web1_119058933-d3123ab226044511bba63e7492a435cc.jpg

Springer’s 11th-inning homer gives Astros Game 2 World Series victory

web1_TTL102617XC-Districts_1a.jpg

Dallas’ Jack Zardecki wins District 2 cross country gold

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The small bouquet of flowers and commemorative plaque the Lake-Lehman Black Knights presented to Jean Lipski following her magical milestone provided a moving moment for the long-time field hockey coach to treasure forever.</p><p>The gift her team gave her moments before the postgame celebration was worth even more.</p><p>Lynea Gregory ripped the game&#8217;s only goal into the cage with 14:58 to play and Lehman made Lipski&#8217;s 500th career coaching victory memorable by beating Holy Redeemer 1-0 to secure a fourth straight state playoff appearance with a trip to a District 2 title game.</p><p>&#8220;Not as much as going to the district finals and states again,&#8221; Lipski said the the milestone meant to her. &#8220;I&#8217;m so proud of these girls. They have come so far. They made all this happen.&#8221;</p><p>The defending champion Black Knights (14-2) made it to the District 2 Class A title game for a second straight year after playing for Class 2A district championships in 2014 and 2015. They&#8217;ll face top-seeded Wyoming Seminary (16-0) for the championship Tuesday at a neutral site. Both teams in the title game will advance to the PIAA Class A playoffs.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s awesome,&#8221; Lipski, who has been Lehman&#8217;s head coach since 1982, said of this four-year run. &#8220;And we&#8217;ve encouraged the underclassmen to do the same thing. It&#8217;s the offseason training, hard work, lifting, lots of miles of running. For them to do it, it&#8217;s overwhelming to me.&#8221;</p><p>Still, Lipski choked back tears while thanking her coaching staff and past players for helping her join Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Karen Klassner and retired Crestwood coach Elvetta Gemski as the Wyoming Valley Conference field hockey coaches to achieve 500 career wins.</p><p>&#8220;Sure, it&#8217;s special,&#8221; Lipski said while thanking her coaching staff, some members who once played for her. &#8220;But I couldn&#8217;t do this without all these people, without kids working hard and believing in this program and the legacy they share.&#8221;</p><p>That tradition just became a little more steeped.</p><p>With both defenses diffusing bullets and both explosive offenses getting stuffed, Gregory found a way to score.</p><p>She took a pass at the top of the circle from Katie Roberts on the penalty kill, and quickly rifled home a goal that banged off the goalie&#8217;s leg and into the cage.</p><p>&#8220;We figured out at halftime that front shot was open, every time,&#8221; said Gregory, a midfielder best known for her lock-down defensive skills. &#8220;I went to the spot in front, it went right in. I got a lucky bounce. We figured, on this field, bounces were going to be our best friend. It bounced off her left pad.</p><p>&#8220;It just worked out for us.&#8221;</p><p>It was the first time Holy Redeemer, which finished 13-1 and suffered its first league or district loss since last year&#8217;s 2-1 overtime defeat against Lehman, dropped a Wyoming Valley Conference or District 2 game on its home grass field of Hollenback Park since Maura McCormick became the team&#8217;s head coach last year.</p><p>But it was no surprise to the Black Knights that Gregory&#8217;s stick proved the difference in the outcome.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m proud of her. She has a great corner shot,&#8221; Lipski said. &#8220;She steps quick and has a hard shot and it&#8217;s always successful. We have gotten a lot of mileage out of our corners this year.&#8221;</p><p>Not to mention the defense.</p><p>Gregory was instrumental there, too, firing out of the cage to help the Black Knights burn eight penalty corners by Redeemer &#8212; including three within a five-minute period of the first half &#8212; to help wreck some of the best chances by the high-powered Royals.</p><p>&#8220;Our deep defense did an excellent job,&#8221; Lipski said. &#8220;There were a couple of times I was holding my breath. That one goal Lynea had, that certainly makes its mark.&#8221;</p><p>Now, Gregory and the rest of Lehman&#8217;s senior class can mark down an appearance in the district finals and state playoffs for each of their four varsity high school seasons.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the best feeling,&#8221; Gregory said. &#8220;We went into this game knowing we <em>had </em>to get this win, to get her (Lipski) her 500th win.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s an amazing feeling, definitely.&#8221;</p><p>For both the players and their highly-respected and esteemed coach.</p><p>&#8220;I often say I go to school, I don&#8217;t go to work,&#8221; said Lipski, who teaches the program for gifted students and also the character development program at Lehman. &#8220;I go to (field) hockey. I&#8217;ve gone to hockey all through high school, through college &#8230; I don&#8217;t know what fall would be like without field hockey.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m very humbled.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>DISTRICT 2 CLASS A SEMIFINAL</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Lake-Lehman 1, Holy Redeemer 0</strong></p><p><strong>Lake-Lehman`1`0`&#8212;`1</strong></p><p><strong>Holy Redeemer`0`0`&#8212;`0</strong></p><p><strong>Second half &#8212;</strong> 1. LL, Lynea Gregory (Katie Roberts), 14:58.</p><p><strong>Shots &#8212;</strong> LL 11; HR 16. <strong>Saves &#8212;</strong> LL 14 (Alicia Galasso); HR 5 (Meredythe Baird). <strong>Penalty corners &#8212;</strong> LL 8; HR 8.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_TTL102617LLHR1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lake-Lehman goalie Alicia Galasso deflects a shot Wednesday for one of her 14 saves that protected a 1-0 victory over Holy Redeemer and a fourth straight trip to a District 2 championship game for the Black Knights. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_TTL102617LLHR1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Lake-Lehman goalie Alicia Galasso deflects a shot Wednesday for one of her 14 saves that protected a 1-0 victory over Holy Redeemer and a fourth straight trip to a District 2 championship game for the Black Knights. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_TTL102617LLHR1Coach.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lake-Lehman Coach Jean Lipski, far right, holds a bouquet of flowers and plaque presented by her team Wednesday after she won her 500th career game with a 1-0 victory over Holy Redeemer, sending the Black Knights to the District 2 Class A title game. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_TTL102617LLHR1Coach.jpg</photo1><caption1>Lake-Lehman Coach Jean Lipski, far right, holds a bouquet of flowers and plaque presented by her team Wednesday after she won her 500th career game with a 1-0 victory over Holy Redeemer, sending the Black Knights to the District 2 Class A title game. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_TTL102617LLHR2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lake-Lehman field hockey players celebrate after Lynea Gregory scoried the only goal of the game in a 1-0 District 2 Class A semifinal victory over Holy Redeemer. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_TTL102617LLHR2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Lake-Lehman field hockey players celebrate after Lynea Gregory scoried the only goal of the game in a 1-0 District 2 Class A semifinal victory over Holy Redeemer. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_TTL102617LLHR3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lake-Lehman midfielder Madeline Newman passes the ball during a District 2 Class A semifinal battle with Holy Redeemer. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_TTL102617LLHR3.jpg</photo3><caption3>Lake-Lehman midfielder Madeline Newman passes the ball during a District 2 Class A semifinal battle with Holy Redeemer. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_TTL102617LLHR2coach.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lake-Lehman coach Jean Lipski is swarmed by players Wednesday after Lehman won a District 2 Class A field hockey semifinal game against Holy Redeemer, which brought Lipski the 500th victory of her career. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_TTL102617LLHR2coach.jpg</photo4><caption4>Lake-Lehman coach Jean Lipski is swarmed by players Wednesday after Lehman won a District 2 Class A field hockey semifinal game against Holy Redeemer, which brought Lipski the 500th victory of her career. </caption4><photoCredit4>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Lake-Lehman gives Lipski 500th coaching win during District 2 thriller