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Lottery numbers for Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017.

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Parseghian remembered as much for kindness as his coaching

<p>MANHEIM &#8212; The U.S. women&#8217;s field hockey team is off to a flying start at the Pan American Cup, and Wyoming Seminary graduate Kat Sharkey is the biggest reason why.</p><p>Sharkey opened the scoring quickly and went on to post a hat trick Saturday night when the United States shut out Mexico, 6-0, in the pool play opener for each team before a paid crowd of 1,321 at Spooky Nook Sports.</p><p>It did not take long for Sharkey and her teammates to show why they had made the biggest climb in the latest Federation of International Hockey world rankings, jumping past Australia and New Zealand to fourth.</p><p>Sharkey, who scored three minutes and 13 seconds into the game, picked apart the Mexico defense in every imaginable way from her forward position.</p><p>The United States earned 16 penalty corners, including five that Sharkey drew by inducing fouls by Mexico inside the circle. She put seven of her eight shots on goal while scoring three times &#8212; a feat she can&#8217;t recall ever accomplishing in international play &#8212; and threatening to add others.</p><p>&#8220;There were definitely moments on the field where I was trying to draw a corner,&#8221; said Sharkey, a 27-year-old Olympian from Moosic. &#8220;There are definitely instances where the Mexico defender was over-committing with their stick and you can pull back into their feet.</p><p>&#8220;I think this tournament is an excellent opportunity for us to work on our corners. We&#8217;re happy drawing corners. We have some great options up there. It&#8217;s always good to practice those and it&#8217;s nice that we were able to execute those.&#8221;</p><p>With increasing frequency, Sharkey is one of those options.</p><p>The United States built a 3-0 lead just 1:10 into the second quarter on penalty corner shots, two of them on drives from Sharkey, who is being set up to use her powerful shot. The team finished with four goals on corner plays, including another where it faked the quick hard, shot by Sharkey, using her as a decoy while sending a pass through to an open teammate for a shot.</p><p>&#8220;I have more of a role on the penalty corners,&#8221; said Sharkey, who along with her teammates, is in her first year under head coach Janneke Schopman. &#8220;It&#8217;s a different role. I was more of a deflector/tipper in the past.</p><p>&#8220;Now, I&#8217;m delivering on those direct shots.&#8221;</p><p>Sharkey&#8217;s powerful and accurate drives were visible on the first two goals. She completed the hat trick with finesse 2:30 into the third quarter, dribbling into the circle with speed and slipping a shot toward the left corner where it made it into the cage off a defender&#8217;s foot.</p><p>&#8220;I felt like I didn&#8217;t have time to take my stick off the ball since Mexico was pressuring me so heavily,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I tried to just keep my stick on the ball and push it toward the cage and, one way or another, it found its way in.&#8221;</p><p>Pool play continues 7 p.m. Monday night, with a game against Canada back at the Lancaster County facility that serves as the training base for the U.S. team. The United States is coming off a World League Semifinal title in South Africa.</p><p>The Pan American Cups &#8212; the first in a series of continental qualifiers for next year&#8217;s World Cup &#8212; are being held as a dual competition at the same site for the first time. The men began play Friday and will continue to alternate days with the women.</p><p>The United States is 1-1 in the men&#8217;s tournament, which concludes Aug. 12. The women wrap up the next day.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Seminary grad Kat Sharkey and the United States women opened Pan American Cup play Saturday night with a 6-0 shutout of Mexico. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_katsharkey02.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Seminary grad Kat Sharkey and the United States women opened Pan American Cup play Saturday night with a 6-0 shutout of Mexico. </caption0><photoCredit0>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Robinson</p><p>For the 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>

Wyoming Seminary grad Kat Sharkey a spark for US women’s field hockey in Pan American Cup opener