KINGSTON — In a fierce battle for first place, Makayla Adams went into the circle looking for an open teammate.

Instead, she found enough of an opening to score.

And because she did, Lake-Lehman scored its biggest victory of the young Wyoming Valley Conference field hockey season.

Adams scored twice in the first half Friday and Alicia Galasso pitched a shutout, lifting Lehman to a 2-0 victory over Wyoming Seminary and into first place in the WVC Division 1 in a battle of unbeaten teams at Sem’s Klassner Field.

Related Video

“It’s a good feeling,” Adams said. “I think it gives us a lot of hope for the state playoffs and districts.

“Hopefully we can win it all.”

The 5-0 Black Knights started their mission by winning their first big test of the year to become the last remaining unbeaten and untied team in Division 1. The victory elevated Lehman into first place while knocking 5-1 Sem out and into a third- place tie with Lackawanna Trail, a half-game behind 4-0-1 Crestwood.

”It got away from us in the first half,” Wyoming Seminary coach Karen Klassner said, “when they had two shots on goal and scored on both of them.”

In a battle of two of the WVC’s most gifted goaltenders, Adams found a way to break through.

Nearly 20 minutes into the game, the junior midfielder stopped her drive and rifled a blast into the back of the cage from the left side, giving the Black Knights a 1-0 lead.

“I looked for the pass. It wasn’t open,” said Adams, already committed to play field hockey Quinnipiac University. “I had a full hit going in. I just took it. I just pushed it in through the goalie’s legs.”

Then she drove a dagger into Sem, taking a pass from Taylor Alba and scoring off a penalty corner on the last play of the first half to give the Black Knights a comfortable two-goal lead.

“She was in the right spot, where she was supposed to be,” Lake-Lehman coach Jean Lipski said. “She just did what we’re asking them all to do. I think you saw a great team effort today.

“Every girl on the field did something outstanding.”

Galasso stood out, though, by standing on her head.

She turned away all 19 Seminary shots, at one point making three consecutive stops on point-blank shots during a series where the Black Knights turned away three Sem penalty opportunities in a span of three minutes of the second half.

“Their goal keeper played an amazing game,” Klassner said. “We also had some open cages. We really had opportunities to score. If the game was 0-0 at halftime, I felt that would have been to our advantage. Lehman’s stopping skills are pretty amazing. It was a well-played game. Both teams played very well.”

The Black Knights put a new wrinkle into play.

They switched to a diamond defense at times — using a center, a forward, a left midfielder and a corner defender — to not only confuse the Blue Knights, but consistently thwart attempted drives downfield throughout the second half.

“We’re playing a hybrid formation,” Lipski said. “If one girl misses it, there’s always one girl to pick up. Seminary’s a very good team. They have playmakers on their team. Alicia had to step up and play her game today. And she did. It was her goal all day, not to let them score.

“She played very well.”

Holy Redeemer 8, GAR 0

Leah Mullery paced Holy Redeemer with two goals and two assists as the Royals shut out GAR and moved to 5-0 atop the WVC Division 2.

McKenna Dolan also had a pair of goals for the Royals, who outshot GAR 35-1.

Wyoming Valley West 6, Honesdale 0

Foto Tsioles and Mercedes Jasterzenski both scored two goals to spark the Spartans.

Emily Latoski added two assists in the win, and goalies Nikki Hartzel and Sydney Rusnock combined on four stops to record the shutout for Valley West.

Wyoming Area 5, Pittston Area 1

Lauren Parente and Grace Angelella both scored two goals, leading the Warriors past their cross-river rivals.

Emilie Wanko added a goal and a two assists as Wyoming Area took a 3-0 halftime lead. Shelby Gardner made 10 stops in goal for the Patriots.

Berwick 3, Nanticoke Area 2 (OT)

Nadia Lombardi scored off an assist from Sammi Starr with four minutes remaining in overtime to lift the Bulldogs to victory in a game wheer all the scoring came after halftime.

Starr gave Berwick a 2-1 lead by scoring her second goal of the half with 12:52 to play, but Nanticoke Area’s Katie King tied it with her second goal of the game just 1:13 later, forcing the extra period.

Coughlin 3, Hazleton Area 0

Makayla Slavish scored the game’s first goal 4:32 into the second half, then Katie Anderson assisted on two more goals to fuel victory for the Crusaders in a rematch of last season’s District 2 Class 3A title game.

Brianna Lee made four saves to record the shutout for Coughlin. Margaret Fulton made nine stops in the cage for the Cougars.

Crestwood 6, Delaware Valley 0

Madi Granoski registered a four-goal game and Katie Karpinski added two assists as the Comets remained unbeaten at 4-0-1 and took sole possession of second place in the WVC Division 1.

Crestwood limited the Warriors to one shot, and goalie Marlee Dillon saved it to preserve the shutout.

Wallenpaupack 7, Tunkhannock 0

Alissa Alexander had a hat trick and Maddie Schmalzle and Margo DePatie each scored twice to lift Wallenpaupack.

Wallenpaupack’s defense held the Tigers without a shot on goal.

Lake-Lehman 2, Wyoming Seminary 0

Lake-Lehman`2`0`—`2

Wyoming Seminary`0`0`—`0

First half — 1. LL, Makayla Adams, 10:01; 2. LL, Adams (Taylor Alba), 0:00.

Shots — LL 9; SEM 11. Saves — LL 11 (Alicia Galasso); SEM 7 (Alexis Sokach). Penalty corners — LL 4; SEM 10.

Holy Redeemer 8, GAR 0

GAR`0`0`—`0

Holy Redeemer`x`x`—`8

First half — 1. HR, Jesse Ornoski (Leah Mullery), 27:23; 2. HR, Abby Shorts, 21:21; 3. Mullery (Caton Fahey), 19:30; 4. HR, McKenna Dolan, 14:06; 5. HR, Kayla Serafin (Shorts), 2:21. Second half — 6. HR, Mullery, 20:35; 7. HR, Dolan (Mullery), 17:53; 8. HR, Fahey (Becky Revitt), 3:08.

Shots — GAR 1; HR 35. Saves — GAR 27; HR 0. Penalty corners — GAR 0, HR 13.

Wyoming Valley West 6, Honesdale 0

Honesdale`0`0`—`0

Wyoming Valley West`4`2`—`6

First half — 1. WVW, Foto Tsioles (Emily Latoski), 29:29; 2. WVW, Natalie Zasada (Madison Woods), 24:07; 3. WVW, F. Tsioles (Latoski), 14:35; 4. WVW, Mercedes Jasterzenski (Callie Edwards), 0:16. Second half — 5. WVW, Rina Tsioles (Payton Boler), 24:18; 6. WVW, Jasterzenski, 17:58.

Shots — HON 4; WVW 17. Saves — HON 11 (Brianna Potter); WVW 4 (Nikki Hartzel 3, Sydney Rusnock 1). Penalty corners — HON 1; WVW 8.

Wyoming Area 5, Pittston Area 1

Pittston Area`0`1`—`1

Wyoming Area`3`2`—`1

First half — 1. WA, Lauren Parente (Emilie Wanko), 11:10; 2. WA, Parente (Wanko), 9;43; 3. Wanko (Grace Angelella), 7:40. Second half — 4. WA, Angelella (Kari Melberger), 19:22; 5. WA, Angelella (Madison Mulhern), 10:41; 6. PA, Bailey Jordan, 4:05.

Scorer (assist), time.

Shots — PA 6; WA 15. Saves — PA 10 (Shelby Gardner); WA 5 (Katie Wolfgang). Penalty corners — PA 0; WA 10.

Berwick 3, Nanticoke Area 2 (OT)

Nanticoke Area`0`2`0`—`2

Berwick`0`2`1`—`3

Second half — 1. BER, Hailey Stein (Macrina Demko), 28:00; 2. NAN, Katie King (Veronica Penko), 20:16; 3. BER, Sammi Starr (Maddy Isenberg), 12:52; 4. NAN, King, 11:39. Overtime — 5. BER, Nadia Lombardi (Starr), 4:00.

Shots — NAN 14; BER 25. Saves — NAN 20 (Jill Maute); BER 12 (Becca Decker). Penalty corners — NAN 5; BER 13.

Coughlin 3, Hazleton Area 0

Hazleton Area`0`0`—`0

Coughlin`0`3`—`3

Second half — 1. COU, Makayla Slavish (Ally Tedik), 25:28; 2. COU, Lexi Kowalski (Katie Anderson), 11:41; 3. COU, Hannah Rushkowski (K. Anderson), 9:03.

Shots — HAZ 4; COU 12. Saves — HAZ 9 (Margaret Fulton); COU 4 (Brianna Lee). Penalty corners — HAZ 4; COU 8.

Crestwood 6, Delaware Valley 0

Delaware Valley`0`0`—`0

Crestwood`2`4`—`6

First half — 1. CRE, Madi Granoski (Katie Karpinski), 19:35; 2. CRE, Arden Morgans (Lauren Shiplett), 4:00. Second half — 3. CRE, Granoski (Morghan Murphy), 27:50; 4. CRE, Granoski (Karpinski), 26:03; 5. CRE, Emma Janosczyk (Jordan Olenginski), 23:43; 6. CRE, Granoski (Sarah Richards), 21:20.

Shots — DV 1; CRE 24. Saves — DV 17 (Meghan Kelly); CRE 1 (Marlee Dillon 1, Eryn Venesky 0). Penalty corners — DV 0; CRE 12.

Wallenpaupack 7, Tunkhannock 0

Tunkhannock`0`0`—`0

Wallenpaupack`5`2`—`7

First half — 1. WAL, Alissa Alexander (Maddie Schmalzle), 20:55; 2. WAL, Alexander (Margo DePatie), 15:42; 3. WAL, DePatie, 12:03; 4. WAL, Schmalzle (Alexander), 2:17; 5. WAL, Schmalzle, 1:37. Second half — 6. WAL, DePatie (Alyssa Watson). 9:46; 7. WAL, Alexander, 6:53.

Shots — TUN 0; WAL 19. Saves — TUN 6 (Mikayla Quick); WAL 0 (Katie Irving). Penalty corners — TUN 0; WAL 7.

Wyoming Seminary forward Aubrey Mytych (23) shoots the ball as Lake-Lehman goalie Alicia Glasso blocks the ball. Galasso made 11 saves as Lehman took a 2-0 victory and moved into first place in the WVC Division 1 at 5-0.
http://www.psdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_TTL092416fieldhockey1.jpg.optimal.jpgWyoming Seminary forward Aubrey Mytych (23) shoots the ball as Lake-Lehman goalie Alicia Glasso blocks the ball. Galasso made 11 saves as Lehman took a 2-0 victory and moved into first place in the WVC Division 1 at 5-0. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Wyoming Seminary forward Kelsey Reznick (22) controls the ball against Lake-Lehman in a battle of unbeatens Friday at Klassner Field in Kingston.
http://www.psdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_TTL092416fieldhockey2.jpg.optimal.jpgWyoming Seminary forward Kelsey Reznick (22) controls the ball against Lake-Lehman in a battle of unbeatens Friday at Klassner Field in Kingston. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Wyoming Seminary’s Camryn Litjens battles with Lake-Lehman’s Taylor Alba. Lehman scored twice in the first half en route to a 2-0 win.
http://www.psdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_TTL092416fieldhockey3.jpg.optimal.jpgWyoming Seminary’s Camryn Litjens battles with Lake-Lehman’s Taylor Alba. Lehman scored twice in the first half en route to a 2-0 win. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader
Galasso’s goaltending leads Lehman into first place

By Paul Sokoloski

psokoloski@timesleader.com