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<p>The pain was so sickening, so agonizing, so unbearably deep that the Wyoming Seminary field hockey team carried it around for an entire year.</p><p>And not even a wonderfully-played revenge game against a Greenwood team that stole Sem&#8217;s gold medal in the 2017 state championship game could take it away.</p><p>No, only a PIAA championship will heal that hurt.</p><p>&#8220;We learned the hard way,&#8221; Sem senior playmaker Aubrey Mytych said, &#8220;what can happen when you underestimate a team and go into a game thinking the gold medal&#8217;s already yours.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re ready to go.&#8221;</p><p>The circumstances are the same, really.</p><p>A heavily-favored Sem team, carrying a 20-2-1 overall record and ranked No. 7 in Pennsylvania by MaxFieldHockey.com, will face another underdog, 18-6-1 Newport, for the PIAA Class A title in a 3 p.m. battle at Whitehall&#8217;s Zephyr Stadium.</p><p>Just like last year, when a supremely-talented Sem team that had a 6-2 record in state title games faced a Greenwood team that had never been to a state championship game before.</p><p>The result?</p><p>A 2-1 Greenwood gold medal victory, and a bunch of Blue Knights who walked away wanting to smash their silver medals to pieces.</p><p>&#8220;We were definitely disappointed,&#8221; Mytych said.</p><p>&#8220;I think it was more of a shock,&#8221; fellow Sem senior captain Kelsey Reznick said. &#8220;We made it to the state championship game. And we did not play our game. I was definitely angry with myself. I think everyone was upset and frustrated that we didn&#8217;t get the outcome we wanted.&#8221;</p><p>Mytych, for one, kept seeing the horror over and over.</p><p>&#8220;We watched the game every night after that,&#8221; Mytych said. &#8220;We talked about that Greenwood game since preseason. I watched it a lot by myself. Even coming back on the bus, everybody kept saying, &#8216;We did not play our game,&#8217; last year. I said, &#8216;Don&#8217;t forget how it feels to lose.&#8217; It sucks.</p><p>&#8220;Nobody has forgotten that.&#8221;</p><p>Mainly because Sem beat an Oley Valley team in the 2017 state semifinals that was supposed to be the toughest opponent in its path to a state championship. Much like this season, when the Blue Knights gashed a Greenwood team, 4-0, already accomplishing what was supposed to be their most difficult task in the PIAA tournament.</p><p>After all, Newport &#8212; which entered states as the No. 3 seed out of District 3 &#8212; lost all four of its games against Greenwood, including three last month.</p><p>So what&#8217;s to stop the underdog from pulling an upset on Sem again?</p><p>&#8220;Go through what we went through last year,&#8221; said Wyoming Seminary coach Karen Klassner, whose Sem teams are now 6-3 in state finalsand lost just three key contributors from last season&#8217;s PIAA runner-up finish. &#8220;Our kids were embarrassed. They know they didn&#8217;t bring it. And they know they <em>have </em>to bring it (today).&#8221;</p><p>Sem will be bringing along a bunch of firepower.</p><p>Blue Knights scoring leader Hannah Maxwell has five goals and three assists in Sem&#8217;s last two games, Alex Wesneski has four goals and three assists in state play, Julia Christian has three goals and three assists and both have scored in all three PIAA games and freshman Anna Mozaleski put up a pair of momentum-changing goals in her first run at states.</p><p>Meanwhile, Reznick&#8217;s defense and the offensive hustle of Mytych and the leadership of both have made Sem&#8217;s ride to a second straight state championship game a smooth one. The Blue Knights scored what is believed to be a PIAA tournament record with an 11-0 victory over Lehighton in the quarterfinals.</p><p>&#8220;Teamwork, that&#8217;s something we&#8217;ve been working on,&#8221; said Mytych, a forward who signed a letter-of-intent Wednesday to play for Penn State next season. &#8220;It showed in the Greenwood game (Tuesday). It showed when we played Lehighton. We scored 11 goals, and it wasn&#8217;t just one person scoring them. It was everyone.&#8221;</p><p>That&#8217;s also the attitude on defense, where Sem has surrendered just two goals &#8212; both to Wyoming Area in a 3-2 District 2 title voictory &#8212; through six postseason games &#8212; and none in the state playoffs. While goalie Mia Magnotta has made a few terrific saves in states, her chances for stops have been few and far between.</p><p>&#8220;I think we need to work collectively, as a unit,&#8221; said Reznick, a scorer-turned-stopper who signed a letter-of-intent Wednesday to play for Duke next season. &#8220;We need to stay relaxed, need to stay focused.&#8221;</p><p>Newport plans to use a lock-down defense to stick around to the end.</p><p>Goalie Allie Harris backs a formidable defensive line that produced nine shutouts through the regular season and three more in the playoffs. Outside of that 4-0 loss to Greenwood in the District 3 quarters, Newport has surrendered just three goals in six other postseason games.</p><p>Standout center back Chloe Smith and midfielder Ashlynn Smith are the keys to Newport&#8217;s engine, while Rachel Bohn, Amiyah Priebe, Emily Kline and Olivia Muffitt are all capable scorers.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re a very scrappy team,&#8221; Klassner said. &#8220;Their corners are really good &#8212; and Greenwood beat us last year on two corner. &#8220;</p><p>Still, records and stats would suggest Sem should play with the upper hand. After last season, the Blue Knights know better.</p><p>&#8220;It doesn&#8217;t matter what you&#8217;ve done all season,&#8221; Klassner said, &#8220;who you lost two, who you beator where you&#8217;re ranked.</p><p>&#8220;It matters who shows up to play.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Seminary senior captain Kelsey Reznick (22) will try to help the Blue Knights find the gold medal that got away last season against a Newport team that edged Lauren Parente (23) and Wyoming Area in a state quarterfinal game last week. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL101818FHSemWA3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Seminary senior captain Kelsey Reznick (22) will try to help the Blue Knights find the gold medal that got away last season against a Newport team that edged Lauren Parente (23) and Wyoming Area in a state quarterfinal game last week. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_wys_g3_faa-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Seminary senior captain Aubrey Mytych felt sick about last year&#8217;s state championship loss to Greenwood and, along with her Blue Knights teammates, did something about it by dumping Greenwood, 4-0 on Tuesday to reach a second straight PIAA Class A final today. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_wys_g3_faa-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wyoming Seminary senior captain Aubrey Mytych felt sick about last year&#8217;s state championship loss to Greenwood and, along with her Blue Knights teammates, did something about it by dumping Greenwood, 4-0 on Tuesday to reach a second straight PIAA Class A final today. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Heavily-favored Sem taking nothing for granted in this state title game</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>PIAA CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;">Newport (18-6-1) vs. Wyoming Sem (20-2-1)</p><p style="text-align: left;">3 p.m. Saturday</p><p style="text-align: left;">at Zephyr Stadium, Whitehall Twp.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Favored Wyoming Sem taking nothing for granted in state field hockey final