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Magnotta, defense have Wyoming Sem seeking 7th state field hockey title

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<p>The starting goalie for Wyoming Valley West walked over and threw her arm around the teammate who regularly replaces her in the cage.</p><p>&#8220;I <em>love</em> this girl,&#8221; Nikki Hartzel shrieked, right after the second-most important victory in school history.</p><p>Both of their faces filled with wide smiles.</p><p>Never mind that Hartzel, who spends the first 30 minutes of games stopping shots, is a senior who won&#8217;t get another high school season and Sydney Rusnock, the second-half goalie for the Spartans, is a sophomore with a whole career ahead of her.</p><p>Neither seems to care about gaining individual credit, putting personal pride aside for the sustained success of the team.</p><p>Maybe that&#8217;s why Valley West will play for the second state championship in school history.</p><p>The 20-2 and two-time District 2 champion Spartans will face 23-1 Villa Maria Academy at noon Saturday in the PIAA Class 2A field hockey title game at Whitehall High School&#8217;s Zephyr Complex. Teamwork and trust will be critical against a Hurricanes team that hasn&#8217;t allowed a goal in the state playoffs and outscored three PIAA tournament opponents by a combined 24-0.</p><p>&#8220;We have to play as a unit and play together and play as a team,&#8221; Valley West coach Linda Fithian said, &#8220;just doing what they&#8217;ve been doing all season. Our team is a total team of 11.&#8221;</p><p>Nobody&#8217;s been a better reflection of that than senior co-captain Madison Woods, a Penn-bound standout who was one of the Spartans&#8217; top scorers through her career before suddenly and unselfishly switching out of the spotlight and into a defensive position for her final season.</p><p>The move helped the Spartans secure a second consecutive district title and advance to their first state title game since winning the 2003 PIAA Class 3A championship by beating Lower Dauphin in overtime, 1-0.</p><p>Woods turned herself into a defensive ace, and was the primary reason why Donegal&#8217;s Mackenzie Allessie &#8212; the fourth high school player to score 200 career goals and the second-leading prep scorer in field hockey history &#8212; was shut out in Valley West&#8217;s semifinal victory Tuesday.</p><p>Woods also found her way back to a hero&#8217;s welcome, scoring the first goal of Valley West&#8217;s tough 2-1 overtime loss to Wyoming Seminary during the regular season before beating a Donegal team that was the defending state champ and ranked No. 3 in the country by Max Field Hockey with a goal off a penalty corner with 3.3 seconds to play in the semifinals.</p><p>&#8220;Oh my goodness, it was a team effort,&#8221; Woods said afterward, insisting the thought of playing overtime never entered her mind. &#8220;The forwards were the ones who got the ball up there to begin with. I like to take things one step at a time. At that moment, I was thinking to myself, &#8216;I <em>have </em>to get this ball in.&#8217; &#8221;</p><p>It seems the Spartans have been all-in from the start.</p><p>While freshmen Cameron Forgash and Karaline Stelma have swept up most of the attention as the team&#8217;s top scorers this season, past offensive weapons such as seniors Foto Tsioles, Mercedes Jasterzenski and Foto&#8217;s sophomore sister Rina Tsioles have all had key moments themselves while celebrating the success of the rookies.</p><p>&#8220;And our defense has been strong,&#8221; Fithian said. &#8220;What they did (Tuesday) was unbelievable. They fought to the end, 3.3 seconds left and they started a perfect corner.&#8221;</p><p>Then there&#8217;s the goalies, whose stats are almost as identical as their styles are different.</p><p>Entering the state playoffs, Hartzel stopped 33 shots, Rusnock had 35 saves and their save percentages were both over .918 and within .004 points of each other.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve never had that in 20 years I&#8217;ve been coaching,&#8221; Valley West goalie coach Diane Webster said, &#8220;two individual keepers who are so similar. I&#8217;ve never had two who are identical, with the same exact skill set. They have different styles &#8212; Nikki plays out a little bit, Sydney is more in the cage. I just think they complement each other really, really well. They&#8217;ve played just great, both of them.</p><p>&#8220;I was thinking (Tuesday), &#8216;If this game goes into overtime, who do you start?&#8217; &#8220;</p><p>The Spartans will be looking to start quickly against a Villa Maria team that&#8217;s won 23 consecutive games since losing its season opener and is ranked No. 7 in the nation by Max Field Hockey.</p><p>The Hurricanes, who are in their fifth state final during the past seven years and third in the last four seasons, feature USA U17 national team member Hannah Miller &#8212; a junior who will head to play for Duke after her high school days are done. And Villa Maria has a host of other scoring options to go along with her, starting with Lindsay Dickinson &#8212; who had two of the team&#8217;s 10 goals in a state opener against New Oxford and hit a goal and an assist in Tuesday&#8217;s 5-0 semifinal victory over defending state champ Twin Valley.</p><p>That doesn&#8217;t seem to scare the Spartans, who have made a habit of not only finding a way to survive, but thrive through sacrifice and selfless play.</p><p>&#8220;The big thing is, they&#8217;re total team players,&#8221; Webster said. &#8220;There are no one or two people that are carrying this team. Coach Fithian, I&#8217;m just amazed at how she can take the talents and strengths of the girls and put them in positions that build the cohesiveness of the team.</p><p>&#8220;They play for one another, support each other and care for one another.&#8221; </p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Senior co-captain Foto Tsioles (front) has sparked a Valley West attack that keeps chipping away until the Spartans find a way to win, a trait that has taken the program to the PIAA Class 2A championship field hockey game against Villa Maria Academy. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_CMYKWVW-Donegal-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Senior co-captain Foto Tsioles (front) has sparked a Valley West attack that keeps chipping away until the Spartans find a way to win, a trait that has taken the program to the PIAA Class 2A championship field hockey game against Villa Maria Academy. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_cmykWVW-Donegal-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Madison Woods (center) and her Wyoming Valley West field hockey teammates hope to be jumping for joy after Saturday&#8217;s noon showdown with Villa Maria Academy in the PIAA Class 2A finals at Whitehall&#8217;s Zephyr Complex. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_cmykWVW-Donegal-4.jpg</photo1><caption1>Madison Woods (center) and her Wyoming Valley West field hockey teammates hope to be jumping for joy after Saturday&#8217;s noon showdown with Villa Maria Academy in the PIAA Class 2A finals at Whitehall&#8217;s Zephyr Complex. </caption1><photoCredit1>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_cmykWVW-Donegal-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Strong defense, like forward Camryn Forgash (right) and her Spartans teammates played against Donegal, keeps Valley West in games and earned a spot in the school&#8217;s second state title berth. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/web1_cmykWVW-Donegal-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Strong defense, like forward Camryn Forgash (right) and her Spartans teammates played against Donegal, keeps Valley West in games and earned a spot in the school&#8217;s second state title berth. </caption2><photoCredit2>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>PIAA CLASS 2A CHAMPIONSHIP</strong></p><p>Wyoming Valley West (20-2) vs. Villa Maria Academy (23-1)</p><p>Noon Saturday</p><p>Whitehall High School&#8217;s Zephry Complex</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wyoming Valley West takes teamwork to PIAA Class 2A field hockey title game