JENKINS TWP. — The Wyoming Area Warriors entered Wednesday’s first-round playoff game with a chip on their shoulders.
The Warriors lost to Crestwood in overtime in last season’s NEPA Scholastic Hockey championship, and the defeat hasn’t sat well ever since.
On Wednesday, Wyoming Area started down their path of redemption by defeating Hazleton 6-2 at the Revolution Ice Centre to advance to the semifinals. Alex Chronowski and Brendan Lee each scored twice, while goaltender Jacob Urban stopped 11 of 13 shots for the win.
“It’s a great feeling to win this since we lost in overtime in the championship last year,” Chronowski said. “We’re going to use that overtime loss to keep us motivated going for the championship this year.”
The Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals from Chronowski and Mason Hoeffner.
But Hazleton stayed in it when Jeremy Grodzicki beat Urban with a wrist shot to cut Wyoming Area’s lead to 2-1 heading into the second period.
Despite the pair of goals, Warriors head coach Bill Weiss said his team was flat-footed for most of the opening period.
“Our guys have to be moving all the time. If you let a team like Hazleton in there and let them have hope, they’re dangerous,” Weiss said.
Wyoming Area began to seize control in the second, outshooting Hazleton 8-1 and gaining a two-goal lead on a tally by Lee, who scored on a backhander in front.
Weiss said the effort in the second period showed that his players were buying into what he and assistant coaches Dave Chronowski and Don Shear told them before the game.
“We said you have to come out at them early, show them our dominance and be more aggressive when you have that lead,” Weiss said. “Our boys listened.”
Wyoming Area opened it up quickly in the third period when Chronowski sniped a shot from the corner for his second goal of the night just a minute into the final frame. A minute later, Lee added his second goal when he finished a breakaway to give Wyoming Area a 5-1 lead.
Weiss said the Warriors were using their speed better as the game went on and Hazleton started to get tired. That was critical against a Hazleton team that, despite being near the bottom of the standings in the regular season, has always played tough against Wyoming Area.
“Our hardest games this year were against Hazleton,” Weiss said. “They hit us hard every time and tonight we were helped out by some great goaltending from Jacob Urban.”
The Warriors will play the winner of Thursday’s game between Crestwood and Wyoming Seminary.
Chronowski said the Warriors need to tighten up for the semifinal contest on Friday, and he was confident they’ll be ready.
“As the game went on we played better and used our speed, and that was important,” he said. “If we can get that sloppiness out of our starts, we’ll be alright.”