Lake-Lehman girls soccer rallies to win D2-2A championship

Home High School High School Soccer Lake-Lehman girls soccer rallies to win D2-2A championship Facebook Twitter Pinterest Linkedin ReddIt Email Print By Tom Robinson For Times Leader 🔊 Listen to this THROOP — The Lake-Lehman girls soccer team proved once again Saturday afternoon that it is hard to keep down. Shaking off the disappointment of a loss in a playoff for a division title, the Black Knights won three straight district playoff games, the last two by overcoming an early deficit on the road. Kinley Purdy scored the go-ahead goal, then assisted on what proved to be the game-winner as Lake-Lehman knocked off top-seeded and host Mid Valley 3-2 in the District 2 Class 2A championship game. “We’ve been down a goal the last two games and they just don’t quit,” Lake-Lehman coach Kelly Adamshick said. “They keep fighting and they’re there the whole time.” Mid Valley had outscored opponents 11-0 in the district tournament when it turned its first shot of the game into a rebound that Madison Baltusaitis blasted into the net. Gwen Mazur raced up the left side and goalie Keira Middleton got her fingertips on the shot, but had no chance when the rebound went right to a charging Baltrusaitis. Lake-Lehman needed just 1:23 to tie the game when Ella Paull’s throw-in made it all the way from the sideline to the front where Bella Blazes deposited a low short in the bottom right corner. A perfectly executed corner kick put the Black Knights ahead with 56 seconds left in the half. Betsy Digiovanni put the ball in front where Purdy went up and scored on a header for the second straight game. “We set up a play and we’ve been working on it in practice,” Purdy said. “It really opens it up for me and the ball has been coming right to my head.” Purdy ripped a 30-yard shot off the crossbar and Ava Blazes scored on the rebound for a 3-1 lead with 29:41 left. Officials conferred about whether the ball had hit the soccer or football crossbar, but Adamschick said she had no doubt. “With the sound of it, you knew that was the right goal,” Adamshick said. “I was just happy that Ava was there to finish it,” Purdy said. Mid Valley kept the pressure on from there, cutting the lead to one before the midway point in the second half, then making a series of rushes up field, but all the Lake-Lehman defense yielded with the one-goal lead were a pair of long shots. Lake-Lehman heads to the state tournament with a 14-5-2 record. The Black Knights reached the district final when they avenged two losses, including one in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 championship game, to Wyoming Area. Mid Valley finished 16-2-2. District 2 Class 2A Final Lake-Lehman 3, Mid Valley 2 Lake-Lehman`2`1 — 3 Mid Valley`1`1 — 2 First Half – 1. MV, Madison Baltrusaitis (Gwen Mazur) 24:11; 2. LL, Bella Blazes (Ella Paull) 22:48; 3. Kinley Purdy (Betsy Digiovanni) 0:56. Second Half — 4. LL, Ava Blazes (Purdy) 28:42; 5. LL, Adyson Zabriski. Shots — LL 15, MV 9. Saves — LL 4 (Keira Middleton), MV 6 (M. Graham). Corner kicks — LL 5, MV 3. Local journalism matters, and your support makes it possible. You can help sustain this work by making a donation or choosing one of our subscription options. Subscribers enjoy valuable benefits, including full access to our e-edition, a reduced ad experience on timesleader.com, and more. Your support helps ensure independent, high-quality local news remains available today and for future generations. Thank you for standing with local journalism. Click for subscription offers.