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PIAA boys soccer: Wyoming Seminary falls to Midd-West in 2A opener

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PIAA girls soccer: Dallas falls to Mechanicsburg in 3A first round

HAZLETON &#8212; Here&#8217;s a new twist on an old scene for Wyoming Valley West.In a stroke of irony, the Spartans opened states with a penalty stroke.Rina Tsioles hit Valley West&#8217;s first penalty stroke of the season Tuesday, Cameryn Forgash scored the first goal and the Spartans surged back into the state quarterfinals by beating Great Valley, 2-0 in a PIAA Class 2A field hockey opener at Harman Geist Field.&#8220;We practice strokes every practice,&#8221; Tsioles said. &#8220;We always say we want to get one.&#8220;That was our first time getting a stroke.&#8221;Evidently, all that hard work paid big dividends for the defending state finalist Spartans, who will meet Bangor in the quarterfinals Saturday.Tsioles ripped her one-on-one shot just aside of Great Valley goalie Ryan Curley and just inside the post midway through the second half. The shot looked as if it would be desperately needed by Valley West when Bermudian Springs appeared to slice its deficit in half a few minutes later.It wasn&#8217;t, as that Bermudian Springs goal was nullified.&#8220;We didn&#8217;t have any,&#8221; Valley West coach Linda Fithian said of the stroke. &#8220;We practice them every day. We never had an opportunity to put it to work. It was the perfect stroke. That&#8217;s where it had to go, because she&#8217;s a good goalie.&#8221;Valley West went ahead for good when Forgash sliced through a gritty Great Valley defense to score the game&#8217;s first goal, before suffering a small slice near the bridge of her nose later in the opening half.&#8220;A girl&#8217;s stick, right across, the face,&#8221; Forgash sighed. &#8220;I&#8217;ll be fine. We all the all the pressure on us. It felt really good as a team to build our confidence up. We have confidence going on. It feels amazing.&#8221;The Valley West defense limited Great Valley to three shots, and goalie Sydney Rusnock saved them all to record the shutout. The Spartans will play a Bangor team that edged Manheim Central, 2-1 in another first-round state game.&#8220;We&#8217;re just thrilled to be here,&#8221; Fithian said. &#8220;We&#8217;re playing each one, one at a time. We&#8217;re excited to play it. And we&#8217;re still working hard to get better.&#8221;Wyoming Area 5, Mifflinburg 1Kayla Kiwak rattled off the game&#8217;s first three goals, Kari Melberger finished with a goal and three assists and the Warriors won the first-ever state game in school history going away.Kiwak scored twice within a six-minute span of the first half, then recorded her hat trick with a goal 3:59 into the second half to give Wyoming Area a 3-0 lead. That grew to 4-0 when Lauren Parente scored off Melberger&#8217;s third assist, before Mara Shuck got District 4 champion Mifflinburg on the board.Melberger closed out the scoring with a goal of her own off a feed from Kiwak with 2:29 to play, sending the Warriors into Saturday&#8217;s state quarterfinals against Newport, which beat Shady Side 7-0 in another PIAA opener.PIAA First RoundClass 2AValley West 2, Great Valley 0Great Valley`0`0 &#8212; 0Valley West`2`0 &#8212; 2First half &#8212; 1. WVW, Cameryn Forgash; 2. WVW, Rina Tsioles.Shots &#8212; GV 5; WVW 13. Saves &#8212; GV 11 (Ryan Curley); WVW 3 (Sydney Rusnock). Penalty corners &#8212; GV 5; WVW 12.Class AWyoming Area 5, Mifflinburg 1Wyoming Area`2`3 &#8212; 5Mifflinburg`0`1 &#8212; 1First half&#8212; 1. WA, Kayla Kiwak (Kari Melberger), 22:20; 2. WA, Kiwak, 16:24. Second half &#8212; 3. WA, Kiwak (Melberger), 26:01; 4. WA, Lauren Parente (Melberger), 20:52; 5. MIF, Mara Shuck, 15:54; 6. WA, Melberger (Kiwak), 2:29.Shots &#8212; WA 16; MIF 3. Saves &#8212; WA 2 (Ellie Glatz); MIF 8 (Breanna Rough). Penalty Corners &#8212; WA 7; MIF 3.<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>

PIAA field hockey: Valley West, Wyoming Area advance in state tournament