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<p>WHITEHALL &#8212; Like every other morning of a state field hockey playoff game, Hannah Maxwell had a pretty precise routine, starting with her first meal of the day.</p><p>First thing Saturday, Donna Maxwell prepared a nutritious plate of two fried eggs and a piece of white toast for her slick-shooting daughter.</p><p>Call it the breakfast of champions.</p><p>Because a Wyoming Seminary field hockey team carrying a craving for a gold medal needed extra fiber to find it.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m happy for the kids, proud of the coaching staff,&#8221; Wyoming Seminary coach Karen Klassner said after her seventh PIAA title came with Saturday&#8217;s 2-0 victory over Newport in the Class A state title game.</p><p>Especially after what the Blue Knights went through to get the gold.</p><p>A supremely talented and heavily-favored Sem team was forced to fight through the final &#8212; both physically and mentally.</p><p>&#8220;There was blood,&#8221; Klassner said.</p><p>She wasn&#8217;t speaking metaphorically.</p><p>Right in the first half to Saturday&#8217;s battle, two Sem players were directed off the field to attend to medical issues and the second half got even rougher. Almost immediately after Maxwell&#8217;s 40th goal of the season gave Sem breathing room and set the final score, Maxwell received a hard shoulder to the chest that knocked her to the ground for a few moments.</p><p>Then Sem&#8217;s standout scorer Alex Wesneski got conked on the forehead by a hard shot &#8212; and slapped with a five-minute card for her trouble.</p><p>&#8220;It was a really physical game,&#8221; Maxwell said with a grin. &#8220;Those are the fun games.&#8221;</p><p>More than a little frazzling, too.</p><p>Sem, which took a 1-0 lead into halftime on Kelsey Reznick&#8217;s penalty stroke, believed it had built a much bigger lead. But one apparent goal on a penalty corner was waved off and what looked to be another Sem score was quickly disallowed, leaving the Blue Knights clinging to a one-goal advantage.</p><p>&#8220;It was frustrating. That would have been a 3-0 lead,&#8221; Maxwell said. &#8220;But it was kind of inspiring at the same time. It gave us more aggression.&#8221;</p><p>More fuel for that fire came in the second half, when Sem had a third goal that didn&#8217;t count when officials ruled the shot came from outside the circle (only shots from inside the circle are allowed in field hockey). Meanwhile, no penalty was called on Newport when Maxwell got dumped, prompting Klassner to confront the officials and ask why. Their explanation was simple, as they determined the contact was unintentional.</p><p>That was one of the few times that conclusion was made, as Sem received at least eight penalty cards and Wesneski &#8212; a key component to the Blue Knights&#8217; offensive barrage &#8212; spent 10 of the final 16 minutes on the sidelines while taking two five-minute penalties.</p><p>&#8220;Most cards we&#8217;ve ever had in a game,&#8221; a seething Klassner said.</p><p>Still, the Blue Knights fought through it to get the gold medal they lost in the 2017 state finals.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think we let the refs get in our heads too much,&#8221; Maxwell said.</p><p>This is what Reznick was talking about on the eve of the state title game when she cautioned her teammates to keep their cool and play through adversity she suspected was sure to come in the state championship showdown.</p><p>&#8220;We were very frustrated at first,&#8221; said Reznick, a senior co-captain and point producer for most of her career who spent her final season playing defense before playing for Duke next year. &#8220;We needed to stay calm and pick up our game.&#8221;</p><p>Meanwhile, the Blue Knights picked apart Newport with defense.</p><p>They flooded passing lanes, cut off drives and collapsed on the circle, limiting the Buffalos to just two shots while finishing the state tournament without allowing a single goal in four games &#8212; while surrendering just two goals and posting six shutouts in seven postseason contests.</p><p>Reznick anchored the backfield with Grace Parsons and Kate Barilla, goalie Mia Magnotta was marvelous while turning away the few shots she faced, but even offensive-minded mids and forwards played critical parts in pestering shots from opponents.</p><p>&#8220;Recovery,&#8221; Sem&#8217;s Penn State-bound senior midfielder Aubrey Mytych said was the key. &#8220;When one of us got beat, we&#8217;d just recover inside and stepped back up. That was a big issue for us throughout the year. We picked a great time to get it fixed.&#8221;</p><p>Now, Sem&#8217;s fixing for another golden journey.</p><p>With only Reznick, Mytych, Barilla graduating from the starting lineup &#8212; which may or may not also lose foreign student Elisabeth Seyfarth &#8212; the Blue Knights have every intetion of being back for a third time. And ready to overcome any obstacle standing in its way.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re a high-profile team,&#8221; Klassner said. &#8220;People expect us to be perfect. We&#8217;re not perfect. And that&#8217;s not really fair to them (the Blue Knights). We told the kids, &#8216;You have to push through adversity.&#8217; That was probably one of the best teams I have had, as far as having the ability to do that in those types of situations.</p><p>&#8221;The only thing left is to do it again next year.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Seminary players Aubrey Mytych (23) and Julia Christian (2) react to an official&#8217;s call during a PIAA Class A field hockey championship game in which the Blue Knights played shorthanded at least six times against Newport on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL111818FH-Newport-Sem_6-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Seminary players Aubrey Mytych (23) and Julia Christian (2) react to an official&#8217;s call during a PIAA Class A field hockey championship game in which the Blue Knights played shorthanded at least six times against Newport on Saturday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL111818FH-Newport-Sem_2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Bari Lefkowitz, left, hugging annah Maxwell, Aubrey Mytych (center) and Julia Christian stuck together through adversity to win the PIAA Class A field hockey championshp in Whitehall on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL111818FH-Newport-Sem_2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Bari Lefkowitz, left, hugging annah Maxwell, Aubrey Mytych (center) and Julia Christian stuck together through adversity to win the PIAA Class A field hockey championshp in Whitehall on Saturday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL111818FH-Newport-Sem_7-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Julia Christian (2), Aubrey Mytych (23), Alex Wesneski (4) and Hannah Maxwell (13) Julia Christian (2) used teamwork to get through some rough play, and tough calls, while winning the PIAA Class A field hockey championship with a 2-0 victory over Newport. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL111818FH-Newport-Sem_7-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Julia Christian (2), Aubrey Mytych (23), Alex Wesneski (4) and Hannah Maxwell (13) Julia Christian (2) used teamwork to get through some rough play, and tough calls, while winning the PIAA Class A field hockey championship with a 2-0 victory over Newport. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL111818FH-Newport-Sem_8-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Hannah Maxwell, center right, battles Newport&#8217;s Chloe Smith in a highly physical PIAA Class A field hockey championship game in Whitehall on Saturday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL111818FH-Newport-Sem_8-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Hannah Maxwell, center right, battles Newport&#8217;s Chloe Smith in a highly physical PIAA Class A field hockey championship game in Whitehall on Saturday. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Sem showed its strength to win a state championship</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Wyoming Seminary showed strength to win state field hockey title