A special fall sports season came to an end with three losses Nov. 10.
Wyoming Area’s deepest runs in girls soccer and field hockey history ended in state quarterfinal losses in an afternoon doubleheader at Danville.
The football team’s attempt to reach 12-0 for just the second time in school history fell short at night at home in the District 2 Class 3A semifinals.
The field hockey team fell in overtime and the football team lost in the final seconds, adding to the anguish of the day.
All three teams captured championships. Field hockey and girls soccer won district titles and football was the Wyoming Valley Conference Class 3A/A Division champion with an unbeaten regular season.
A look back at the playoff losses:
FOOTBALL
Lakeland 21
Wyoming Area 14
WEST PITTSTON – With the teams tied in the final minute, Lakeland went back to the same play that had started its upset bid in the opening minute.
Tailback Giovanni Spataro took a handoff, but as he approached the line he pitched the ball back to quarterback C.J. Dippre, who then threw deep down the right sideline to Thomas Pidgeon.
The play clicked both times and led to touchdowns both times, including Dippre’s 1-yard sneak with 6.9 seconds left to break a tie and decide the semifinal just when overtime was seeming imminent.
“We came back to it again and it worked,” said Dippre, who found Pidgeon for 40 yards on his team’s first play and 44 yards on its biggest. “It put us in the spot to win the game.”
Wyoming Area lost a fumble on the game’s first play. The next two plays were the first flea flicker connection, followed by Spataro’s 5-yard touchdown to put the Warriors behind for the first time all season.
The second trick play connection combined with a series of costly Wyoming Area penalties down the stretch to turn back an impressive comeback that had seen the Warriors erase a 14-point deficit and threaten to take the lead.
Pidgeon made a lunging catch at the 7. Lakeland completed one more pass to the 3 and consecutive penalties set it at the 1. DIppre scored from there.
Dominic DeLuca led Wyoming Area back, scoring both touchdowns and taking on a big chunk of the offense with 1,000-yard rusher Corey Mruk on crutches on the sideline.
DeLuca completed two passes for 37 yards, then ran twice in a row from the 17 to complete the first scoring drive with 38.7 seconds left in the second quarter.
“Initially they did a great job coming out and establishing the run,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “I think we came back and kind of evened it out a little bit.
“We played well, then got into a situation to potentially get into overtime, but then they hit the big play and finished it on the short field.”
The tying score came on a 94-yard drive that took 5:45 off the clock in the third quarter.
DeLuca was 4-for-4 for 60 yards passing and ran four times for 31 yards, including the 10-yard touchdown, in that drive.
Wyoming Area got into Lakeland territory with four minutes left in the tie game before penalties and losses on four of its last six offensive plays halted the momentum.
FIELD HOCKEY
Newport 2
Wyoming Area 1
DANVILLE – Wyoming Area’s first-ever field hockey state run came to an end in an overtime loss to Newport in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class A quarterfinal round.
“For a team that has never left our district, we have nothing to be upset or ashamed about,” second-year Wyoming Area coach Erin McGinley said. “Unfortunately, we had a slow start and that cost us in regular game play. But then as soon as we got scored on, we became our normal team.”
Newport’s Amiyah Priebe score a game-winning goal on a breakaway opportunity in overtime. Rachel Bohn fed a ball into the penalty circle to allow Priebe a chance to shovel the ball into the cage.
“We didn’t recover correctly in the overtime on the base with a breakaway goal,” McGinley said. “That comes with experience. And two my starting backs on defense are freshmen. That said, I would never doubt them. They are phenomenal players.”
Facing a much more seasoned Buffaloes team, Wyoming Area suited three freshmen in its lineup to start the 7-on-7 overtime period.
“I need to do a better job with overtime,” McGinley said. “Because we tied both of our overtimes earlier in the year, and we lost today. We need to get better at pushing the ball forward.”
Trailing by one, Lauren Parente scored an equalizer for Wyoming Area in the ninth minute. Parente took possession of a blocked feed off a penalty corner and skipped her shot over the keeper’s stick.
Newport caught the Warriors off-guard by posting the game’s first goal 73 seconds after the opening whistle. Priebe scored her first of two goals by knocking a shot into the far side of the cage.
Three minutes into the overtime period, Wyoming Area goalie Ellie Glatz made a fantastic save on a hard-hit MacKenzie Harman shot.
GIRLS SOCCER
Boiling Springs 5
Wyoming Area 0
DANVILLE – Maddie Hughes had a hat trick and an assist as Boiling Springs ended Wyoming Area’s season two games short of the state finals.
“Nobody thought we would get here,” Wyoming Area coach Nikki Sitkowski said. “We proved everybody wrong.
“We came up short here, but I’m not going to be negative about it. This is new for us.”
Christina Kosco had the Warriors’ biggest scoring threat in the 54th minute. Kosco delivered a shot from 30 yards out that caused the Bubblers’ keeper Becca Becker to make a leaping save.
“That experience will be important to us next year,” said Sitkowski, whose team returns eight of 11 starters.