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GAR presents Outstanding Artist Awards

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Big 3rd period propels Wyoming Valley West past Back Mountain

<p>JENKINS TWP. &#8212; The Wyoming Area Warriors entered Wednesday&#8217;s first-round playoff game with a chip on their shoulders.</p><p>The Warriors lost to Crestwood in overtime in last season&#8217;s NEPA Scholastic Hockey championship, and the defeat hasn&#8217;t sat well ever since.</p><p>On Wednesday, Wyoming Area started down their path of redemption by defeating Hazleton 6-2 at the Revolution Ice Centre to advance to the semifinals. Alex Chronowski and Brendan Lee each scored twice, while goaltender Jacob Urban stopped 11 of 13 shots for the win.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a great feeling to win this since we lost in overtime in the championship last year,&#8221; Chronowski said. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to use that overtime loss to keep us motivated going for the championship this year.&#8221;</p><p>The Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals from Chronowski and Mason Hoeffner.</p><p>But Hazleton stayed in it when Jeremy Grodzicki beat Urban with a wrist shot to cut Wyoming Area&#8217;s lead to 2-1 heading into the second period.</p><p>Despite the pair of goals, Warriors head coach Bill Weiss said his team was flat-footed for most of the opening period.</p><p>&#8220;Our guys have to be moving all the time. If you let a team like Hazleton in there and let them have hope, they&#8217;re dangerous,&#8221; Weiss said.</p><p>Wyoming Area began to seize control in the second, outshooting Hazleton 8-1 and gaining a two-goal lead on a tally by Lee, who scored on a backhander in front.</p><p>Weiss said the effort in the second period showed that his players were buying into what he and assistant coaches Dave Chronowski and Don Shear told them before the game.</p><p>&#8220;We said you have to come out at them early, show them our dominance and be more aggressive when you have that lead,&#8221; Weiss said. &#8220;Our boys listened.&#8221;</p><p>Wyoming Area opened it up quickly in the third period when Chronowski sniped a shot from the corner for his second goal of the night just a minute into the final frame. A minute later, Lee added his second goal when he finished a breakaway to give Wyoming Area a 5-1 lead.</p><p>Weiss said the Warriors were using their speed better as the game went on and Hazleton started to get tired. That was critical against a Hazleton team that, despite being near the bottom of the standings in the regular season, has always played tough against Wyoming Area.</p><p>&#8220;Our hardest games this year were against Hazleton,&#8221; Weiss said. &#8220;They hit us hard every time and tonight we were helped out by some great goaltending from Jacob Urban.&#8221;</p><p>The Warriors will play the winner of Thursday&#8217;s game between Crestwood and Wyoming Seminary.</p><p>Chronowski said the Warriors need to tighten up for the semifinal contest on Friday, and he was confident they&#8217;ll be ready.</p><p>&#8220;As the game went on we played better and used our speed, and that was important,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If we can get that sloppiness out of our starts, we&#8217;ll be alright.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Area&#8217;s Travis Caleb celebrates after his unassisted goal at 5:55 in the first period against Hazleton Area. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_WA-Hazleton-HS-Ice-Hockey-1-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Area&#8217;s Travis Caleb celebrates after his unassisted goal at 5:55 in the first period against Hazleton Area. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_WA-Hazleton-HS-Ice-Hockey-2-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Area goalie Jacob Urban deflects a Hazleton Area shot on goal in the first period of Wednesday night&#8217;s NEPA Scholastic Hockey playoff game. Urban finished with 11 saves in the win. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_WA-Hazleton-HS-Ice-Hockey-2-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wyoming Area goalie Jacob Urban deflects a Hazleton Area shot on goal in the first period of Wednesday night&#8217;s NEPA Scholastic Hockey playoff game. Urban finished with 11 saves in the win. </caption1><photoCredit1>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_WA-Hazleton-HS-Ice-Hockey-3-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217;s Austin Kofluk makes a gloves save from a shot from Wyoming Area&#8217;s Patrick Musinski during Wednesday night&#8217;s first-round high school playoffs. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_WA-Hazleton-HS-Ice-Hockey-3-2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Hazleton Area&#8217;s Austin Kofluk makes a gloves save from a shot from Wyoming Area&#8217;s Patrick Musinski during Wednesday night&#8217;s first-round high school playoffs. </caption2><photoCredit2>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Wyoming Area advances to semifinals</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>TVenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>VIDEO</strong></p><p>For video of Wyoming Area head coach Bill Weiss discussing his team&#8217;s win, visit timesleader.com</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><p><table style="border:none;width:98%;" class="mceItemTable"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;">vUyKA2hbrA0 </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;">YOUTUBE</p><p></td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUyKA2hbrA0 </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"></p><p>Wyoming Area ice hockey coach Bill Weiss talks about his playoff win.</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> Tom Venesky | Times Leader</p><p></td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="margin-top:10px;font-size:70%;color:#555;">(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</p></videoMeta></div>

Wyoming Area wears down Hazleton en route to a 6-2 win