston Area every time they enter the district playoffs. On Tuesday in the PIAA District 2 Class 3A first round, the Patriots were up to their old tricks again.
Unfortunately, Scranton Prep had a little too much in the overtime period. The Patriots, seeded at No. 10, were eliminated from the championships with a 2-1 loss at the hands of the No. 7 Classics on Tuesday.
PA coach Nicole Tieso said her team starting to connect toward the end of the regular season.
“We’re a young team and it took us some time to find that combination,” she said. “Yesterday everything really worked and the game was very even. It was really back and forth and the run of play was really good.”
With just five minutes to play, Pittston Area’s Grace Mimnaugh cashed in on an assist from Mia Barbieri to give the Patriots a late lead. Scranton Prep answered almost immediately, as Catie Collins received an assist from Angelina Falcone two minutes later and the teams went to overtime.
“When Grace scored we pushed back a little bit,” Tieso said. “They ended up getting a direct kick at 30 yards and were able to connect with a header.”
Five minutes into the overtime period, Prep’s Maddy Ziobro ended Pittston Area’s season.
Falcone, of Jenkins Township, the sister to former all-state player Elana Falcone of Scranton Prep, assisted on both goals for the winners.
Pittston Area will be saying goodbye to four seniors: Taryn Ashby, Mia Barbieri, Jordan Levandoski and Kayla Hogan. In 2014, the four were members of the district championship team at Pittston Area. Tieso said it was a difficult season overall, but the seniors led by example.
“They really showed great leadership,” Tieso said. “They were four players that fought and worked hard for all four years.”
