Sunday, November 6, 2005 Tue POST PAGE 7 Sports Week FIELD HOCKEY PLAYOFFS Black Knights taking confidence into state By DAVE KONOPKI Post Editor LEHMAN TWP. — Jean Lipski isn’t worried about the effort. The Lake-Lehman field hockey head coach knows her players will play hard. They've been playing that way all season. & Lipski isn’t worried about the 5 kill. The Black Knights have been outstanding offensively and defensively this year as a member of the Wyoming Valley Confer- ence. In fact, the veteran coach is only asking one thing from her team as it attempts to bounce back from a tough loss against Wyoming Sem- inary in the District 2 Class 2A championship game. Believe. : “The only thing I want from these girls to believe in them- selves,” said Lipski, whose team will play either Pen Argyl or Le- highton in the first round of the state playoffs Tuesday afternoon at a site and time to be deter- mined. The contest will most like- ly be played at Emmaus High School near Allentown. “Wyoming Seminary is a great opponent. They have great sticks skills and young players who are solid. A loss in our district cham- pionship game doesn’t mean @:- not a good team. We just # 1 A ave to regroup and correct a few things.” Despite having many years of experience in the state playoffs, Lipski won't be too familiar with her team’s first-round opponent, which will be champion from Dis- trict 11. Pen Argyl hasn’t advanced to the state playoffs in more than a decade and it’s been a few years since Lake-Lehman played against Lehighton. Ironically, Wyoming Seminary appears to be in the tougher half of the Class 2A bracket. That half al- so includes Palmyra and Selins- grove. Palmyra boosts seven start- ers who are expected to play on the Division I college level next season and Selinsgrove is one of the best teams in the state. Lake-Lehman (163) tied Palmyra during its annual “play day” and defeated Selinsgrove, - 1-0, in a game in which junior Ja- mie Lipski lost several teeth. The Black Knights should be “The only thing | want from these girls to be- lieve in themselves. A loss in our district championship game doesn’t mean we're not a good team.” Jean Lipski Lake-Lehman field hockey coach playing with new confidence after defeating two-time defending state champion Crestwood, 1-0, in the semifinals. The win put Lake- Lehman in the district title game and gave it a spot in the state play- offs. “That was a terrific game,” said Lipski. “Our girls went in fired up. They refused to lose. We played a beautiful game in high gear. I nev- er thought one goal would win the game. It's a great credit to our girls.” With only four returning start- ers from last season and while playing in the same classification as Crestwood, Wyoming Semina- ry and an upstart Meyers squad, a berth in the state playoffs might not have appeared big on Lipski’s radar before the season. “I didn’t know how our younger kids were going to play. You never know,” said Lipski, who has led the Black Knights to state cham- pionships in the past. “But I knew our attitude would be terrific. These girls work so well together. As a coach, it’s so nice to see.” playoffs Lake-Lehman’'s Traci Ragukas attempts to get past Crestwood defender Jordan Petchel. Wyoming Seminary’s Aime Sgarlat is surrounded by Lake-Lehman players as she attempts to take a shot on goal. SOCCER PLAYOFFS Disappointing District 2 championship loss ends otherwise great year for Dallas soccer team By DAVE KONOPKI Post Editor Another fantastic regular sea- son. Another solid playoff run. H Fe : And, unfortunately for the Dal- las boys soccer team, another year of falling painfully close to winning a district championship. é. The Mountaineers suffered a eartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss ' against North Pocono in the Dis- ‘trict 2 Class 2A championship’ ' game played earlier this week at Scranton Memorial Stadium. ‘Dallas ends the season with a 15- 3-1 record under head coach Chris Scharff. “It was a great season for us,” said Scharff, whose team came within eight seconds of beating North Pocono in the champion- ship game three years ago. The Mountaineers followed up that season with tough losses in the semifinals and quarterfinals, re- spectively. “We're thrilled and would have liked to have won, but it was a good experience because our plans are to get here every single year. It’s good experience for the young kids and we have a good team coming back again next year.” The Mountaineers made their playoff run without the services f standout junior Billy DeAnge- ¥. The Olympic Development Program performer suffered a broken foot during an indoor practice in preparation of the TIMES LEADER STAFF PHOTO/PETE G. WILCOX Michael Miller (25) of Dallas tries to gain control of the ball while being pursued by Crestwood's Kevin Moulton (10) and Mountain- eer teammate Ed Daris (27). “We're thrilled and would have liked to have won, but it was a good experience because our plans are to get here every single year." Chris Scharff Dallas soccer coach playoffs. “The way these guys picked it up without him was phenom- enal,” said Scharff. “He’s a great player and it was a huge loss. If we had him, that doesn’t mean it would have been a different score, but it might have been. He’s probably the best player in the Wyoming Valley Conference. But he has been very supportive the whole time he was hurt by showing up to games and cheer- ‘ing from the sidelines.” The Mountaineers got an out- standing effort from stopper Ben Thomas in their semifinal win against Crestwood. Thomas was given the task of playing defense against Crestwood’s Arthur Jan- kowski, one of the better players . in the. Wyoming Valley Confer- ence. Thomas did a tremendous job, holding Jankowski without ‘a shot on goal until the final four minutes of the second overtime period. Dallas eventually won the game on penalty kicks. “When we had the ball, Ben (Thomas) attacked,” said Scharff. “But as soon as Crest- wood got the ball, his job was to find (Jankowski). We felt coming in that if Arthur didn’t score a goal or have an assist, we'd win the game. We gave the role of stopping him to Ben.” It's a role Thomas relished throughout the night. “(Jankowski) is a great player,” said the Dallas senior. “I knew it was going to be tough to stop him. But our entire defense have been playing great. I also like get- ting the ball and passing it to my teammates. I'll do whatever I have to do if it helps us win. DeAngelo was the lone player from a Back Mountain high school to be a first-team selection as the WVC Soccer Coaches As- sociation recently selected its Di- vision I and Division II all-star teams. DeAngelo was chosen as a midfielder. Making the second team were juniors David Luksh and Tho- mas, as well as the sophomore goalkeeper Peter Steve. No play- ers from Lake-Lehman were cho- sen. TIMES LEADER STAFF PHOTO/DON CAREY Michael Wyberski (35) of Dallas gets ready to head the ball as North Pocono’s Cody Glassman (28) defends during a district semifinal game.
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