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Franchella fires up Northwest, Rangers roll into field hockey semifinals

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DALLAS TWP. &#8212; The Dallas Mountaineers found a perfect way to avoid a playoff-opening trap against a winless opponent.They spent a weekend studying intently.And their viewing session had nothing to do with the field hockey team they were about to play.&#8220;We all watch football,&#8221; Mountaineers star scorer Hannah Yanovich said. &#8220;We saw the Ohio State-Purdue game. And we&#8217;re like, &#8216;That can&#8217;t happen to us.&#8217; &#8221;Yanovich made sure it didn&#8217;t.The sleek shooter had a hat trick by the midway point of the opening half and finished with five goals Tuesday as Dallas opened the District 2 Class 2A field hockey quarterfinals by punishing Pittston Area, 8-0 in a biting wind that made 40-degree temperatures feel below freezing at Dallas High School.&#8220;The weather was tough,&#8221; Dallas coach Kylie Fisher said.The Patriots? Not so much.Pittston Area finished its season at 0-14 and was quickly eliminated from the postseason as a No. 6 seed, although the Patriots played hard to the very end.And while a loss may not have been as monstrous for the Mountaineers as Ohio State&#8217;s shocking 49-20 defeat to Purdue on Saturday, fear of the unthinkable proved a mighty motivator to Dallas.Ohio State was the No. 2 team in the nation and tumbled right out of the top 10, to No. 11 in the latest polls after being blown out by the underdog Boilermakers.Dallas entered as the No. 3 seed in District 2, and by not falling into such a trap, moved on to face No. 2 Coughlin in the district&#8217;s Class 2A semifinals at 4 p.m. Friday at Guthrie Field.&#8220;We talked about the postseason, everybody is 0-0,&#8221; Fisher said. &#8220;We really focused on improving upon the areas we want to improve upon.&#8221;Some quick scoring helped.Grace Young started it off with a goal just under two minutes in, then Yanovich got going.She scored three times in an 8:07 span to get the clock running constantly with a 5-0 lead under the sportsmanship rule, then added her fourth goal four seconds from halftime.&#8220;We talked about mentally being focused over the whole 60 minutes,&#8221; Fisher said.Penn State-bound Emily Farrell scored on a penalty stroke and picked up a pair of assists in the game&#8217;s first 13 minutes as Dallas&#8217; early scoring onslaught proved a backbreaker for the Patriots.&#8220;I guess you can say it was,&#8221; Yanovich said. &#8220;We kind of knew them, they were our first game.&#8221;Yanovich, who also finished with two assists, pounded home the only goal of the second half with 12:28 to play as Dallas sealed a spot in the district semifinals for the third consecutive season.&#8220;We&#8217;re very excited,&#8221; Yanovich said.District 2 Class AQuarterfinalsWyoming Sem 11, Berwick 0Aubrey Mytych and Alex Wesneski had hat tricks, Hannah Maxwell scored twice and the defending District 2 Class A champion Blue Knights burned Berwick early and often to reach the district semifinal round.Top-seeded Sem will host Northwest on Thursday for the right to advance to the District 2 title game and gain an automatic berth in the PIAA tournament, where the Blue Knights finished as the state runner-up last season.Kelsey Reznick added a goal and two assists in the win, while Elisabeth Seyfarth and Julia Christian also scored goals.Wyoming Area 7, Nanticoke Area 0The Warriors took it to Nanticoke Area with a commanding win in round one of the District II A Championship. Kayla Kiwak and Toni Minichello both scored twice and had an assist as the Warriors romped into the District 2 Class A semifinals.Wyoming Area will play at Lake-Lehman on Thursday for a spot in the district finals, and also an automatic berth to the PIAA Class A playoffs.Cassidy Orzel and Lauren Parente also scored goals for the Warriors.Jill Maute made 12 saves in goal for Nanticoke Area.Lake-Lehman 4, Hanover Area 0Alana Antonello scored a goal and registered two assists as the Black Knights moved into the District 2 Class A semifinals for a fifth consecutive season.Lehman will face Wyoming Area on Thursday in a rematch of a quarterfinal game the Black Knights won 1-0 last season.Nicole Leo added a goal and an assist in the victory and Katie Roberts and Maddie Lasinski also scored goals.Alyssa Wivell made 14 saves in goal for the Hawkeyes.District 2 Class 2A QuarterfinalsDallas 8, Pittston Area 0Pittston Area`0`0 &#8212; 0Dallas`7`1 &#8212; 8First half &#8212; 1. DAL, Grace Young (Hannah Yanovich, Emily Farrell), 28:07; 2. DAL, Yanovich, 26:16; 3. DAL, Shannon Barrett (Yanovich), 24:59; 4. DAL, Yanovich, 21:11; 5. DAL, Yanovich (Farrell), 18:09; 6. DAL, Farrell, 17:28; 7. DAL, Yanovich (Young), 0:04. Second half &#8212; 8. DAL, Yanovich (Adie McClain), 12:28.Shots &#8212; PA 6; DAL 36. Saves &#8212; PA 28 (Sage Weidlich); DAL 6 (Amanda Puza). Penalty corners &#8212; PA 1; DAL 8.District 2 Class A QuarterfinalsWyoming Sem 11, Berwick 0Berwick`0`0 &#8212; 0Wyoming Sem`6`5 &#8212; 11First half &#8212; 1. SEM, Elisabeth Seyfarth, 1923; 2. SEM, Aubrey Mytych (20:30), 9:30; 3. SEM, Hannah Maxwell, 9:26; 4. SEM, Alex Wesneski (Reznick), 7:52; 5. SEM, Julia Christian (Maxwell), 6:01; 6. SEM, Maxwell, 5:04. Second half &#8212; 7. SEM, Wesneski, 23:37; 8. SEM, Wesneski (Quinn Medico), 22:07; 9. SEM, Mytych, 12:50; 10. SEM, Mytych 3:40; 11. SEM, Reznick 0:02.Shots &#8212; BER 0; SEM 39. Saves &#8212; BER 28 (Abbie Nevel); SEM 0 (Mia Magnotta). Penalty corners &#8212; BER 0; SEM 8.Wyoming Area 7, Nanticoke Area 0Nanticoke Area`0`0 &#8212; 0Wyoming Area`4`3 &#8212; 7First half &#8212; 1. WA, Cassidy Orzel (Kayla Kiwak), 26:06; 2. WA, Toni Minichello (Kari Melberger), 15:52; 3. WA, Minichello, 7:56; 4. WA, Lauren Parente (Minichello), 3:15. Second half &#8212; 5. WA, Parente (Minichello), 18:11; 6. WA, Kiwak, 15:03; 7. WA, Kiwak, 3:41.Shots &#8212; NAN 0; WA 19. Saves &#8212; NAN 12 (Jill Muate); WA 0 (Ellie Glatz). Penalty Corners &#8212; NAN 0; WA 10.Lake-Lehman 4, Hanover Area 0Hanover Area`0`0 &#8212; 0Lake-Lehman`2`2 &#8212; 4First half &#8212; 1. LL, Kate Roberts (Alana Antonello), 26:21; 2. LL, Antonello (Nicole Leo), 3:37. Second half &#8212; 3. LL, Maddie Lasinski (Ava Radel), 13:57; 4. LL, Leo (Antonello), 0:12.TEAM, Scorer (assist), time.Shots &#8212; HAN 0; LL 18. Saves &#8212; HAN 14 (Alyssa Wivell); LL 0 (Amy Supey). Penalty corners &#8212; HAN 0; LL 17.<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>

Yanovich and Dallas stay warm, and focused, in field hockey playoff opener