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Week 5 WVC football preview: Valley West bringing momentum

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Penn State wideout Brandon Polk relishing his time back on the field

PLAINS TWP. &#8212; The Wyoming Valley Conference&#8217;s increasingly brutal schedule was beginning to wear down on Coughlin, and coach Desiree Boris pinpointed exactly where her team needed to right the ship &#8212; in the midfield.Her midweek adjustments panned out as the middies controlled the pace of play to propel Coughlin to a 3-1 come-from-behind win over Pittston Area Thursday in girls soccer action.&#8220;I&#8217;m tremendously impressed with how our girls responded today,&#8221; Boris said. &#8220;We needed a win because we&#8217;ve had three tough losses in a row with Dallas, Lake-Lehman and Wyoming Valley West. They were all tough losses.&#8221;Coughlin&#8217;s two second half goals to break a stalemate came on a pair of Aby Davis-from-Kendall Pearage corner kicks. Twice, Pearage telegraphed her corner kick. Twice, Davis expertly finished with a goal.After the Patriots&#8217; Grace Mimnaugh nearly went 60 yards on a scoring chance a minute earlier, Coughlin (3-3) responded by taking the lead by creating a corner kick chance in the 47th. Pearage sent a pass perfectly placed at Davis&#8217; forehead from five yards out.Coughlin&#8217;s usual suspects clinched the victory in the 78th minute. This time, Pearage sailed a ball beyond the keeper to Davis, who charged in at the goal line.&#8220;We spent a lot of time practicing our corner kicks,&#8221; Boris said. &#8220;Kendall is a very talented player so she is able to place the ball in different spots to our girls. It&#8217;s a very good thing for us. She makes it look easy.&#8221;Pittston Area took an early lead on its own set-piece goal in the eighth minute. Center back Nicole Mayers hit a direct kick from 30 yards out that made its course through a line of defenders and into net for an early lead.&#8220;I thought it was a pretty evenly matched game,&#8221; Pittston Area coach Nicole Tieso said. &#8220;We weren&#8217;t able to finish the opportunities we had. And Coughlin did a good job with theirs. They scored twice on the corner, and we just didn&#8217;t finish.&#8221;Ten minutes later, it was Pearage and Davis again teaming up for the equalizer. Davis retrieved the ball out of a scrum in the box and dished it left for Pearage. She sent a shot to the top-right corner of the net for the goal.Pittston Area (3-3) struggled holding onto possession, particularly in the midfield, with a just a handful of scoring chances in the second half. Their best chance at evening the score came when Mimnaugh won a ball off a defender and charged 25 yards to the left side, but her 71st-minute shot was grabbed by Courtney Wartella.&#8220;We&#8217;re a relatively young team,&#8221; Tieso said. &#8220;So it&#8217;s just finding the right combinations.&#8221;Led by center-mid Mallory Balchun, Coughlin&#8217;s midfield limited the opportunities of Patriots&#8217; strong forwards. Pittston Area finished with just six shots.&#8220;We were definitely more involved in our midfield,&#8221; Boris said. &#8220;We focused a lot on that because we have not been able to maintain it. We&#8217;ve been losing out there lately.&#8221;Anjelica Singer made 14 saves for Pittston Area.Crestwood 7, Wyoming Valley West 3Crestwood&#8217;s Cassidy Brumagin, Melissa Herrera and Nina Atie all had two goals each.Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Kennadi Josefowicz and Tiffany Michalek put together three goals in the first half, followed by six Crestwood goals in the second.Coughlin 3, Pittston Area 1Pittston Area`1`0`&#8212;`1Coughlin`1`2`&#8212;`3First half &#8212; 1. PA Nicole Mayers, 8th minute; 2.COU Kendall Pearage (Aby Davis), 18th. Second half &#8212; 3. COU Davis (Pearage), 46th; 4. COU Davis (Pearage) 78th.Shots &#8212; PA 6, COU 25. Saves &#8212; PA 14 (Anjelica Singer); COU 4 (Courtney Wartella). Corner kicks &#8212; PA 2, COU 9.Crestwood 7, Wyoming Valley West 3Crestwood`1`6 &#8212;`7Wyoming Valley West`3`0 &#8212;`3First half &#8212; 1. CRE, Cassidy Brumagin, 8:53; 2. WVW, Tiffany Michalek, 16:30; 3. WVW, Kennadi Josefowicz (Michalek), 19:53; 4. WVW, Michalek (Josefowicz), 24:46. Second half &#8212; 5. CRE, Melissa Herrera, 42:26; 6. CRE, Brumagin, 59:49; 7. CRE, Nina Atie, 73:36; 8. CRE, Atie, 75:35; 9. CRE, Herrera, 77:46; 10. CRE, Taylor Tomalinas, 78:48.Shots &#8212; CRE 17; WVW 14. Saves &#8212; CRE 8 (Cortney Dushanko); WVW 8 (Emma Grimes). Corner kicks &#8212; CRE 4; WVW 2.<style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Jay MonahanFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLsports</shirttailMeta></div>

Adjustments pay off for Coughlin girls soccer vs. Pittston Area