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LOCAL ROUNDUPWilkes-Barre Area tops Hazleton in boys soccer

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Inspection closes Pittston span

<p>NANTICOKE &#8212; One defeat was damaging enough to Northwest&#8217;s early-season hopes of capturing another division title.</p><p>So the Rangers certainly didn&#8217;t need a second straight loss to another team that came out strong to start the season.</p><p>There&#8217;s no losing streak to speak of now, because Sydney Franchella scored twice in the first half Monday and an active defense shut out previously-unbeaten Nanticoke Area to give the Rangers a 3-0 victory at Nanticoke Community Park.</p><p>&#8220;Great teamwork, overall,&#8221; Franchella said. &#8220;I think we all just passed very well. We had great calling, we knew where the ball was going to go.</p><p>&#8220;I would say it&#8217;s another great game.&#8221;</p><p>The effort certainly helped 2-1 Northwest recover from a game that wasn&#8217;t so great for the Rangers.</p><p>A 2-0 loss to Lackawanna Trail on Saturday knocked Northwest from the top spot in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 standings and signaled a possible change of power in the division. Northwest swept the two-game season series last season to edge Trail for the Division 2 by a half-game, then won a third meeting between to the two in the District 2 Class A quarterfinals.</p><p>&#8220;We were sad we lost,&#8221; Franchella said. &#8220;We know we&#8217;ll come out even harder when we face them again. But we turned it around and came out harder today. We had to get that win back, even though it wasn&#8217;t against the same team.&#8221;</p><p>A solid win against a hot-shooting Nanticoke Area team that came in with a 2-0 record was more than enough to suffice, though.</p><p>And it didn&#8217;t take Franchella long to lift her team&#8217;s spirits, as she took a pass from Lauren Okuniewski and swept it into the cage with just over 10 minutes gone in the game.</p><p>That broke a stretch of over 45 minutes the Rangers went without a goal, from the final four minutes of the season opener to the start of Monday&#8217;s game. Then Franchella scored again, knocking home a ball Irelyn Kishbaugh swept into the circle to give Northwest breathing room.</p><p>It&#8217;s no surprise Northwest turned to Franchella to break the team&#8217;s short scoring slump. The senior forward scored her 50th goal last season, and opened this year with a hat trick &#8212; all the while swearing she has no secret formula for her success and putting points on the board.</p><p>&#8220;Good question,&#8221; Franchella said. &#8220;I really don&#8217;t know how I do it. Sometimes it&#8217;s just pure luck, sometimes my stick&#8217;s in the right place.&#8221;</p><p>Her teammates, though, have faith that Franchella will somehow make her own fortune.</p><p>&#8220;She gets down,&#8221; Northwest coach Ashley Lawson said. &#8220;She&#8217;s low and she&#8217;s ready. When the ball is coming into the circle, she&#8217;s as low as you can be.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a big key.&#8221;</p><p>After Franchella scored her fifth goal in three league games, the key for the Rangers was stopping Nanticoke Area&#8217;s offense from getting on a roll.</p><p>An all-in attitude accomplished that, as Northwest held a Trojanettes team that began the year by scoring 10 goals in two games to just four shots. And none of them crossed into the cage.</p><p>&#8220;I said, &#8216;Don&#8217;t come in taking this game lightly,&#8217; &#8221; Lawson said she told her team. &#8220;They (the Trojanettes) scored six against Tunkhannock, four against Berwick &#8212; and Berwick has a good goalie. They can really score. I think everybody was playing defense. Not just the defense, but the forwards and mids had it in their minds to be part of the defense. Everybody worked to get involved.&#8221;</p><p>Milana Straub worked in a final goal for Northwest, and the Rangers fought back from losing to one unbeaten team by downing another.</p><p>&#8220;They had great teamwork,&#8221; Franchella said of the Trojanettes. &#8220;I would say it was a challenge.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Berwick 1, Tunkhannock 0</strong></p><p>Peyton Lipsey scored with 6:33 remaining and Jackie Nevel stopped seven shots on goal as the Bulldogs scrapped past the Tigers.</p><p>Abbie Nevel assisted on the winning goal.</p><p>Iesha Hartman made four saves for Tunkhannock.</p><p><strong>Wyoming Sem 4, Honesdale 0</strong></p><p>Hannah Maxwell had a hat trick and Mia Magnotta made 10 saves to protect the shutout as the Blue Knights moved to 3-0 and into sole possession of first place in the WVC Division 1.</p><p>Wyoming Valley West and Lake-Lehman are both right behind at 2-0, and both teams have games scheduled for today.</p><p>Maxwell&#8217;s three goals came within a 17-minute span of the first half, and Alex Wesneski added a goal as Sem went to halftime holding a 4-0 lead.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Northwest 3, Nanticoke Area 0</strong></p><p><strong>Northwest`2`1 &#8212; 3</strong></p><p><strong>Nanticoke Area`0`0 &#8212; 0</strong></p><p><strong>First half &#8212;</strong> 1. NW, Sydney Franchella (Lauren Okuniewski), 19:34; 2. NW, Franchella (Irelyn Kishbaugh), 7:03. <strong>Second half &#8212;</strong> 3. NW, Milana Straub (Ariana Walker), 7:59.</p><p><strong>Shots &#8212;</strong> NW 15; NAN 4. <strong>Saves &#8212;</strong> NW 4 (Cassidy Gray); NAN 10 (Alexus Nichols). <strong>Penalty corners &#8212;</strong> NW 2; NAN 4.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Berwick 1, Tunkhannock 0</strong></p><p><strong>Tunkhannock`0`0 &#8212; 0</strong></p><p><strong>Berwick`0`1 &#8212; 1</strong></p><p><strong>Second half &#8212;</strong> 1. BER, Peyton Lipsey (Abbie Nevel), 6:33.</p><p><strong>Shots &#8212;</strong> TUN 7; BER 5. <strong>Saves &#8212;</strong> TUN 4 (Iesha Hartman); BER 7 (Jackie Nevel). <strong>Penalty corners &#8212;</strong> TUN 7; BER 3.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Wyoming Sem 4, Honesdale 0</strong></p><p><strong>Wyoming Sem`4`0 &#8212; 4</strong></p><p><strong>Honesdale`0`0 &#8212; 0</strong></p><p><strong>First half &#8212;</strong> 1. SEM, Hannah Maxwell (Quinn Medico), 19:25; 2. SEM, Alex Wesneski (Bari Lefkowitz), 12:01; 3. SEM, Maxwell (Maggie Barilla), 9:27; 4. SEM, Maxwell (Emma Watchilla).</p><p><strong>Shots &#8212;</strong> SEM 12; HON 10. <strong>Saves &#8212;</strong> SEM 10 (Mia Magnotta); HON 8 (Nicole Miszler). <strong>Penalty corners &#8212;</strong> SEM 3; HON 5.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091019FH-Nanticoke-Northwest_1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Northwest&#8217;s Sydney Franchella, center, scores a goal ahead of Nanticoke Area goalkeeper Alexus Nichols in WVC field hockey action Monday in Nanticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091019FH-Nanticoke-Northwest_1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Northwest&#8217;s Sydney Franchella, center, scores a goal ahead of Nanticoke Area goalkeeper Alexus Nichols in WVC field hockey action Monday in Nanticoke. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091019FH-Nanticoke-Northwest_4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Northwest&#8217;s Lauren Okuniewski, right, blocks the pass of Nanticoke Area&#8217;s McKenzie Casey (26) as Northwest teammate Ava Miller applies pressure in WVC field hockey action Monday in Nanticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091019FH-Nanticoke-Northwest_4.jpg</photo1><caption1>Northwest&#8217;s Lauren Okuniewski, right, blocks the pass of Nanticoke Area&#8217;s McKenzie Casey (26) as Northwest teammate Ava Miller applies pressure in WVC field hockey action Monday in Nanticoke. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091019FH-Nanticoke-Northwest_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Northwest&#8217;s Grace Dalmas, right, chases down the ball in front her own goal ahead of Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Tosie Park Monday in Nanticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091019FH-Nanticoke-Northwest_3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Northwest&#8217;s Grace Dalmas, right, chases down the ball in front her own goal ahead of Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Tosie Park Monday in Nanticoke. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091019FH-Nanticoke-Northwest_5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Olivia Nice, left, watches her pass ahead of Northwest&#8217;s Morgan Hermanofski Monday in Nanticoke. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091019FH-Nanticoke-Northwest_5.jpg</photo3><caption3>Nanticoke Area&#8217;s Olivia Nice, left, watches her pass ahead of Northwest&#8217;s Morgan Hermanofski Monday in Nanticoke. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Northwest recovers from difficult defeat by handing Nanticoke Area first loss</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @Sokosports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Franchella scores twice as Northwest field hockey team downs Nanticoke Area