web1_Cipriani-2.jpg

Labor and Industry rep tours West Side CTC

web1_kidney1.jpg

New kidney ‘a blessing, a great gift’ for Mountain Top man

Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s plans were altered before the team even got started this spring, but it arrives at the final week of Wyoming Valley Conference girls lacrosse with a perfect conference season still possible.The Blue Knights, who have won all six titles in the conference&#8217;s history, have work to do if they are going to win their seventh straight title and complete a fourth unbeaten WVC season.Wyoming Seminary is scheduled to end the regular season with road games at second-place Delaware Valley Tuesday at 4:15 p.m. and third-place Lake-Lehman Thursday at 5.&#8220;It should be an exciting week,&#8221; Wyoming Seminary coach Catie Kersey said. &#8220;It&#8217;s all coming down to the last two games for all three of us.&#8220;They planned the schedule well.&#8221;The same three teams went 1-1 against each other and perfect against the rest of the league to force a three-way playoff last season.Wyoming Seminary (10-0 in the WVC) can avoid the need for a playoff this season with a win at Delaware Valley.The Blue Knights have also won district championships in all eight years since they were launched in District 2.This had the potential to shape up as their most challenging season when they combined graduation losses with offseason injuries.&#8220;We had to adjust the lineup a bit more than we thought we were going to going into this season,&#8221; Kersey said.Wyoming Seminary graduated Times Leader Player of the Year Julia Gabriel, 100-goal scorer Emily Sims and Kaitlyn Metz, who joined them as first-team, all-stars.The Blue Knights figured to bring back two first-teamers, but only goalie Mia Raineri is playing.Junior Nicole Joanlanne had her lacrosse career end early because of concussions. Bari Lefkowitz, another junior, suffered an injury playing field hockey in the winter and, although Kersey was once hopeful of her return, it has not worked out.Lefkowitz&#8217;s status as a committed Division I athlete &#8211; she&#8217;ll play field hockey at Northwestern &#8211; made it prudent to be cautious while assessing her status in rehabilitating an injury.&#8220;In some ways it&#8217;s been exciting, just because we&#8217;ve gotten better and better as we&#8217;ve gone,&#8221; Kersey said. &#8220;In the past, sometimes we knew what we had and we knew where we were going to be from the beginning of the year because of experience and talent.&#8220;What&#8217;s been fun to watch, and coach, this year is the continual growth. This team is just hungry to get better and better.&#8221;Kersey shifted players around, reorganizing her midfield.Sisters Grace and Paige Parsons took on added responsibilities in the center. Freshman Anna Mozeleski stepped in as a starter and senior Annemaaike Reitsma has returned to the lineup after missing last season with an injury.Emily Matthews, in just her second year in the sport, also took on a larger role.Mozeleski is one of three freshmen starters, joining Ashley Metz and Margaret Mihalick.CONTENDERS: Delaware Valley is 7-1 and Lake-Lehman is 8-2. Wyoming Area and Scranton Prep, which also have two losses, are the other teams that entered the final week still technically in title contention.With teams playing similar schedules, there is little time for scouting the opposition, leaving coaches to rely on what they can see in newspaper reports and what they recall from last season.Many of the players that helped Lake-Lehman hand Wyoming Seminary its only local loss and advance to the conference and district finals against the Blue Knights in 2018 are still in prominent roles.The Black Knights have three of the four active returning Times Leader first-team, all-stars.Katie Roberts has scored 64 goals, Jess Evans has added 52 and Makenzie Lasinski remains a factor on defense, leading the team in groundballs and interceptions.MORE STANDOUTS: Lauren Delamater is piling up the points at Dallas.Delamater has 77 goals and 20 assists this season, giving her 238 goals and 95 assists for her career.She is among the half dozen returnees from the second team of last season&#8217;s Times Leader all-stars.Christina Kilyanek, the team&#8217;s scoring leader, and Grace Parsons are back for Wyoming Seminary.Cassidy Orzel and Emma Kelleher are the top scorers at Wyoming Area.Dallas also returns Grace Young in the midfield.CHANGES: North Pocono, a newcomer to the WVC this season, picked up its first conference win Saturday on the road when it beat last-place Tunkhannock, 9-8.The Lady Trojans have also beaten Lakeland, a District 2 team playing a non-league schedule as it develops the sport.Tunkhannock&#8217;s only win came against Lakeland, which is 0-6 with two games remaining.Holy Redeemer was already factored into the schedule and expected to be part of this season. The school added boys lacrosse this spring, but wound up waiting a year when tentative coaching hires did not work out.Athletic director J.P. Aquilina said the school has enough girls interested and still plans to go ahead with adding the sport.POSTSEASON PLANS: Wyoming Seminary, Wyoming Area, Lake-Lehman, Dallas and Scranton Prep have all clinched berths in the District 2 Class 2A playoffs.The top eight teams out of 11 will participate. Abington Heights and Crestwood are very likely to be part of the field while Pittston Area tries to hold off North Pocono for the final berth.All games will be played on the home field of the higher seed with games scheduled for May 18, 21 and 23.All four teams are guaranteed participation in the District 2-6 Class 3A Subregional. District 6&#8217;s State College is likely to be the top seed over Delaware Valley, Coughlin and Hazleton Area.The Class 3A tournament is set for May 16 and 21.QUICK HITS: Wyoming Area, Scranton Prep, Abington Heights and Pittston Area have all exceeded their 2018 WVC win totals while Dallas and Hazleton Area have matched them. &#8230; The District 2 champion will open the state Class 2A tournament May 28 at a District 2 site against the third-place finisher from District 4. &#8230; The District 2-6 Class 3A Subregional champion opens against the fourth-place team from District 1. &#8230; Wyoming Seminary opened the season with two losses to District 11 teams but has completed the steady climb to 12-2 and first place by a .680-.679 margin over Wyoming Area in the ratings race for top seed in District 2 Class 2A.<style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_lacrosse.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_lacrosse.jpg</photo0><caption0></caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom RobinsonFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div>

GIRLS LACROSSE NOTEBOOK: Plenty of work left for Wyoming Seminary