web1_TTL091819constitution3.jpg

Wilkes Prof on Constitution Day: Revolutionary War shaped founding document

web1_luzcocourthouse01.jpg

Luzerne County Flood Authority agreement with county on hold

KINGSTON &#8212; All she could think about was the possibility of punishment.Forget, for a moment, that two unbeaten teams well-accustomed to state success were playing an ultra-intense game, along with the personal history that accompanied it.It was the threat of extra laps that really got Alex Wesneski geared up.&#8220;Kim (assistant coach Barbacci) told me if I didn&#8217;t get my stick on the ball, I&#8217;m probably going to run sprints,&#8221; Wesneski said. &#8220;I hate running sprints.&#8221;Now she won&#8217;t have to.Wesneski scored the only goal off a penalty corner Tuesday, Mia Magnotta turned away five shots and Wyoming Seminary won a war of wills with Wyoming Valley West 1-0 at Spartan Stadium. The furious battle between two 4-0 field hockey teams left the Blue Knights alone at the top of the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1.&#8220;We actually saw them play (while scouting) three times,&#8221; Sem coach Karen Klassner said of the Spartans. &#8220;That&#8217;s how important we knew this game was to the momentum, to the league.&#8221;It meant even more to Wesneski.The senior forward and Iowa commit grew up in the Valley West grade school system, along with current teammates Hannah Maxwell and Emily Williams &#8212; who all wound up playing field hockey for Sem.It was Maxwell &#8212; who lives down the block from Spartan Stadium &#8212; who hit the winning goal as a freshman in 2016 when Valley West last hosted the fierce rivalry, before the site shifted to Sem&#8217;s Klassner Field during the previous two years.When it returned to the home of Valley West, another girl that got away stung the Spartans.&#8220;I know Hannah, Erin, we all started playing field hockey on this field,&#8221; a beaming Wesneski said. &#8220;This is my (school) district. Coming back here in our senior year and getting a victory, it&#8217;s special. This is a big rivalry.&#8221;That was evident from the start.The teams played to a halftime tie, displaying the fervor that took each on deep state runs during the past two seasons. Valley West in Class 2A and Sem in Class A both wound up as a state runner-up in 2017, before Sem won the PIAA Class A title last season as Valley West went to the state semifinals.&#8220;Every person on Sem&#8217;s team is really intense,&#8221; Valley West&#8217;s lightning-quick midfielder Rina Tsioles said. &#8220;Every time you&#8217;re running to the ball, you have to go all-out, or they&#8217;ll just run you by.&#8221;Yet, Valley West matched Sem step for step, until the Blue Knights drew a penalty corner at the start of the second half.That&#8217;s when Sem freshman Ella Barbacci sent a laser shot toward the mouth of the goal, and Wesneski redirected it high over helpless goalie Sydney Rusnock for the game&#8217;s only score with 27:18 to play.&#8220;We just felt she (Wesneski) would be in this game, because of her coming from this district,&#8221; Klassner said. &#8220;I just think her instincts as an athlete came into play. A lot of what she does on the field hockey field comes from basketball, I think.&#8221;As a guard on Sem&#8217;s basketball team, Wesneski&#8217;s well aware that many points come off the pass.&#8220;Ella just sent a really good ball into the circle,&#8221; Wesneski said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve been working a lot on corners, where the ball has to be.&#8221;The play began with a nice insert from Anna Mozeleski, who put the ball on Barbacci&#8217;s stick to set the game&#8217;s lone goal in motion.&#8220;We draw it up like that all the time,&#8221; Klassner said. &#8220;We just don&#8217;t always execute it.&#8221;That execution was key against a Valley West team that barely missed the cage with a couple second-half shots of its own and held Sem&#8217;s powerful offense at bay for most of the day.Rusnock finished with 10 saves for the Spartans, while Magnotta &#8212; a junior who also recently committed to Iowa &#8212; made five stops to protect the shutout.&#8220;Honestly, you like to play in very tight games and play when they&#8217;re intense,&#8221; Wesneski said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t really like playing in games that are a blowout.&#8221;The big blowout came between the halves, when Klassner called for a rush to score.&#8220;Honestly, at halftime, Klassner told us, &#8216;You need to put the ball in the cage,&#8217; &#8221; Wesneski said.Mission accomplished.And now, Sem stands at 5-0 in WVC play, ahead of 4-0-1 teams Lake-Lehman, Wyoming Area and Wilkes-Barre Area &#8212; with Valley West just behind at 4-1.&#8220;I thought Valley West, and Tsioles, played great,&#8221; Klassner said. &#8220;We felt they played more as a team in the first half than we did. We didn&#8217;t play real well, but well enough. Anytime you can come here and get a win, to get a 1-0 lead and hold it, it&#8217;s pretty special. We knew it was going to be a tough game. It always is when we play each other.&#8220;It&#8217;s for West Side supremacy.&#8221;Wyoming Area 3, Crestwood 0Kayla Kiwak had a goal and an assist and the Warriors remained undefeated at 4-0-1 by holding the Comets without a shot.Toni Minichello and Kari Melberger also scored for Wyoming Area, which moved into a second-place tie with Lake-Lehman and Wilkes-Barre Area in the WVC Division 1.Isabella Caparuiso made 28 saves for the Comets.Lake-Lehman 0, Hazleton Area 0Hazleton Area&#8217;s Elaina Ashman made three saves, Lehman&#8217;s Amy Supey turned away both shots against her and the teams played to an overtime tie. Hazleton Area fended off 12 penalty corners to keep the game scoreless.Lehman fell to 4-0-1 and into a second-place tie with Wyoming Area and Wilkes-Barre Area in the WVC Division 1, while Hazleton Area remained even at 2-2-1.Wilkes-Barre Area 5, Pittston Area 0Abie Sorokas had a hat trick as the Wolfpack remained undefeated and joined Wyoming Area and Lake-Lehman in second place in the WVC Division 1.Ali Tedik registered the other two goals and Jolene Ulichney made three assists in the victory.Briannah Lee and Olyvia Jackson combined to stop eight shots and protect the shutout.Arianna Pisano made 10 stops in goal for the Patriots.Holy Redeemer 6, Dallas 0Addie Bielski and Mia Fino both scored twice and Holy Redeemer spoiled the return of Dallas coach Maura Weskevich to her old stomping grounds at Hollenbach Park.Wesneski coached Redeemer into its first District 2 finals and first state playoff victory in school history in 2016 before leaving to coach Dallas this season.Replacing her are co-coaches Hannah Beach and Kelsey Drazda, who moved Redeemer to 3-2 on the season with an assist and a goal from Lexi Fumanti. Fino and Bielski also added assists in the win.Meredythe Baird made five saves to earn the shutout, while Dallas goalie Amanda Puza made eight stops.Wyoming Sem 1, Valley West 0Wyoming Sem`0`1 &#8212; 1Valley West`0`0 &#8212; 0Second half &#8212; 1. SEM, Alex Wesneski (Ella Barbacciassist), 27:18.Shots &#8212; SEM 11; WVW 5. Saves &#8212; SEM 5 (Mia Magnotta); WVW 10 (Sydney Rusnock). Penalty corners &#8212; SEM 7; WVW 10.Wyoming Area 3, Crestwood 0Crestwood`0`0 &#8212; 0Wyoming Area`2`1 &#8212; 3First half &#8212; 1. WA, Toni Minichello (Kayla Kiwak), 28:51; 2. WA, Kiwak (Bianca Pizano), 22:15. Second half &#8212; 3. WA, Kari Melberger, 5:11.Shots &#8212; CRE 0; WA 31. Saves &#8212; CRE 28 (Isabella Caparuiso); WA 0 (Ellie Glatz). Penalty corners &#8212; CRE 0; WA 8.Lake-Lehman 0, Hazleton Area 0Hazleton Area`0`0 &#8212; 0Lake-Lehman`0`0 &#8212; 0Shots &#8212; HAZ 2; LL 3. Saves &#8212; HAZ 3 (Elaina Ashman); LL 2 (Amy Supey). Penalty corners &#8212; HAZ 3; LL 12.Wilkes-Barre Area 5, Pittston Area 0Wilkes-Barre Area`3`2 &#8212; 5Pittston Area`0`0 &#8212; 0First half &#8212; 1. WB, Abie Sorokas (Raven Bozak); 2. WB, Sorokas (Jolene Ulichney); 3. WB, Sorokas (Ulichney). Second half &#8212; 4. WB, Ali Tedik; 5. WB, Tedik (Ulichney).Shots &#8212; WB 15; PA 8. Saves &#8212; WB 8 (Briannah Lee, Olyvia Jackson); PA 10 (Arianna Pisano). Penalty corners &#8212; WB 11, PA 6.Holy Redeemer 6, Dallas 0Dallas`0`0 &#8212; 0Holy Redeemer`5`1 &#8212; 6First half &#8212; 1. HR, Addie Bielski, 16:08; 2. HR, Kayla Serafin (Mia Fino), 8:31; 3. HR, Bielski, 7:54; 4. HR, Lexi Fumanti (Bielski), 5:57; 5. HR, Fino (Fumanti), 1:18. Second half &#8212; 6. HR, Fino (Lauren Mullery), 9:06.Shots &#8212; DAL 8; HR 14. Saves &#8212; DAL 8 (Meredythe Baird); HR 8 (Amanda Puza). Penalty corners &#8212; DAL 4; HR 6.<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/2019/09/web1_TTL091819SEMwvwFH_6.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West goalkeeper Sydney Rusnock makes a save against Wyoming Seminary Tuesday night in Kingston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091819SEMwvwFH_6.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Valley West goalkeeper Sydney Rusnock makes a save against Wyoming Seminary Tuesday night in Kingston. </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_TTL091819SEMwvwFH_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Hannah Maxwell, center, controls the ball as Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Georgia Tsioles, left, and goalkeeper Sydney Rusnock defend in WVC Division 1 field hockey action at Spartan Stadium in Kingston on Tuesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091819SEMwvwFH_3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Hannah Maxwell, center, controls the ball as Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Georgia Tsioles, left, and goalkeeper Sydney Rusnock defend in WVC Division 1 field hockey action at Spartan Stadium in Kingston on Tuesday night. </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_TTL091819SEMwvwFH_4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Camryn Forgash, left, and Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Ella Barbacci battle for the ball in WVC field hockey action Tuesday at Spartan Stadium in Kingston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091819SEMwvwFH_4.jpg</photo2><caption2>Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Camryn Forgash, left, and Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Ella Barbacci battle for the ball in WVC field hockey action Tuesday at Spartan Stadium in Kingston. </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_TTL091819SEMwvwFH_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Bari Lefkowitz, left, battles Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Ariane Rupnik for the ball in front of Seminary goalkeeper Mia Magnotta (61) in a WVC Division 1 field hockey game at Spartan Stadium. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091819SEMwvwFH_2.jpg</photo3><caption3>Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Bari Lefkowitz, left, battles Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Ariane Rupnik for the ball in front of Seminary goalkeeper Mia Magnotta (61) in a WVC Division 1 field hockey game at Spartan Stadium. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091819SEMwvwFH_5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Dani Reiser, left, chases down the ball ahead of the Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s defense Tuesday in Kingston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091819SEMwvwFH_5.jpg</photo4><caption4>Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Dani Reiser, left, chases down the ball ahead of the Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s defense Tuesday in Kingston. </caption4><photoCredit4>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091819SEMwvwFH_1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Seminary players gather around Alex Wesneski, second from left, who scored the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Wyoming Valley West in a WVC Division 1 field hockey battle of unbeatens Tuesday night at Spartan Stadium. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_TTL091819SEMwvwFH_1.jpg</photo5><caption5>Wyoming Seminary players gather around Alex Wesneski, second from left, who scored the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Wyoming Valley West in a WVC Division 1 field hockey battle of unbeatens Tuesday night at Spartan Stadium. </caption5><photoCredit5>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Wyoming Sem wins showdown with Valley West</subheadMeta></div><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>

Wesneski scores lone goal as Wyoming Sem edges Valley West in field hockey