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Wyoming Valley West seeking first state field hockey title in 16 years

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<p>They&#8217;ve made lasting marks with personal milestones, team achievements and thrilling moments during a season that will already be remembered as one of the most special in school history.</p><p>Yet, the Wyoming Seminary Blue Knights are looking for more.</p><p>One more.</p><p>One more game together for spectacular seniors Bari Lefkowitz, Hannah Maxwell and Alex Wesneski.</p><p>One more historical feat.</p><p>One more gold medal.</p><p>The three-time District 2 champion Blue Knights get one final shot to do all that and more when they try to defend their state title against 25-1 Oley Valley in the PIAA Class A championship game at 10 a.m. Saturday at Whitehall High School&#8217;s Zephyr Sports Complex.</p><p>&#8220;As an individual, I hate losing,&#8221; said Wesneski, who is headed to play for Iowa next year. &#8220;And I know my team hates to lose.</p><p>&#8220;Honestly, I think we want it just as much as we wanted it last year.&#8221;</p><p>Maybe even more.</p><p>Because while they&#8217;re playing in a third consecutive PIAA final for the first time in school history, it&#8217;s another Sem mark that has even more meaning to this year&#8217;s Blue Knights.</p><p>No team at Sem has won back-t0-back state titles before or since the 2011 and 2012 Blue Knights teams featuring current Team USA captain Kat Sharkey captured two consecutive gold medals.</p><p>In a year where Maxwell and Wesneski both hit 100 career goals and head coach Karen Klassner celebrated her 700th career coaching victory, the Blue Knights would love to duplicate that honor Saturday.</p><p>&#8220;That would mean a lot,&#8221; Wesneski said. &#8220;Klassner got to 700 when we won districts. I hope we can give her this, too.&#8221;</p><p>It would bring an eighth state title to a Sem program that&#8217;s won six of its past seven state championship appearances over the past 11 years, and leave a lasting stamp on a squad that lost Temple-bound standout Julia Christian to a torn ACL at the start of the season.</p><p>&#8220;The seniors really want this very badly,&#8221; Wyoming Seminary coach Karen Klassner said. &#8220;I think people felt that we would not get there this year. It&#8217;s difficult to go (to the state title game) two years in a row. We&#8217;ve done it three years in a row.&#8221;</p><p>With mixed results.</p><p>A revved-up Sem team upset favored Oley Valley, 2-0 in the 2017 state semifinals, then was upended by Greenwood, 2-1, in the PIAA title game.</p><p>Motivated by a silver medal they felt should have been gold, the Blue Knights came back last season and downed Newport for the state championship.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve lost one and we won won,&#8221; Maxwell said. &#8220;We know winning feels a lot better than losing.&#8221;</p><p>Oley Valley&#8217;s felt a lot of frustration.</p><p>Sophia Gladieux, who&#8217;s one of just five high school players to score over 200 career goals and is headed to play at Penn State, leads a star-studded group of Lynx that also includes James Madison commit and pinpoint passer Sarah Beers and rock-solid defender Sophia Mackrella, an Iowa commit.</p><p>But the trio formed a nucleus that made Oley Valley the state title favorite for the last three years, and this is the first trip to the finals.</p><p>The Lynx were upended by Sem in the 2017 state semifinals, 2-0, but finally arrived in the title game when Gladieux scored twice in the final 14 minutes to edge Wyoming Area, 2-0 in this year&#8217;s semis.</p><p>&#8220;They got knocked off the last two years when they were supposed to get there,&#8221; Klassner said. &#8220;I think they might be better (than in 2017). They&#8217;ve matured. Sophia Gladieux, she&#8217;s a special player.&#8221;</p><p>It might take a special effort to stop her and the 25-1 Lynx from taking home a state championship that&#8217;s been so elusive.</p><p>&#8220;I think they&#8217;re amazing,&#8221; said Northwestern-bound defender Lefkowitz, who was on the field for that last showdown with Gladieux and Oley Valley two years ago. &#8220;But two or three girls can&#8217;t beat a team of 11 girls &#8212; a team of want and drive and hustle. It&#8217;s just having that effort and having that want to win. That&#8217;s what it comes down to.&#8221;</p><p>Basically, Sem&#8217;s third straight run to a state title game came down to desire.</p><p>Maxwell, the Blue Knights&#8217; top scoring threat with 33 goals this season, charged into the circle and drew a penalty to set up Wesneski&#8217;s overtime penalty stroke winner in the quarterfinals, then scored twice and dished off an assist to spark Sem&#8217;s 4-1 victory over Greenwood in the semis.</p><p>&#8220;Definitely more driven,&#8221; said Maxwell, who will play at Wake Forest next year. &#8220;I feel like we&#8217;ve been driven the whole season. Now it&#8217;s definitely into my head that it&#8217;s do or die. Someone&#8217;s got to get it done. We know this is a very, very skilled team we&#8217;re playing. We know that we&#8217;re a skilled team.</p><p>&#8220;I think, ultimately, it&#8217;s going to come down to a lot of heart.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Alex Wesneski and Wyoming Seminary enter the PIAA Class A field hockey championship game hoping to cheer about a second straight state title &#8212; something that has only been accomplished once before in the school&#8217;s illustrious history. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_sem_new1_faa-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Alex Wesneski and Wyoming Seminary enter the PIAA Class A field hockey championship game hoping to cheer about a second straight state title &#8212; something that has only been accomplished once before in the school&#8217;s illustrious history. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_WA-Oley-Valley-FH-3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Oley Valley and leading scorer Sophia Gladieux (4) knocked off Wyoming Area in the state semifinals and wil now challenge Wyoming Seminary in today&#8217;s championship. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_WA-Oley-Valley-FH-3-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Oley Valley and leading scorer Sophia Gladieux (4) knocked off Wyoming Area in the state semifinals and wil now challenge Wyoming Seminary in today&#8217;s championship. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_sem_new3_faa-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Seminary seeks to celebrate a second straight PIAA Class A field hockey championship when it faces Oley Valley in the state title game at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Zephyr Sports Complex at Whitehall High School. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_sem_new3_faa-2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Wyoming Seminary seeks to celebrate a second straight PIAA Class A field hockey championship when it faces Oley Valley in the state title game at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Zephyr Sports Complex at Whitehall High School. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Wyoming Sem taking shot at history in state title game</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Wyoming Sem tries to make more memories in PIAA field hockey championship