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Valley West boys soccer falls to Cumberland Valley in state opener

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Wyoming Valley Striders honor running legend Vince Wojnar

<p>KINGSTON &#8212; Very alertly, Jordan Olenginski followed the caroming ball and stuffed it into the cage.</p><p>Nearly 10 minutes later, an apparent game-tying goal was waved off.</p><p>That&#8217;s how high-flying Crestwood staved off Manheim Central, 3-2 in a rain-soaked PIAA Class 2A field hockey playoff opener Tuesday at Nesbitt Field.</p><p>&#8220;I really didn&#8217;t want the season to be over yet,&#8221; said Olenginski, a junior who concluded a rather unique scoring opportunity by belting a deadened ball across the goal line for the Comets&#8217; third and final goal. &#8220;It has to do with my team. It&#8217;s my last chance playing with the seniors, and they&#8217;re like my sisters.&#8221;</p><p>She was only too happy to lend a helping hand to their state playoff quest.</p><p>Midway through the third quarter, Crestwood&#8217;s Hannah Ackers deflected a scoring chance that bounded skyward and smacked off the right goal post. From there, the ball softly rolled toward the center of the goal line, and Olenginski beat everyone to it - punching in the goal that gave Crestwood a 3-1 lead with 14:39 to play.</p><p>&#8220;When Hannah tipped it up, I thought it was going in,&#8221; Olenginski said. &#8220;I saw it on the line and basically hit it in.&#8221;</p><p>It turned out to be Crestwood&#8217;s final score of the game.</p><p>And it proved to be just enough to send the 20-0 Comets into the state quarterfinals Saturday against the winner of Selinsgrove vs. Greenwood - who play Wednesday.</p><p>&#8220;I think we dug deep, played hard when we needed to and definitely got the result we wanted to,&#8221; Crestwood coach Patsy Moratori said.</p><p>Not without a major scare, though.</p><p>Manheim Central&#8217;s Taylor Wiederrecht cut Crestwood&#8217;s lead to a goal by scoring with 9:13 to play.</p><p>Then Wiederrecht appeared to connect on the tying goal by taking the inbounds pass off a penalty corner and lifting a rising laser into the back of the box with just under five minutes remaining.</p><p>Fortunately for Crestwood, the goal didn&#8217;t count, and the Comets&#8217; lead stood to the end.</p><p>&#8220;I knew it wasn&#8217;t good,&#8221; Olenginski said. &#8220;In a corner, the first hit can&#8217;t go up. It&#8217;s a dumb rule, but that&#8217;s what it is. If they called it a goal, I was going to flip out.&#8221;</p><p>Instead of catching Crestwood, 19-5 Manheim Central was left out of the rest of the state tournament following the first round for the second straight season. They were being eliminated by eventual state champion Villa Maria in the 2014 PIAA opener.</p><p>&#8220;When I saw it go that high, I knew it wouldn&#8217;t be a goal,&#8221; Moratori said of Manheim Central&#8217;s best chance to even the score in the final minutes. &#8220;You&#8217;re still depending on the ref to call it that way. We just gave up too many opportunities at the end.&#8221;</p><p>But by taking advantage of some earlier chances, Crestwood survived to play another round.</p><p>The game began in a light but steady mist that progressively became harder - and more difficult to play in, even on the well-groomed artificial surface of Nesbitt Field - as the game wore on.</p><p>Players slipped trying to start their runs a few times, and passes sloshed along while bringing up a slight trail of water. That was little help to a Crestwood team that ripped through the regular season and to the District 2 championship by playing a high-speed game built on precision passing.</p><p>&#8220;Oh, it was really bad,&#8221; Olenginski said, adding that she had to scrap her original game plan going in. &#8220;I couldn&#8217;t do anything, couldn&#8217;t do my stick work. My thought, then, was to just hit it in front of them and run.&#8221;</p><p>Lizzy Dessoye ran down the game&#8217;s opening goal for Crestwood with 11:55 to play in the opening half, then Manheim Central tied it nearly five minutes later when Leah Hoffman scored.</p><p>But Hannah Ackers took a feed from Cara Jarmiolowski and rifled a shot home with 20:43 remaining in the game, then Olenginski tracked down what proved to be the deciding goal some six minutes later.</p><p>&#8220;They played a great game,&#8221; Moratori said of Manheim Central. &#8220;We knew they were going to play hard. They were close to knocking us off. I think we had a few players who dug deep to get us through. If you have enough players step up every game, that&#8217;s a good sign, too.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>PIAA Class 2A Opener</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Crestwood 3, Manheim Central 2</strong></p><p><strong>Manheim Central`1`1`&#8212;`2</strong></p><p><strong>Crestwood`1`2`&#8212;`3</strong></p><p><strong>First half &#8212;</strong> 1. CRE, Lizzy Dessoye 18:05; 2. MC, Leah Hoffman 22:42. <strong>Second half &#8212;</strong> 3. CRE, Hannah Ackers (Cara Jarmiolowski) 9:17; 4. CRE, Jordan Olenginski 15:21; 5. MC, Taylor Wiederrecht 20:47.</p><p><strong>Shots &#8212;</strong> MC 8; CRE 11. <strong>Saves &#8212;</strong> MC 8 (Emma Beamesderfer); CRE 6 (Marlee Dillon). <strong>Penalty corners &#8212;</strong> MC 10; CRE 11.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Crestwood midfielder Mackenzie Kile sends the ball down field on Tuesday night at Nesbitt Field. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115crestwood-FH1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Crestwood midfielder Mackenzie Kile sends the ball down field on Tuesday night at Nesbitt Field. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115crestwood-FH2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood&#8217;s Ashleigh Thomas battles for the ball with a Manheim Central defender during the opening round of the PIAA Class 2A field hockey playoff opener Tuesday at Nesbitt Field. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115crestwood-FH2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Crestwood&#8217;s Ashleigh Thomas battles for the ball with a Manheim Central defender during the opening round of the PIAA Class 2A field hockey playoff opener Tuesday at Nesbitt Field. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115crestwood-FH3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood&#8217;s Lizzy Dessoye moves the ball as Manheim Central defenders pursue during the opening round of the PIAA Class 2A field hockey playoff opener Tuesday at Nesbitt Field. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115crestwood-FH3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Crestwood&#8217;s Lizzy Dessoye moves the ball as Manheim Central defenders pursue during the opening round of the PIAA Class 2A field hockey playoff opener Tuesday at Nesbitt Field. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115crestwood-FH4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lizzy Dessoye of Crestwood gets caught between two Manheim defenders on Tuesday night at Nesbitt Field. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115crestwood-FH4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Lizzy Dessoye of Crestwood gets caught between two Manheim defenders on Tuesday night at Nesbitt Field. </caption3><photoCredit3></photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115crestwood-FH5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood&#8217;s Hannah Ackers shoots during the opening round of the PIAA Class 2A field hockey playoff opener Tuesday at Nesbitt Field. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL111115crestwood-FH5.jpg</photo4><caption4>Crestwood&#8217;s Hannah Ackers shoots during the opening round of the PIAA Class 2A field hockey playoff opener Tuesday at Nesbitt Field. </caption4><photoCredit4></photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Correct call, fortunate ball send unbeaten Comets to state quarters</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div>

H.S. Field Hockey: Crestwood advances to PIAA Class 2A quarterfinals