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Misericordia hosts Bark For Life fundraiser

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Two accused in Hazleton armed robbery

Last season, the Misericordia and Wilkes women&#8217;s soccer teams clashed in the MAC Freedom Championship. And the Cougars came out on top with a double-overtime victory.This year, the two local foes came together again for a shot at the conference title. But unlike last season, the Cougars were able to take care of business in 90 minutes, beating the Colonels 2-1 for their third straight conference championship.The win secured Misericordia&#8217;s sixth conference title in the last seven seasons.&#8220;We&#8217;re very excited to win the championship and keep playing,&#8221; Misericordia junior Jeanna Orfanos said. &#8220;It&#8217;s amazing to be a part of three straight championships. Each one is amazing in their own way.&#8221;Misericordia, the ninth-ranked team in the country for Division III, came in riding a perfect 7-0 conference record and was 14-2-1 overall.Wilkes owned a 5-2 conference record and a 9-6-2 overall slate.The game started very quickly for Misericordia as they pressed and created opportunities early.Kristen Ritter sent a perfect ball right into the Colonels penalty area, but good reactionary defense from Wilkes prevented the Cougars from getting a shot toward goalkeeper Samantha Cecere.From the seventh minute to the 25th minute, Misericordia continued to go through the Wilkes defense and pepper Cecere with shots, with the best chance came with close to 27 minutes remaining in the first half when Orfanos headed a great set piece over the cross bar.Misericordia continued to push, and finally broke through on a corner kick. The initial attempt was thwarted by Cecere and the Colonels but Kaylee Sturans tucked a shot underneath the cross bar with 12 minutes left in the half.Play settled down after the Cougars broke the ice but the field still remained tilted toward Wilkes territory as the ball remained on that end.&#8220;I thought the first 30 minutes was the best 30 minutes we played all season,&#8221; Misericordia head coach Mark Stauffer said. &#8220;I thought we should&#8217;ve had three or four goals in that stretch, so we knew we needed another goal to be comfortable.&#8221;The second half started with more control from Misericordia, but the Colonels were able to get a corner kick. Jessica Egan sent the corner to the middle of the field where the ball was redirected towards the Cougars&#8217; goal. The ball was marked for the back of the net until Misericordia goalkeeper Alexis Benedetto dove to make an impressive stop.Misericordia came right down the field following the Colonel&#8217;s best chance of the night and the Orfanos header found the back of the net this time.&#8220;We knew we needed to establish ourselves in the second half and Coach said we needed to get another,&#8221; Orfanos said.Misericordia appeared to have full control of the game, as Wilkes struggled to find open turf to move the ball forward. It took until there was 10:23 left in the game for the Colonels to find the back of the net.Egan was brought down in the box trying to redirect a pass from Nicolette Towlen, setting up a penalty kick. Egan faked to the left and sent one to the bottom right corner to cut the lead in half.The Colonels received a second wind after the goal as they flew down the field less than a minute after the goal. Wilkes threw its best at Benedetto, but she made every save she needed down the stretch to lead Misericordia to victory.&#8220;We battled. We&#8217;ve been down before and I can&#8217;t think of one time where we thought we were out of a game,&#8221; Wilkes head coach John McNichol said. &#8220;The last part of the game we really brought it to them and we were very close to finishing, but we played a very good team in Misericordia.&#8221;For Misericordia, their season continues into the NCAA Division III tournament, where they will look to keep things rolling.&#8220;We have to stay in it mentally and do what we need to do,&#8221; Benedetto said. &#8220;This is super, super exciting, but this is the first step. We want to keep winning and keep playing.&#8221;MAC Freedom ChampionshipMisericordia 2, Wilkes 1Wilkes`0`1 &#8212; 1Misericordia`1`1 &#8212; 2First half &#8212; 1. MIS, Kaylee Sturans (Alexa Alchevsky), 12:01. Second half &#8212; 2. MIS, Jeanna Orfanos (Evelyn Logie), 37:25; 3. WIL, Jessica Egan, 10:24.Shots &#8212; WIL 8; MIS 15. Saves &#8212; WIL 3 (Samantha Cecere); MIS 3 (Alexis Benedetto). Corner kicks &#8212; WIL 2; MIS 1.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Orfanos </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_Jeanna-Orfanos-mug-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Orfanos </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Ben MandellFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLsports</shirttailMeta></div>

MAC Freedom Women’s Soccer Championship: Misericordia beats Wilkes for 3rd straight title