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Dallas’ Jack Zardecki wins District 2 cross country gold

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Two children dead in Laflin blaze; man arrested for crimes at the home

KINGSTON &#8212; Through most of a league title run, Hannah Maxwell traded her scoring stick for some dazzling defense and pumped-up passing.Plenty has changed for her in the postseason.Maxwell scored multiple goals for the second straight playoff game, Alex Wesneski had a hat trick, and Wyoming Seminary rolled over another opponent in the District 2 playoffs by burning Northwest, 11-1 in a Class A district semifinal Wednesday at Klassner Field.&#8220;My teammates definitely know how to find each other,&#8221; Maxwell said. &#8220;Once they find me, I&#8217;m in position.&#8220;I&#8217;m out to score.&#8221;Partly because of it, Sem scored its first trip to the District 2 finals since 2010, when the Blue Knights lost that title game but wound up winning the Class 2A state championship.This time, 16-0 Sem will meet 14-2 Lake-Lehman in the District 2 Class A title game Tuesday at a neutral site. Both teams will then advance to the PIAA playoffs, but the Blue Knights remember vividly how a difficult loss to Lehman in last year&#8217;s district semifinals kept them from going to the state playoffs.&#8220;I think definitely, we all have so much energy from last year,&#8221; Maxwell said.As a freshman in 2016, Maxwell proved one of the Wyoming Valley Conference&#8217;s top playmakers and leading scorers while playing forward. But she shifted to midfielder this season, and her scoring prowess sagged while Sem&#8217;s unbeaten season surged.&#8220;Hannah sacrificed for us a little bit,&#8221; Wyoming Seminary coach Karen Klassner said. &#8220;We put her in a position where she didn&#8217;t have much scoring. We were playing a different system.&#8221;Maxwell admitted she&#8217;d by lying if she said she didn&#8217;t miss producing points.&#8220;Sometimes, if we weren&#8217;t scoring, it&#8217;d take a lot more out of me,&#8221; Maxwell said, &#8220;thinking I could do it. But for myself, passing to my teammates and knowing so many of us can score, it was pretty awesome to see. I learned how to pass the ball a lot more, I learned a lot (playing as a midflelder). It (the position switch this season) was definitely something new. Whatever I can do to help my team, I&#8217;m going to do.&#8221;Suddenly, that means scoring again.After opening the district playoffs with four goals in a quarterfinal victory over Nanticoke Area on Monday, Maxwell followed that up by scoring two more goals in the semifinal round for a District 2 and team-leading six goals in the playoffs.Maxwell scored unassisted to give the Blue Knights a 2-0 lead just over three minutes into the game against Northwest, then added another goal that gave Sem a comfortable 8-0 advantage 3:02 into the second half.&#8220;It feels amazing,&#8221; Maxwell said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve been working so hard since preseason.&#8221;The Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 champion Blue Knights haven&#8217;t had to work much in the postseason.They&#8217;ve out-scored two opponents from the league&#8217;s Division 2 by a combined score of 25-2 while cruising into the District 2 title game.&#8220;We don&#8217;t look at any game as being too easy,&#8221; Klassner insisted. &#8220;We hadn&#8217;t seen those teams before, so we didn&#8217;t know much about them. Our passing was excellent. We played really well.&#8221;Wesneski scored twice in the first half, helping the Blue Knights to a 6-0 lead by intermission, and added her third goal for an 11-0 advantage with 13:37 to play, despite the loss of top point producer Alicia Carr &#8212; who was held out of Wednesday&#8217;s game after suffering an injury in practice the previous night.Kelsey Reznick added two goals and two assists, Julia Christian scored two goals, Aubrey Mytych hit a goal and feathered an assist and freshman Ava Bufalino scored a goal for the second consecutive playoff game.&#8220;Well, you get the first seed because you&#8217;re trying to win the games,&#8221; Klassner said. &#8220;We&#8217;re peaking at the right time.&#8221;DISTRICT 2 CLASS 3A TITLEDelaware Valley 1,Hazleton Area 0 (OT)Eileen Nikles scored with 8:39 remaining in overtime, handing Hazleton Area more heartbreak in the District 2 playoffs.The Cougars lost their first-ever trip to the District 2 Class 3A semifinals in 2015, and dropped a tough 3-2 overtime battle for the 2016 District 2 Class 3A championship to Lackawanna Trail before Wednesday&#8217;s upset.Hazleton Area earned the top seed in the Class 3A district tournament and received a first-round bye into the title game.Goalie Emily Festa made 10 saves in Delaware Valley&#8217;s shutout. The Warriors will advance to the District 2/6 championship game Nov. 1 in a game that will send the winner to the state playoffs.DISTRICT 2 CLASS A SEMIFINALWyoming Seminary 11, Northwest 1Northwest`0`1`&#8212;`1Wyoming Seminary`6`5`&#8212;`11First half &#8212; 1. SEM, Julia Christian (Aubrey Mytych), 28:47; 2. SEM, Hannah Maxwell, 26:50; 3. SEM, Kelsey Reznick (Bari Lefkowitz), 24:38; 4. SEM, Alex Wesneski (Maxwell), 11:07; 5. SEM, Christian (Mytych), 8:25; 6. SEM, Wesneski, 2:21. Second half &#8212; 7. SEM, Mytych (Reznick), 27:00; 8. SEM, Maxwell (Mytych), 26:36; 9. SEM, Reznick, 19:19; 10. SEM, Ava Bufalino (Reznick), 16:01; 11. SEM, Wesneski (Dani Reiser), 13:19; 12. NW, Sydney Franchella (Ashley Walker), 1:37.Shots &#8212; NW 1; SEM 26. Saves &#8212; NW 15 (Jackie Jones); SEM 0 (Mia Magnotta, Jaryah Patterson). Penalty corners &#8212; NW 4; SEM 12.DISTRICT 2 CLASS 3A TITLEDelaware Valley 1, Hazleton Area 0 (OT)Delaware Valley`0`0`1`&#8212;`1Hazleton Area`0`0`0`&#8212;`0Overtime &#8212; 1. DV, Eileen Nikles (Brenna Cavallaro), 8:39.Shots &#8212; DV 3; HAZ 10. Saves &#8212; DV 10 (Emily Festa); HAZ 2 (Jenna Corra). Penalty corners &#8212; DV 4; HAZ 7.<style>
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<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>

Wyoming Seminary surges into District 2 Class A field hockey title game