Sunday, October 30, 2005 SPORTS THE POST PAGE Taylor Bowman of Dallas, left, and Lake- Lehman's Gaby Ol- shemski battle for possession of the ball. Lake-Leh- man's Liz Lipski (6) and Katherine Williams wipe away a few tears after an emotional, hard-fought game against rival Dallas. FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Katelin Dawsey, left, and Liz Lipski rush to defend Dallas player Dana Krawetz. Mounts, Knights fit to be tied here were no official winners when members of the Lake-Lehman and Dallas field hockey teams walked off of the field following a Wyoming Valley Conference junior high game. But there was reason for everyone to feel good. The Back Mountain rivals battled to a1-1 tie as the regular season came to an end last week. Ga- by Olshemski scored Lake-Lehman’s goal on a penalty corner in the first half, while Dallas’ Lau- ren Skudalski tied the game with a second-half goal off an assist by Allison Hardwick. The tie was the only blemish on Lake-Leh- man’s regular season record. The Black Knights (13-0-1) enter the District 2 playoffs as the No. 1 seed. Dallas failed to make the playoffs, but fin- ished the year with an impressive 11-3-2 record. In addition to making the playoffs, Lake-Leh- man won the WVC regular season champion- ship for the first time since 2001. “We have an excellent team. This is the best team I've had in my 10 years as coach,” said Lake- Lehman head coach Janene Kasarda. “This is a special group of kids. Teams like this don’t come around too often.” The Black Knight coach gave Dallas credit for its effort against her team. “Dallas played well,” she said. “I think our kids came out a little slow, but we finally picked it up. It’s a great rival. It was a typical Lehman-Dallas game.” Kasarda says team chemistry has played a big role in Lake-Lehman’s success. “Theyre so team-oriented,” she said of her players. “They pass the ball very well. A lot of these girls have played soccer growing up. They Lake-Lehman's Selena Adamshick , right, tries to move to ball away from Allison Hardwick of Dallas. help each other out. You can tell they've played together in the past.” Perhaps the highlight of the season took place several weeks ago, when the Black Knights de- feated Coughlin, 1-0. The loss ended Coughlin’s Members of the Dallas Middle School field hockey team go through a pre-game warm up. four-year, 50+-game winning streak. “It’s been a great year,” said Kasarda. “I think our kids have confidence going into the playoffs. We're playing well and our (roster) numbers are back up. I'm happy the program is going in the right direction.” Attempts to contact Dallas head coach Nancy Shaw for this story were unsuccessful. Dave Konopki
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