KINGSTON — Wyoming Valley West is very aware of the roadblock it faces once it leaves Northeastern Pennsylvania.
That roadblock was all the more apparent in the fifth-best team out of District 1.
The Spartans fell 5-1 to Methacton Tuesday in a PIAA Class 3A first round matchup.
“Obviously when you get out of this area, it’s like a Class 3A school going against a 5A school,” Wyoming Valley West Linda Fithian said. “Credit to them: they’re a very good team. We never gave up, and we played our hearts out to the very end. That’s all you can ask.”
The Warriors scored four of their five goals off of a penalty corner system that ran like a machine. Lea DeWan assisted the first three goals of the game.
“To be honest, they are the same penalty corners we have been running all season,” Methacton coach Jill Palmer said. “We’re lucky to have a couple of really strong shooters at the top of our circle. It’s nice that we’re able to execute our insertion pass quickly. We don’t have to do anything fancy at the top of the circle.”
Trailing by three, Wyoming Valley West scored its lone goal with 2:38 remaining in the first half. Old Dominion-bound Laila Zdancewicz made three stick moves on defenders before pushing a ball past the Methacton goalkeeper. Addison Marchin poked the ball at the goal line for the score.
Methacton’s Alyssa Sargo responded 55 seconds later to give the Warriors a three-goal lead at halftime.
Facing an unknown opponent with little film or scouting report, Methacton relied on its fundamentals to prevail to face the Emmaus-Avon Grove winner.
“Other than their aerials in their game plan, we didn’t know much about them,” Palmer said. “I kind of prefer that because then we can play our game well. And that’s when we win games.”
The Marywood-bound Marchin helped the Spartans on both sides of the field. The left wing had a goal and two defensive saves.
“Offensive and defensive, she’s done that all season for us,” Fithian said. “She capitalizes on opportunities. She’s been great for us on both sides of the field.
Kayla Sewell made 10 saves for the Spartans.
PIAA Class 3A first round
Methacton 5, Wyoming Valley West 1
Methacton`1`3`1`0 — 5
Wyo. Valley West`0`1`0`0 — 1
First Quarter — 1. MET Calie Fisher (Lea DeWan), 10:05. Second Quarter — 2. MET Elena Weychert (DeWan), 13:38; 3. MET Weychert (DeWan), 11:50; 4. WVW Addison Marcin (Laila Zdancewicz), 2:38; 5. MET Alyssa Sargo, 1:43. Third Quarter — 6. MET Weychert, 9:05.
Shots — MET 26, WVW 6. Saves — MET 3 (Maddie McKenney), WVW 10 (Kayla Sewell). Corners — MET 16, WVW 2.
