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Late offense lifts RailRiders to playoff-opening win over IronPigs

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Opening day of the Luzerne County Fair has much to offer

WILKES-BARRE &#8212; No players named Brigid Wood, Kyra Wozniak or Savanna Robinson for Coughlin to lean on anymore?No problem for the Crusaders.Katie Anderson, Hannah Rushkowski and Brianna Lee provided enough star power of their own to make up for the graduation of the team&#8217;s heaviest hitters.Anderson and Rushkowski scored the game&#8217;s first two goals Wednesday, freshman Lee made her high school debut with a six-save shutout and Coughlin extended its Wyoming Valley Conference winning streak into another year with a season-opening 4-0 victory over Abington Heights at Guthrie Field.&#8220;I kind of makes me feel like we certainly could do something without everybody from last year,&#8221; said Anderson, a senior forward.What the new-look Crusaders did was continue a trend that began in the 2014 WVC Division 1 championship game. Starting with that 2-1 overtime victory over Wyoming Valley West, Coughlin&#8217;s run off 14 straight victories against WVC teams, including a 12-0 mark last season followed by Wednesday&#8217;s win.&#8220;I think it was a good start,&#8221; long-time Coughlin coach Colleen Wood, Brigid&#8217;s mom, said. &#8220;They kind of got in the flow.&#8221;Still, the Crusaders missed the likes of last year&#8217;s team-leading scorer Wozniak, Wood (who&#8217;s now at Boston College), spunky midfielder Robinson and stalwart defender Kalie Reed.&#8220;It was pretty tough,&#8221; Katie Anderson said. &#8220;We&#8217;re all trying to work as hard as we can, trying to figure out where we need to be, and trying to work as a team without them.&#8221;So far, so good.Katie Anderson took a feed from her sister Emily Anderson and rattled the cage in the game&#8217;s 11th minute, and the Crusaders were off and running.&#8220;It got my hopes up, got everybody else feeling they could play,&#8221; Anderson said of that initial strike.Rushkowski, who joins the Anderson sisters as a returning starter from Coughlin&#8217;s 2015 WVC and District 2 Class 3A title team and state quarterfinalist, punched home an assist from Lexi Kowalski with 12:06 remaining in the first half, and Slavish&#8217;s goal nearly four minutes later sent Coughlin into intermission with a commanding 3-0 advantage.Jolene Ulichney added Coughlin&#8217;s final goal with 11:10 remaining in the game.That was plenty for Lee, the sister of graduated Coughlin stalwart goalie M&#8217;Kensie Lee. Coughlin&#8217;s tenacious defense limited Abington Heights to just six point-blank shots that Brianna Lee stopped.&#8220;Defense helps a lot,&#8221; Katie Anderson said. &#8220;Even though we do have a strong offense, we have a freshman goalie and she&#8217;s playing amazing.&#8220;It was great.&#8221;Holy Redeemer 7,Meyers 0Leah Mullery scored twice and Abby Shorts added a goal and two assists as the Royals rolled in a WVC Division 2 opener.McKenna Dolan and Talia Kosierowski each chipped in with a goal and an assist and Becky Bevitt assisted on the game&#8217;s final two tallies. Royals goalie Randi Kuhar stopped the lone shot she faced to preserve the shutout.Northwest 9, GAR 0Kiersten Eddinger and Sydney Francella both hit hat tricks as the Rangers rolled to a season-opening victory.Reilly Bialko, Shayla DiPasquale and Haidyn Weber all chipped in with a goal and an assist apiece in the victory, while Northwest&#8217;s defense held GAR without a single shot on goal.Hanover Area 6,Nanticoke 0 Karly Bennett scored four goals and added an assist as the Hawkeyes opened their season by breezing past rival Nanticoke Area.Madison Hummer finished with three assists for Hanover Area, while Chrissy Kratz recorded the shutout for Hanover Area with seven stops in the cage.Honesdale 5,Pittston Area 1Ally Meyer sealed the game with a second-half hat trick and Penn State commit Clayre Smith registered a goal and an assist to spark the Hornets.Nina Cirelli scored just over five minutes in to give the Patriots and early lead, but Smith tied it on a penalty stroke later in the first half. Brooke Gardas finished with three assists for Honesdale.Delaware Valley 3,Wyoming Area 2 (OT)Kara Gearhart scored her second goal of the evening with 11:58 to play in overtime, lifting the Warriors to victory.Grace Angelella put Wyoming Area on top with the game&#8217;s first score on an unassisted goal with 9:33 remaining in the first half. Gearhart tied it up with her first goal just 29 seconds into the second half, and Addy Ross scored to give Delaware Valley a 2-1 lead midway through the second half.Emilie Wanko scored unassisted for the Warriors to send the game into overtime.Lackawanna Trail 4,Tunkhannock 0Lauren Beamer got Lackawanna Trail on the board just 3:22 in off an assist from Courtney Dwyer, then Dwyer scored her own goal as the Lions roared to victory. Lauren Baldwin and Madison Lee added goals for Lackawanna Trail.Hazleton Area 8,Wallenpaupack 0Megan Reed finished with two goals and two assists and Laura Bayzick and Jill Buchman each scored twice as the Cougars cruised to victory.Reed assisted on Buchman&#8217;s goal to start the scoring, then scored the second goal of the first half. Reed added another goal and an assist in the second half. Annie Amentler added a goal and an assist in the season-opening victory, while Cougars goalie Margaret Fulton stopped the only shot she faced to record the shutout.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Paul Sokoloskipsokoloski@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</shirttailMeta></div>

Coughlin field hockey extends league winning streak to a new season