North East Land Bank Authority property acquisition begins

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Murray unraveled by noise, loses in US Open quarters

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; It&#8217;s rare to see two teams that battled for a District 2 championship start the regular season the next year against other.</p><p>But it happened on Wednesday afternoon as defending District 2 Class 2A champ Crestwood visited Coughlin at the Bog in a Wyoming Valley Conference boys soccer game.</p><p>Even though many of the faces have graduated from the match last November, the result was similar.</p><p>The teams battled for 100 minutes and settled for a 2-2 tie despite valiant efforts by both squads.</p><p>This was the first of at least matches between the teams as they square off again on Sept. 29 at Crestwood. And being in the same classification they could also meet in the postseason.</p><p>&#8220;We will see them at least once. They have a good team. It was a good battle. And for once I&#8217;m sad we couldn&#8217;t get out of here with a win. I think the boys earned a win today,&#8221; Crestwood coach Michael Stephensson said. &#8220;But kudos to Coughlin, the fought a good game and they took their chance.&#8221;</p><p>The Comets coach was unhappy with the result because his team missed golden opportunities in the first half.</p><p>Playing without all-state defender Matt Davison, who sat out with an injury, Coughlin&#8217;s defense was shaky early on.</p><p>The Comets got good penetration with several opportunities &#8211; including six corner kicks &#8211; all throughout the first half, but settled for just one goal when Kyle Gegaris struck the first of his two goals in the match in the tenth minute giving the Comets a 1-0 lead.</p><p>Coughlin&#8217;s new defense of Alex Kresge, Josh Anstett, Chad Regan, Cam Corcoran and Christian Kosik may have been a bit nervous in the first half after stiffening up the rest of the game.</p><p>&#8220;We honestly, should have put them away earlier and we didn&#8217;t and we almost paid for it,&#8221; Stephensson said. &#8220;I was happy with everything, but we have to put a few more balls away. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don&#8217;t.&#8221;</p><p>The Crusaders had few chances in the first half, but came out in the second with a mission. Just five minutes into the second half, a direct kick from just outside the box was nailed by Coughlin&#8217;s David Cortez for the equalizer.</p><p>Coughlin took its only lead about five minutes later on a never-give-up goal by George Oko, who dribbled half of the field to beat defenders, hurdled through an attempt by Crestwood&#8217;s keeper, lost his cleat, and found the open net for the goal and the 2-1 lead.</p><p>&#8220;Heart, determination, will. I don&#8217;t know if you could&#8217;ve stopped him,&#8221; Coughlin coach Rob Havard said. &#8220;He put it in his head that &#8216;it&#8217;s time for me to step up. My team needs me.&#8217; And he did that.&#8221;</p><p>Not to be outdone, Gegaris, made an improbable goal of his own drilling one in the upper left corner of the goal from about 30 yards out to tie the game with around 12 minutes remaining.</p><p>&#8220;That seems to be an M.O. of his ever since he was a freshman he hit one from about 40 yards out on us,&#8221; Havard said. &#8220;So he has a tendency to get those balls on us. Great players make great things happen when they need to and he did that.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Hazleton Area 5,</strong></p><p><strong>Wyoming Area 4</strong></p><p>The Cougars scored three goals in the final 13:10 to cap off a rally over the Warriors.</p><p>William Barrientos tied it up and Johnathan Pozniak got the winner with 3:05 left.</p><p><strong>Tunkhannock 6,</strong></p><p><strong>Pittston Area 1</strong></p><p>Drew Tinna collected three goals and an assist while Stefan Sica scored twice for the Tigers.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Crestwood 2, Coughlin 2 (2 OT)</strong></p><p><strong>Crestwood ` 1`1`0`0` &#8211; `2</strong></p><p><strong>Coughlin`0`2`0`0` &#8211; 2</strong></p><p><strong>First half</strong> &#8211; 1. CRE, Kyle Gegaris (Hubert Herrera) 10th minute. <strong>Second half</strong> &#8211; 2. COU, David Cortez (direct kick) 45th; 3. COU, George Oko 50th; 4. CRE, Gegaris 55th</p><p><strong>Shots</strong>: CRE 13, COU 12; <strong>Saves</strong>: CRE 5 (Aidan Zabiegalski); COU 5 (David Kosik); <strong>Corners</strong>: CRE 7; COU 2.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Hazleton Area 5, Wyoming Area 4</strong></p><p><strong>Hazleton Area`1`4`&#8212;`5</strong></p><p><strong>Wyoming Area`2`2`&#8212;`4</strong></p><p><strong>First half &#8212;</strong> 1. WA, Damien Bronsburg, 11th minute; 2. WA, Ryan Shuleski (Bronsburg), 15th; 3. HAZ, Josh Covarrubias-Capriotti, 23rd. <strong>Second half &#8212;</strong> 4. WA, Gavin Lahart (Ryan Shuleski), 47th; 5. HAZ, Covarrubias-Capriotti, 50th; 6. WA, Brandon Williams, 62nd; 7. HAZ, Covarrubias-Capriotti, 67th; 8. HAZ, William Barrientos, 75th; 9. HAZ, Johnathan Pozniak, 77th.</p><p><strong>Shots &#8212;</strong> HAZ 13; WA 13. <strong>Saves &#8212;</strong> HAZ 7; WA 8 (Peter Butera). <strong>Corners &#8212;</strong> HAZ 8; WA 5.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Tunkhannock 6, Pittston Area 1</strong></p><p><strong>Pittston Area`0`1`&#8212;`1</strong></p><p><strong>Tunkhannock`4`2`&#8212;`6</strong></p><p><strong>First half</strong> &#8212; 1. TUN, Stefan Sica, 8th minute; 2. TUN, Drew Tinna (Avery Newhart), 21st; 3. TUN, Eddie Melan (Tinna), 23rd; 4. TUN, Tinna (Paul DeMarco), 31st. <strong>Second half</strong> &#8212; 5. TUN, Tinna (Billy Prebola), 50th; 6. TUN, Sica, 67th; 7. PA, Dominic Stella (Jordan Powers), 79th.</p><p><strong>Shots</strong>: PA 6; TUN 18. <strong>Saves</strong>: PA 11 (Charlie Dudek, Kyle Mildjeski); TUN 4 (Matt Goodwin, Cage Gregory). <strong>Corners</strong>: PA 1; TUN 10.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Coughlin-CrestwoodBoysSoccer_1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Coughlin&#8217;s Chase Nowak, right, and Crestwood&#8217;s Nick Andrews go to head the ball in WVC boys soccer action Wednesday afternoon at the Bog in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Coughlin-CrestwoodBoysSoccer_1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Coughlin&#8217;s Chase Nowak, right, and Crestwood&#8217;s Nick Andrews go to head the ball in WVC boys soccer action Wednesday afternoon at the Bog in Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Coughlin-CrestwoodBoysSoccer_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood&#8217;s Dylan Gesford, left, and Coughlin&#8217;s Angel Tlatenchi go to head the ball in WVC boys soccer action Wednesday afternoon at the Bog in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Coughlin-CrestwoodBoysSoccer_2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Crestwood&#8217;s Dylan Gesford, left, and Coughlin&#8217;s Angel Tlatenchi go to head the ball in WVC boys soccer action Wednesday afternoon at the Bog in Wilkes-Barre. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Coughlin-CrestwoodBoysSoccer_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Coughlin&#8217;s George Oko (13) controls the ball ahead of Crestwood&#8217;s Alex DeSpirito on Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Coughlin-CrestwoodBoysSoccer_3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Coughlin&#8217;s George Oko (13) controls the ball ahead of Crestwood&#8217;s Alex DeSpirito on Wednesday. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Coughlin-CrestwoodBoysSoccer_4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood&#8217;s Nick Andrews, left, heads the ball over Coughlin&#8217;s George Oko in Wednesday&#8217;s game in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Coughlin-CrestwoodBoysSoccer_4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Crestwood&#8217;s Nick Andrews, left, heads the ball over Coughlin&#8217;s George Oko in Wednesday&#8217;s game in Wilkes-Barre. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Coughlin-CrestwoodBoysSoccer_5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Crestwood&#8217;s Mike Ceklosky left, and Coughlin&#8217;s Jeffrey Mondulick chase the ball out-of-bounds in Wednesday&#8217;s game. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_Coughlin-CrestwoodBoysSoccer_5.jpg</photo4><caption4>Crestwood&#8217;s Mike Ceklosky left, and Coughlin&#8217;s Jeffrey Mondulick chase the ball out-of-bounds in Wednesday&#8217;s game. </caption4><photoCredit4>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta></subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dave Rosengrant</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLsports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Coughlin, Crestwood boys soccer battle to opening tie