Oct 31, 2024
BILL TARUTIS/Special to the Sun-Gazette Wilkes-Barre Area’s Sara Marin Orozco, right, kicks the ball away from Williamsport’s Breah Phillips in the District 2-4 Class 4A girls soccer subregional championship at Wolfpack Stadium in Plains Twp. on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024
PLAINS TWP. — Williamsport was whistled for a foul deep in Wilkes-Barre’s offensive end of the field.
It set up a free kick from about 35 yards. Immediately, Angelena Mendola motioned to defensive partner Leah Pryor to push up and take the kick.
Pryor might only be a sophomore, but she was clutch in the biggest of moment with a district championship hanging in the balance.
The Wolfpack defender blasted the free kick to the upper portion of the goal, just out of the reach of keeper Chloe Pennings for the first-half goal. It turned into the game-winner as Wilkes-Barre Area’s defense and Victoria Luna held strong against a barrage of Millionaires shots en route to a 1-0 win Wednesday in the District 2-4 Class 4A subregional championship.
BILL TARUTIS/Special to the Sun-Gazette Wilkes-Barre Area celebrates its 1-0 victory over Williamsport in the District 2-4 Class 4A girls soccer subregional championship at Wolfpack Stadium in Plains Twp. on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024.
“The last minutes, it was really scary, actually,” Pryor said. “You look at the clock, and you think you only have 10 minutes left, but it just moves so slowly. You are just trying to push it out to the last minute, and we got there.”
The victory advances the Wolfpack (13-6-1) to the state tournament for the first time in school history. The team will remain in District 2 for Tuesday’s opening round against the fourth-place team from District 1.
“Leah really did us a favor taking that shot,” WBA coach Desiree Kreidler said. “She has such a powerful kick where she’s able to shoot that ball from far out. They played such a tight defense in the back that it was hard to get their defenders to move.”
Sometimes, it’s about the quality over quantity.
Wilkes-Barre was held to just eight shots on the night with Pennings only recording two saves in the setback. While Williamsport’s defense was opportunistic, limiting the Wolfpack’s offensive attack around the goal, one kick off Pryor’s leg was the difference.
BILL TARUTIS/Special to the Sun-Gazette Wilkes-Barre Area goalkeeper Victoria Luna (00) makes a save as Williamsport’s Jaelynn Helmrich (left) and Nylah Ford (right) close in.
One kick on the Wilkes-Barre side.
Missed chances on the Williamsport (10-11) bench.
One five-minute sequence in the second half told the story for the District 4 school. Deborah Shultz ripped a shot inside the 18-yard box that Luna made a spectacular save on. Not even a minute later, the Williamsport junior had another chance, but the ball sailed high of the goal and out of play.
Williamsport’s best chance to knot it up in the second half came off a free kick where Shultz lofted the ball into a gaggle of players inside the box. Jaelynn Helmrich was able to get a touch on it, but again, Luna made another highlight-reel save with plenty of distractions in front of her.
“It was stressful because you know if they made a goal, we were heading into overtime,” Luna said. “My main mindset was to keep it out of the net, and I trusted the defense to help me with that.”
Williamsport had 13 shots in the match, seven of them on goal.
“We always just say it’s the game of soccer, but it’s unfortunate not to get it on the right day,” Williamsport coach Beckham Sibiski said. “Those things happens, but I’m pleased with our performance. We just couldn’t put it in the net. We’ve hardly been shut out all season, and for sure, I thought we’d create an opportunity or two. The keeper did a good job of keeping anything out, and the defenders did a great job of crashing and following.”
Wilkes-Barre’s back line — Mendola, Pryor, Lily Sopkie, Katie Tarnalicki and Elizabeth Pachucki — was unflappable in the win. With Mendola providing the senior leadership, the group did a remarkable job of digging balls out of their end, while at times, never breaking against the Millionaires’ persistent attack.
The Wolfpack also did a tremendous job of marking and limiting the opportunities of senior Nylah Ford, who scored the game-winner against Wyoming Valley West in the semifinals.
“It was nerve-racking because they were a talented team. We knew it was going to be a battle when we looked at their record and teams that were similar. We knew we had to be physical with them,” Kreidler said.
The Millionaries held a 13-8 advantage in shots, and 7-3 margin in corners.
Wilkes-Barre Area 1, Williamsport 0
WBA-Pryor, 11:59.
Shots: W 13, WBA 7. Corners: W 3, WBA 8. Saves: W 2 (Chloe Pennings), WBA 5 (Luna).
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