= oye Section 2 Wednesday, April 3, 1996 + Black Knights come back strong from winning year © @ By LEN KRYESKI Sports Writer LEHMAN - Quick, local girls soccer fans this one's for you: Name two things you remember most about last spring's edition of the Lake-Lehman club. That's easy, the Lady Black Knights put together a phenom- enal season, finishing ahead of everyone else in the rugged Wyo- ming Valley Conference Division I before falling to Bishop Hoban at the district semi-finals. Second, all of those overtime games. In terms of wins and losses and their exciting caliber of play it was aphenomenal season indeed. But even the most avid fans tend to forget the girls managed toachieve all of the goals set forth for them by the husband and wife coach- ing tandem of Dave and Jan Elston. They made the playoffs and improved their record in the pro- cess from 6-5-3 the season be- fore. They stayed healthy and the scoring was up. Way up from 21 goals in 1994 to 38. So, with virtually the entire team intact, you're wondering what they'll do for an encore. For starters the coaches aren't taking anything for granted. Lehman went 5-1-1 in overtime and many close victories could have gone the other way last season. The Elstons’ seek improvement not only on the field, but in terms of endurance. “We've been working hard on pre-conditioning,” said Jan Elston By LEN KRYESKI Sports Writer KINGSTON - Last spring the Bishop O'Reilly girls’ soccer team was rewarded for their 15-1 per- formance of 1994. Their prize? An upgrade from Division 2-A of the Wyoming Valley Conference to Division 1. The competitive difference be- tween the two divisions is vast. Just ask head coach Steve Wise. One season after scoring 99 goals - they topped the century mark during the playoffs - the Lady Queensmen found the net just 18 times in ‘95. That's not to say O'Reilly didn't earn their new-found status last spring. In fact they did. They lost four games by a goal, including two to division champion, Lake- Lehman. Both of those defeats occurred in overtime. Comprised mainly of juniors and sophomores, O'Reilly was a young team last year with the bulk of its talent on defense. “Defensively we did a good job last year,” Wise said. “Our main concern is probably the offense. We want to try to build it up to what it was two years ago.” O'Reilly is a much deeper team, graduating just two of their top 15 players from a season ago. With 60 girls to choose from, Wise plans to carry a varsity roster of adding that she and Dave want Lehman to have the stronger team on the field, enabling Lehman to take control late in the contest. “Division 1 is very competitive, in which any game can go any away. The last two seasons we've been known as the overtime team. We want to avoid overtime, but con- tinue winning.” The Lady Knights also want to be in tip-top shape al season's end. Lehman disposed of North Pocono 2-0 in the opening round of of the District 2 playolls before losing in the semi-finals to even- tual champion, Bishop Hoban. The 5-1 defeat last May, delayed nearly an hour by a torrential downpour, was their only poor showing all season. Lehman avoided a shutout when Adrienne Miroslaw found the net with 2:08 remaining. This year the majority of soccer prognosticators and opposing coaches see Lehman squeaking by Crestwood for the league title. “It was easier going into the season last year, being picked fourth,” Jan Elston said. “Are the girls overconfident? No theyre taking this one game at a time." Kelly Spencer receives a good deal of the credit for last year's 22 One O'Reilly girl landed on the all-scholastic first team last year. Krista Greger, a senior from the Back Mountain, is one of the league's finest fullbacks. “Krista is an excellent player and areal leader,” said Wise. “She shows a lot of confidence on the field. The whole defense looks up to her.” The squad receives plenty of leadership [rom the Back Moun- tain. Junior Erin Stair leads the forwards and ranked among the top ten scoring leaders last year with 17 points. Bianca Brdaric, a strong midfield player added four points. SeniorJeanetlie Manorek, one of the most respected goal- keepers in the league, makes the switch to midfield. All three re- ceived all-scholastic honorable mentions in "95. A couple of local freshman have made the varsity this spring. Joanne Greger will be vying for playing time at forward, Chrissy Guntli at midfield. ~The Dallas Post Dave and Jan Elston are steering the Lake-Lehman girls' soccer team for the third season. increase in scoring. Spencer burst on the scene as a freshman, scor- ing 17 goals and easily finishing first in the conference in points with 41. The first team all-scho- lastic star starts alongside sopho- more Sara Kasper at the forward position. A good number of first year players will also see action at striker. It's too early to say which girls will see the most quality time. They'll be heavily scrutinized once the team is able to consistently Junior Chrissy Kane will not be available [or the second consecu- tive season. Kane displayed tre- mendous promise as a freshman, but has been troubled by serious knee problems since and may not play soccer for O'Reilly again. “We're looking to have a strong team and definitely improve our record,” added Wise. “If we're not a contender for the playolls we should have a say in who makes it. We're looking forward to get- ting on the field.” O'Reilly will be playing on a new field this year, with home games slated for the Church Street field in Kingston. Last year the Lady Queensmen played in Forty- Fort at the Luzerne County Recre- ation Complex. Seminary Wyoming Seminary finished the league campaign 0-14 last spring and scored a measly 13 goals in the process. The offense will be asked to pick it up this year since, the defense will be less experi- enced. "Our defense is going to take practice outdoors. Quality personnel at the midfield position enables Lehman to play mainly a two striker of- fense. On the whole these girls can score, set up the strikers and man the midfield position with ease. Jamie Elston and Beth Turner are the only seniors on the squad. They're joined by Miroslaw, last year's second-leading scorer, Jess Elston and Melissa Birt. See LEHMAN SOCCER, pg 10 O'Reilly, Sem rely on Back Mountain talent some time to develop,” said head coachJay Harvey. “We graduated three from last year's team and two of them were our fullbacks.” This year, Harvey feels the Lady Blue Knights will be much stron- ger at the midfield and front line positions. So much so that he lists them as the team’s two main strengths. A good deal of the squad is made up of juniors, so the future looks promising. “We're much more experienced, most of our key players have per- formed on the field,” said Harvey. “We're still young though, we'll start just four seniors..” One of the seniors is Sara Sordoni of the Back Mountain. She's battling for playing time at the forward position alongside Brooke Schuler, and the Ashley sisters, Johanna and Chrissy. Johanna was the team's leading scorer last year, booting seven goals. Goalkeeping is in the very ca- pable hands of Back Mountain resident Claire Hedden. With some young defenders in front of her, she'll be asked to pick up the burden of keeping the opponent off of the scoreboard. “Just two Back Mountain play- ers on the varsity, that's a down year for us,” added Harvey. “There's a few coming up through See O'REILLY, SEM, pg 10 Team wraps up successful season The Dallas Middle School seventh | grade basketballteam completed | their season with a 16-3 record, | winning in western division of the Wyoming Valley Conference. Leading scorers were Paul Dougal and Jay Carroll. Coaches were Joel Starley and Stuart Tripler. Team members are, kneeling Jared Karalunas, Justin Bicking, Luke Miller, Jon Schneider, Kevin Piekara, Dan Laurenzi and Jay Carroll; standing Vito Recchia, Pat Barnard, Dan Fetko, Cory Galant, Coach Tripler, John Nackley, Jason Race, Mike Domzalski, Matt Eyet and Kevin Razawich. Absent from photo: Paul Dougal and Keith Sprau. : Sports\Week BM School news HB Classified BM Calendar For Mounts, time to rebuild from disappointing '95 By LEN KRYESKI Sports Writer DALLAS TOWNSHIP - All good things come to an end and that's exactly what happened to the Dallas girls’ soccer team last spring. Their run of five consecu- tive District 2 championships came to a halt when the Lady Mounts missed the playoffs with a fifth place in Division 1 of the Wyoming Valley Conference. At 7-6-1 they missed the postseason by a half game. The fourth place Lady Argents of Bishop Hoban went on to win the district championship. “It was hard and it felt a little different,” said head coach Ron Moran. “The kids felt it too. One more winwould have put us there, but it's been a motivating factor. The girls have been working extra hard this spring.” Most of that hard work has taken place indoors. The confer- ence was to begin play last week, but poor field conditions pushed back the season opener. Moran admits his team is a little gym crazy, but the girls are looking forward to getting the campaign started and becoming a confer- ence power again. While the weather has not dampened their spirits, the start- ing lineup is not yet etched in stone. Midfield concerns and a young defense have caused Moran and assistant coach Ron Loeffler to experiment with moving some girls around. “We're still experimenting,” said RON MORAN Moran, “that’s been one of the problems with not being able to get outside. You just can't work on certain things indoors.” Dallas was shut out just twice last year, once by league cham- pion Lake-Lehman and the other See DALLAS SOCCER, pg 10 Challenger registration April 13 Wyoming Valley Challenger Baseball will hold registration for .all players April 13, from noon to 2 p.m. at the Pittston Township Little League Stadium on Bryden Street. Challenger Baseball, which is affiliated with Little League, is a program for mentally and physi- cally handicapped boys and girls from ages five to 18 from through- out the Wyoming Valley. The registration fee is $25 per family. It is not necessary for players to be present at the time of registration. Any family member can register a player. For more information call . Debbie Taroli at 654-4288 or Fred DeSanto at 822-7244. Opening day is tentatively planned for May 18 at noon at the Pittston Township Little League Stadium. Huntsville Golf Club featured in The Best of Golf magazine Huntsville Golf Club, Lehman, has been featured by Links, The Best of Golfmagazine, as a course that achieves the delicate balance between the long-standing tradi- tions of the game of golf and clas- sic course design and outstand- ing payability. The article, entitled “Huntsville Golf Club - Pennsylvania Perfec- tion,” appears in the April edition of this leading national golf publi- cation, which has readers throughout the United States and Canada. Noted golfer writer Bradley S. Klein writes of this course that, “...you get the distinct impression playing Huntsville that the land and the golf course have been here avery long time.” He empha- sizes that the masterful design of the Rees Jones course works with the natural beauty of the terrain, resulting in “a place where the classical game flourishes." Recognition by Links marks the second time the club has gar- nered national attention in the past four months. In December of 1995, the Club was named the Second Best New Private Course in North America by Golf Digest magazine. L-L Football Club fund raiser The Lake-Lehman Football Club will host a Night at the Races April 13, at 7 p.m. at the J.R. Davis Fire Hall, Rt. 415, Idetown. Admission is $3, which also includes refreshments. Proceeds benefit the many projects of the Lake-Lehman Football Club. Strikers place at Warrior Run The Strikers traveled to Warrior Run Saturday, March 23 and placed eight. Bantam: Rick Bower, 451bs., 4th; Mike Stolarick, 60 1bs., 1st; Brian Goeringer, 65 lbs., 1st; Matt Dragon, 80 lbs., 2nd. Midget: Mike Stolarick, 60 lbs., 4th. Junior: John Houssock, 60 lbs., 4th. Junior High: Matt Magee, 120 lbs., 3rd; Jason Maciejczak, 125 lbs., 3rd. Senior High: Lynn MacMillan, 152 lbs., 2nd. At Hughesville, Dale Radginski Jr., 74 Ibs., placed 2nd to qualify for | AAU Regionals at Shamokin. ns SOR i SN
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers