SOUTH CANAAN TOWNSHIP – Jenny Molenko and Colby Thomas matched high-scoring efforts to lead Mountain View to another sweep of the District 2 Class A soccer championships during a doubleheader Thursday night at Western Wayne’s Sharkey Rosetti Stadium.
Molenko had two goals and two assists to rally the Lady Eagles past Montrose, 4-1, in the opener.
Thomas provided the same production when the Eagles topped Holy Cross, 4-2.
The sweep was the third straight for the Mountain View programs, which also went unbeaten while winning Lackawanna League division titles this season. The title was the fourth straight in the district for the Mountain View boys, who are also defending state champions.
Both teams advanced into the state tournament, which was scheduled to open Tuesday. The Lady Eagles were set to face District 3 runner-up Halifax while the Eagles met District 11 champion Schuylkill Haven.
Meghan Gilhool gave Montrose a lead 13:24 into the girls’ final with a long shot that skipped off the wet turf and over the head of goalie Jaye Winemiller.
“She responded real well,” Mountain View coach Errol Mannick said of Winemiller. “She came out real aggressive after that.”
While Winemiller settled in and made three saves, the Mountain View offense put goals together midway through each half.
“Getting behind doesn’t bother me, as long as we’re winning the ball, giving ourselves opportunities to score, I know sooner or later, we’re going to get one,” Mannick said.
Molenko and Megan Getz set up each other’s goals 23 seconds apart to put Mountain View ahead with more than 15 minutes remaining in the half.
Hannah Richner scored off a Molenko assist in the second half, then Molenko scored on a pass from Karlee Weida less than three minutes later.
“We passed tonight the best, in what I thought were the hardest conditions, of the season – a turf field, in the rain, with the ball skipping,” Mannick said. “On all four of those goals, we had great passes.
“Megan’s pass to Jenny on the first goal was in the air, but the others were all clean passes right to feet and then we finished well.”
The Mountain View boys got off to a much faster start, but had to fight off Holy Cross, one of two teams to come within a goal of the Eagles this season while they were extending their winning streak to 32 games.
Thomas assisted one goal and scored another in the first 8:15 for an early 2-0 lead.
Chris White pounded home a rebound 4:20 into the game after Thomas made a long run up the left side and slid a shot past the goalkeeper off the near post.
Thomas came out of the left corner, maneuvered around two Holy Cross defenders and launched a rocket from 18 yards out for the two-goal lead.
Niko Amity scored the first of his two goals for the Crusaders with 17:09 left in the half when his 40-yard direct kick took a hop and went in off the keeper.
Mountain View overcame a physical game, three yellow cards and three shots that bounced off the posts or crossbar to avoid the upset bid by Holy Cross.
“We needed to be pushed and they pushed us,” Mountain View coach Roger Thomas said.
Colby Thomas volleyed in a Noah Pepper corner kick to the near post with 25:47 left.
Zeb Cross scored from inside of 10 yards when Thomas drew attention from several Crusaders then sent him in alone with a short pass with 13:01 left.
Amity scored with 3:59 left.
After winning the first two rounds by a total of 22-0, the physical championship match was a much-needed challenge for the Eagles heading into state play.
“We needed what a Niko Amity and Kyle Beekman and coach Joe Dodgson and his entire squad bring,” coach Thomas said.
The Eagles finished with advantages of 18-8 in shots and 5-2 in corner kicks.
Colby Thomas scored seven goals in the semifinal when Mountain View shut out Wyoming Seminary, 9-0. Holy Cross edged Elk Lake, 2-1, in the other semifinal.
The Lady Eagles reached the final with a 7-1 romp over Forest City. Montrose advanced with a 3-1 victory over Holy Cross.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Elk Lake went after a possible second straight state championship before a late surge carried District 2 rival Holy Cross to the title in the Class A girls’ race at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Cross Country Championships at the Hershey Parkview Course.
The Lady Warriors settled for second while Montrose finished sixth as part of a huge day by District 2 teams and individuals.
District 2 won half of the available girls’ titles, with team championships by Holy Cross and Dallas (AA) and an individual championship by Tessa Barrett of Abington Heights (AAA) and five of 12 championships overall. Tunkhannock won the team championship and Dominic DeLuca from Dallas won the individual title in Class AA boys.
Elk Lake freshman Justine Johns and sophomore Katie Bennett won individual medals among the 17 total claimed by District 2.
Johns finished the 3.1-mile course in 20:18 to finish ninth among the 129 girls who were part of the team scoring and 20th out of the 206 total entries in the race.
Bennett was 11th among those in team scoring and 24th overall.
The top 25 in each race earned medals.
Two more freshmen were a big part of Elk Lake’s team score. Lexus Hememway was 16th among team entrants and 38th overall while Julie Vanetten was 21st and 46th.
Elizabeth Trowbridge (77th), Kenzie Jones (83rd) and Adrianna Perrett (205th) completed the Elk Lake lineup.
The Lady Warriors were ahead after one and two miles, but Holy Cross rallied to win the title, 64-99.
Montrose was sixth out of 19 teams with 197 points.
The Lady Meteors were an addition to the team competition after getting five individuals – enough for a team score – through District 2 qualifying.
Allison Lewis (52nd), Samantha Bennici (57th), Emma Washo (66th) and Angela Russell (92nd) all finished in the top half of the field while freshman Paige Dolaway finished 127th.
Susquehanna’s Ivy Christensen finished 117th.
Elk Lake finished 13th out of 19 teams in Class A boys.
Eddie Cumens led the Warriors, placing 61st in the 224-runner field.
The rest of the Elk Lake lineup was: Hunter Bedell (72nd), Dalton Sherman (91st), Dan Bell (121st), Seth Owen (150th), Ty Moon (185th) and Brandon Roman (188th).
Susquehanna’s Brandon Soden finished 102nd and Forest City’s Tyler Debrino was 146th.
COVINGTON TOWNSHIP – Susquehanna made it back to the District 2 Class A girls’ volleyball championship match for the second straight year.
The Lady Sabers took the lead in each set Wednesday before eventually falling to Lackawanna League champion and top-seed Dunmore in a rematch of last year’s final.
Junior Jillian Korgeski had 16 kills, including the 500th of her career, to lead the Lady Bucks to the 25-8, 25-14, 25-18 victory.
“This is the third straight year we’ve been in the playoffs and two years straight that we’ve made it to the district finals,” Susquehanna coach Jeff Baldwin said. “I can’t complain. The program’s improving and the girls work hard all year.
“One of these times, I want to win it, but I know there are a lot of teams that are staying home at this time of the year.”
Susquehanna made the final with a 25-20, 25-20, 25-18 sweep of Blue Ridge, a team it had split with during the regular season.
Ana Smith had 10 kills and two blocks in the win. Sarah Serfilippi added seven kills, four blocks and eight service points. Nicole Barnes had three kills, 13 assists and 13 service points. Felicia Hines had two kills and 11 service points.
After Susquehanna scored the first two points of the final, Dunmore took control by scoring 11 of the next 12 on the way to the 25-8 win in the first set.
The Lady Sabers had five more two-point leads in the second set.
Korgeski, who missed the second regular-season meeting between the teams with a foot injury, had five kills during a 13-3 run to a 19-11 Dunmore lead, then served the final five points of the set, including two aces.
“They’re hard to beat,” Baldwin said. “We can’t get by them. Jill’s tough to stop.”
Susquehanna took one more shot with Hines serving for a 4-0 lead to start the third set. Amber Dubanowitz served six straight points for a 14-9 lead, before Dunmore began working its way.
The Lady Sabers still led, 16-12 and 17-15, before the Lady Bucks scored 10 of the last 11 points in the match to clinch the title.
Isabelle Cooper had 18 assists for Dunmore.
Serfilippi had six blocks to lead Susquehanna. Barnes added three kills and three assists.
OLD FORGE – Old Forge used a 40-point second quarter to complete its run through the Lackawanna Football Conference Division 3 schedule with a 55-12 rout of Susquehanna Friday night.
The Blue Devils have won three straight division titles, taking 15 straight divisional games since losing at Susquehanna in the 2010 regular-season finale that decided that season’s title. Old Forge defeated all five division opponents in Mercy Rule games this season to extend its winning streak to six games and improve to 9-1 overall.
While the injury-riddled Sabers were getting overpowered by the Blue Devils, who scored seven touchdowns in less than 13 minutes, they did receive some good news. A series of favorable results in other games allowed Susquehanna to hold on to fourth place in the playoff points standings and land a District 2 Class AA playoff berth in Kyle Cook’s first season as head coach.
Susquehanna battled well briefly on defense to open the game.
The Sabers allowed just four yards on the first five Old Forge plays and forced the Blue Devils into only their 13th punt of the season on their opening possession.
Old Forge’s defense and special teams, however, pinned the Sabers early.
“We came out strong our first two defensive series, but our offense was hurting a bit,” Cook said.
Shane Schuback’s punt to the 2 led to a Susquehanna fumble on the next play. Nick Lloyd recovered for the Sabers in the end zone to avoid a potential defensive touchdown, but Old Forge took the lead with the safety.
Following the safety, Old Forge turned a fourth-and-two situation into a 45-yard Brandon Yescavage touchdown for an 8-0 lead with 6:42 left in the first quarter.
The Sabers stopped another Blue Devils possession on downs and were still within, 8-0, in the first minute of the second quarter when Old Forge began its barrage of touchdowns.
The lead reached 55-0 on the second play of the second half when Jorden Sekol ran 76 yards for a touchdown.
Yescavage ran for three more touchdowns in the second quarter and Jake Manetti hit Shane Schuback with two touchdown passes in the final minute of the half.
Old Forge’s defense repeatedly pushed Susquehanna back. The Sabers gained more than two yards on just one of 22 plays through three quarters. At that point, they had minus-28 yards rushing, minus-18 total offense and their only first down came by penalty.
Quarterback Austin White then rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to finish with 123 yards on 15 carries. White ran 55 yards to set up his 17-yard touchdown with 8:16 left. He then ran 43 yards to set up his 6-yard score with 3:13 remaining.
“We had a lot of movement to try to confuse White,” said Old Forge coach Mike Schuback, who at times went without a down lineman in a series of zone blitzes meant to disguise the Blue Devils alignment. “He wins games for them with his decision-making.”
The Susquehanna defense actually limited Old Forge to 6.4 yards per play, well below its 9.3-yard season average, but the Blue Devils had second-quarter possessions that started at the Sabers 12, 27, 3 and 33, resulting in scores.
Sophomore Zach Conrad stepped in at linebacker and led the team with eight tackles and six assists.
Lyle Lawson had seven tackles and five assists while Craig Monks made six tackles and four assists and broke up a pass.
Montrose ended its season at 1-9 overall when it lost, 46-0, at Northwest.
Logan Womelsdorf threw three touchdown passes to Nick Long and Austin Mazonkey ran for 160 yards for Northwest.
The Meteors were shut out for the seventh time this season.
Trevor Tompkins led Montrose with 66 yards on 15 carries.
The final LFC Division 3 standings with division and overall records were: Old Forge 5-0, 9-1; Carbondale 4-1, 9-1; Susquehanna 3-2, 5-5; Lackawanna Trail 2-3, 6-4; Montrose 1-4, 1-9; Holy Cross 0-5, 0-10.
Susquehanna made the playoffs by finishing fourth among 11 District 2 Class AA teams in playoff points.
Montrose was last among 15 District 2 Class AAA teams.
The playoff point standings, with records and playoff rating points, in AAA: Berwick, 10-0, 1520; Scranton Prep, 10-0, 1440; Abington Heights, 9-1, 1270; Crestwood, 9-1, 1230; Coughlin, 7-3, 950; Honesdale, 5-5, 580; Wallenpaupack, 4-6, 530; West Scranton, 4-6, 420; Pittston Area, 3-7, 330; Western Wayne, 3-7, 310; Valley View, 2-8, 290; North Pocono, 2-8, 190; Dallas, 1-9, 110; Tunkhannock, 1-9, 110; Montrose, 1-9, 60.
The playoff point standings in AA: Lake-Lehman, 9-1, 1340; Carbondale, 9-1, 1180; Lakeland, 6-4, 800; Susquehanna, 5-5, 660; Nanticoke, 5-5, 650; Mid Valley, 5-5, 590; Hanover Area, 4-6, 570; Wyoming Area, 3-7, 390; GAR, 3-7, 380; Meyers, 3-7, 350; Holy Redeemer, 2-7, 220.
COLLEGE CORNER
Robert Volk, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound Montrose graduate, is a senior reserve tight end at Sacred Heart University.
Volk, who played quarterback for the Meteors, last appeared in a game Sept. 21 during a 78-35 rout of Chowan. He made the conversion to tight end after beginning his college career as a back-up quarterback.
Sacred Heart, a Football Championship Series (FCS, formerly Division I-AA) school in Connecticut, is 7-2.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Once Susquehanna got behind big at Old Forge in the second quarter, its hopes of going to the District 2 Class AA football playoffs rested on results elsewhere.
There were times during the night when it looked as if the Sabers’ best chance was a spot in the consolation Eastern Conference playoffs, which do not advance teams toward the state tournament.
That changed when Honesdale rallied from 18 points down to defeat Mid Valley, 28-18, and Nanticoke scored with 11 seconds left to defeat Hanover Area, 29-26. Those games, combined with Pittston Area getting just its third win of the season against Wyoming Area, clinched for Susquehanna.
Mid Valley or Hanover Area would have beaten out the Sabers with a win. The Pittston Area victory gave the Sabers a cushion over Nanticoke that would up not being necessary when another game went against the Trojans Saturday.
Susquehanna (5-5) will open the playoffs at top-seeded Lake-Lehman (9-1) Friday night.
Our high school football predictions will continue until the playoffs are over for all Lackawanna Football Conference teams.
Scranton is in the District 1-4-11 Class AAAA Subregional; Scranton Prep and Abington Heights are in the District 2 Class AAA playoffs; Dunmore, Old Forge and Lackawanna Trail are in the District 2 Class A playoffs; and Delaware Valley is in the Eastern Conference Class AAAA playoffs.
Last week’s picks were 9-2 (81.8 percent) to complete the regular season with a 97-25 record (79.5).
This week’s predictions, with home teams in CAPS: LAKE-LEHMAN 37, Susquehanna 6 … CARBONDALE 28, Lakeland 21 … DUNMORE 42, Lackawanna Trail 14 … OLD FORGE 43, Northwest 12 … SCRANTON PREP 28, Abington Heights 14 … Scranton 29, EAST STROUDSBURG SOUTH 28 … EMMAUS 34, Delaware Valley 19.
In high school soccer, the PIAA quarterfinals are scheduled for Saturday. If either Mountain View team won its Tuesday state opener, it would play Saturday.
The semifinals are scheduled for Tuesday, November 12.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
