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They will play another &#8220;Pink Game&#8221; of field hockey on Tuesday at Guthrie Field, home of the unbeaten Coughlin Crusaders, in hopes of raising awareness for breast cancer and raising more funds to help battle it.These types of games go on all over the country in all sports, from high school to the pros, during the month of October that has declared national breast cancer awareness month.Coughlin coach Colleen Wood and her field hockey teams have played in them for years.They are much more personal to her now.Another field hockey season was already underway last September when Wood went for her regular checkup, a little later this time, and found out she was afflicted with breast cancer.&#8220;I saw something. I went to get checked,&#8221; Wood said.Her doctor didn&#8217;t have to say a word for Wood to know the worst news. She had Stage 2 breast cancer that made its way into her lymph nodes.&#8220;The look that he had when he walked in, you just know,&#8221; Wood said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think you ever forget that.&#8221;She wasn&#8217;t about to forget coaching her team, though, even with operations and chemotherapy sessions suddenly in her gameplan for getting better.She is the daughter of Coughlin&#8217;s former and storied basketball coach John Quinn, so Colleen Wood is every bit the fighter her dad is.Little more than a year after her devastating diagnosis, Wood is cancer-free now and coaching as passionately as ever for a Coughlin team that is 8-0 at the top of the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 and believes it can do some special things in the Class 3A playoffs.But then, Colleen Wood was coaching her heart out even at a time when her heart felt like breaking last season.&#8220;She came to practices, to games, every day,&#8221; said her daughter, Brigid Wood, a Coughlin senior who has accepted a field hockey scholarship to play for Boston College next fall. &#8220;We&#8217;re all really inspired by her. The only times she missed were if the doctors would not let her go.&#8221;Her mother laughs about that now, sharing tales of her tooth-and-nail fights with her health care specialists in hopes of moving appointments or treatments that conflicted with Coughlin&#8217;s field hockey games last year.But Colleen Wood is quick to turn serious about a sometimes fatal illness that afflicts thousands of women each year, causing tremendous pain and anguish not only to those suffering with it, but their friends and families who are never really sure which way the outcome is going to go.&#8220;I think the games helped me get my mind off it,&#8221; Brigid Wood said. &#8220;I didn&#8217;t really think about it as much.&#8221;But the Woods want people to think about breast cancer a lot, and so do the rest of the field hockey teams in the WVC.&#8220;Especially people who think something&#8217;s wrong, and ignore it,&#8221; Colleen Wood said. &#8220;That&#8217;s something you can&#8217;t do. When everything happened (last year), it really made a lot of our parents go and get checked, who usually never do.&#8220;The sad part is,&#8221; Colleen Wood continued, &#8220;there are so many people you don&#8217;t realize have it or are affected by it. When I found out, the amount of people I talked to said so-and-so had it or &#8216;I had it.&#8217; You don&#8217;t realize.&#8221;The teams around the WVC want people to realize breast cancer can crush anyone, especially after it hit one of the league&#8217;s most respected coaches so hard.Just a couple of weeks ago, Wyoming Valley West held its &#8220;Pink Game&#8221; when Coughlin came to town.&#8220;When my mom got it, everyone started aiming their &#8216;Pink Games&#8217; toward us,&#8221; Brigid Wood said. &#8220;Dallas did a really nice one last year, one of their girls did a little speech and I started crying. We did our breast cancer game against Holy Redeemer last year. My best friend (former Redeemer star Greta Ell), who I grew up with, in the middle of the game she just hugged me.&#8220;People are really supportive around here.&#8221;The Crusaders are hoping to generate more support for the battle against breast cancer.Coughlin&#8217;s &#8220;Pink Game&#8221; on Tuesday will include raffles and basket sales, with all proceeds benefiting Candy&#8217;s Place, a cancer wellness center that, among other areas of support, offers free wigs and massages to cancer patients.&#8220;It&#8217;s good that everybody is aware of it so they can definitely get checked,&#8221; Colleen Wood said. &#8220;I guess sometimes you don&#8217;t realize until it hits close to home.&#8221;Rolling RoyalsHoly Redeemer rebounded from a painfully slow start and played its way right back into the district playoff race.The Royals opened the season with three consecutive losses, but recovered in time to rip off a five-game winning streak.Although that run was broken with Tuesday&#8217;s 4-1 loss to Division 4-leading Lackawanna Trail, Redeemer sits at 5-4 and is right in the mix for one of the final three District 2 Class 2A postseason slots.Monster matchupsIn a game that will likely decide the Division 4 title, Wyoming Seminary will face surprising Lackawanna Trail Wednesday in a battle of one-loss teams tied at the top of the standings.And the league&#8217;s only two unbeaten Class 2A teams, Crestwood and Lake-Lehman, will clash at Lehman on Oct. 19. The next day, Oct. 20, Coughlin will host arch-nemesis Wyoming Valley West in a game that could wrap up the Division 1 title for the unbeaten Crusaders.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Coaching the game she loves suddenly became therapeutic for Coughlin mentor Colleen Wood when she accomplished her greatest victory by beating breast cancer last season. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL100715NOTEBOOK-FH-Haz-Coughlin21.jpg</photo0><caption0>Coaching the game she loves suddenly became therapeutic for Coughlin mentor Colleen Wood when she accomplished her greatest victory by beating breast cancer last season. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL100715NOTEBOOK-FH-Haz-Coughlin11.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Boston College-bound Coughlin senior Brigid Wood (at right, in white jersey) watched &#8216;The Valley With A Heart&#8217; live up to its nickname with overwhelming support when her mother, Coughlin coach Colleen Wood, was diagnosed with breast cancer last season. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL100715NOTEBOOK-FH-Haz-Coughlin11.jpg</photo1><caption1>Boston College-bound Coughlin senior Brigid Wood (at right, in white jersey) watched &#8216;The Valley With A Heart&#8217; live up to its nickname with overwhelming support when her mother, Coughlin coach Colleen Wood, was diagnosed with breast cancer last season. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Paul Sokoloskipsokoloski@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>WVC STANDINGS(Through Tuesday)Division 1Team`W`L`T`GBCoughlin`8`0`0`-Wyoming Valley West`6`2`0`2Hazleton Area`4`3`0`3.5Pittston Area`3`3`1`4.5Delaware Valley`2`5`0`5.5Honesdale`2`6`0`6Wallenpaupack`0`6`1`7.5Division 2Team`W`L`T`GBCrestwood`7`0`0`-Dallas`3`2`0`3Abington Heights`3`4`0`4Tunkhannock`2`4`0`4.5Berwick`0`6`0`6.5Division 3Team`W`L`T`GBLake-Lehman`7`0`0`-Wyoming Area`8`2`0`1.5Holy Redeemer`5`4`0`3GAR`3`7`0`5.5Nanticoke Area`2`6`0`5.5Hanover Area`2`6`0`5.5Division 4Team`W`L`T`GBLackawanna Trail`6`1`0`-Wyoming Seminary`5`1`0`0.5-Northwest`2`3`0`3Meyers`2`4`0`3.5Elk Lake`0`7`0`6</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</shirttailMeta></div>

WVC field hockey: Coach who beat cancer is always thinking pink