C M Y K

SPORTS S E C T I O N C

THE TIMES LEADER SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2012timesleader.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Of course it wasraining.

Clouds have hung over Penn State formonths. That the skies opened up before theirfinal drive was fitting.

Sam Ficken had already missed three fieldgoals. Had an extra point blocked. And nowthere was rain. And fans screaming at him asloud as they could still manage, chanting hisuniform number -- “Nine-ty-Sev-en!” -- in theirbest sing-song tone.

The noise intensified. The snap was low. Thekick hooked wide left.

Penn State fell to 0-2.Not a fourth quarter rally nor four forced

turnovers was enough to get Bill O’Brien hisfirst win. Virginia slipped and stumbled around

the field for four quarters but scored in the final90 seconds for a 17-16 win.

Matt McGloin, returning from a mid-game el-bow injury, led the Lions down the field in thetwo-minute offense to give his team a shot towin with one second left on the clock, but a fifthmiss on a kicking play on the afternoon -- thisone from 42 yards out -- sunk the team.

“It’s never always about the kicker,” O’Briensaid. “The kicker is always the one to getblamed, but it’s the whole operation -- the snap,the hold, the kick. We have to take a look at that.There’s no substitute for hard work.

“We’ll have to go back as a staff and talk aboutit, but Sam is our kicker.”

With Anthony Fera having transferred to Tex-as following the NCAA sanctions on the pro-

PENN STATE FOOTBAL L

Ficken’s nightmareFour missed FGs, blocked extra point doom Lions

AP PHOTOS

Penn State linebacker Gerald Hodges (6) reacts to a missed Penn State field goal in the final seconds of a 17-16 loss to Virginia on Saturday in Char-

lottesville, Va.

Sam Ficken walks off the field after

missing a field goal in the final

seconds of the team’s 17-16 loss to

Virginia.

17VIRGINIA

16PENN STATE

PSU’s chance to win sails wideBy DEREK LEVARSE

dlevarse@timesleader.com

See PSU, Page 6C

SELINSGROVE – The Crestwoodteam gathered together again, well aftertheir final game at the Selinsgrove Tour-nament, for a commemorative photo.

They had balloons spelling out “600”in gold. They had a poster. They all hadsmiles. Then the voice of one of theComets rang out above the commotion:

“What about Mrs.G?”

Coach Elvetta Gem-ski walked over to thegathering and took herplace with her team.With a 7-0 victory overMifflin County on Sat-urday, she became thethird high school fieldhockey coach in statehistory – and the sixthin the nation – to record600 wins in a career.

“This is a wonderfulopportunity to stop andreflect on all the sup-port and all the won-derful people who havebeen a major part of mylife.” Gemski said. “Ilove coming back eachyear (which she’s doneeach year since 1976)and putting a team to-gether. I respect whatthese players do and allthe work they put in.And we have some funalong the way.”

Despite the rain,heavy at times … in-cluding during the on-field celebration afterthe milestone, Gemskiclutched a bouquet offlowers given to her by her team. Tenminutes after the game, then 20, she stillheld the gift.

The milestone meant a lot to her. Thegift from her team seemed to mean evenmore.

• FAMILY FIRST:When you look at aCrestwood roster, there’s always a few

H . S . F I E L D H O C K E Y

Comets’GemskireachesNo. 600Long-time Crestwood coach records

milestone victory with a pair of wins

at the Selinsgrove Tournament.

By JOHNMEDEIROS

jmedeiros@timesleader.com

See GEMSKI, Page 9C

“This is awonderfulopportuni-ty to stopand reflecton all thesupportand all thewonderfulpeoplewho havebeen amajor partof mylife.”Elvetta Gemski

Crestwood

coach

WILKES-BARRE TWP. –From the beginning of Saturday’sgame, it was evident that King’swasn’t going to get pushedaround by Widener like it was lasttime.

The Monarchs came out anddominated the Pride for the first15minutesof theMACopener forboth teams and had the 25th-ranked team in the country, ac-cording to d3football.com, trail-ing by six points.

But then Widener showed why

it is ranked andthat the youngMonarchs havea little further togo. The pridescored 41 unan-swered pointsand took advan-

tage of some key Monarchs’ mis-cues in a 41-6 win at McCarthyStadium.

“Our kids played really welland they were executing earlyon,” King’s coach Jeff Knarr said.

LOCAL CO L L EGE FOOTAL L

CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

King’s wide receiver Dan Kempa pulls in a pass for a first down

against Widener early in the game Saturday at McCarthy Stadi-

um.

Just too much Pridefor Monarchs to handle

See MONARCHS, Page 6C

By DAVE ROSENGRANT

drosengrant@timesleader.com 41WIDENER

6KING’S

Two muchbigger defend-ers were wait-ing for TylerHartranft atthe end of his17-yard quar-terback scram-

ble, but he put his head downand took the punishing hit.

Because he believed it wouldhelp King’s College win thegame.

Kris Matthews spent a wholeafternoon in the secondarychasing hard after supremelytalented and more athletic

athletes.Because he also had faith it

would pay off in victory.Those types of efforts didn’t

help the lowly King’s Collegefootball team upset a powerfulWidener team ranked No. 25 inthe nation by d3football.com.

But someday soon, suchconviction will result in suc-

Believing is the first stepfor optimistic Monarchs

PAUL SOKOLOSKIO P I N I O N

See BELIEVE, Page 6C

User: jsoprano Time: 09-08-2012 23:01 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 09-09-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: sports_f PageNo: 1 C Color: CMYK

C M Y K

THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2012 PAGE 9C➛ S P O R T S

“Once I tackled the hill, I neverlooked back, so I wasn’t surewhether anyone was coming upon me or not,” Shoemaker said.“But, IwasOKandheldon for thewin.”Solomon, 32, ofMountainTop,

won the female division in 20:36.She outraced second-place finish-er, Abbie Kearns, 21, of Scrantonand a student at the University ofScranton, by 54 seconds.“Itwentwell,” saidSolomon. “I

broke my arm about five weeksago and just recently hadmy castremoved. So my training, of late,has been kind of iffy. But I wasOK. It was pretty congested overthe first mile. I took control afterthe firstmile – I broke away.Afterthat, I just started picking offguys who were running ahead ofme en route to the finish.”John Major, 49, of Scranton,

won the First Male Cancer Survi-vor to Finish the Run award,clocking in at 26:26. And KarenGannon, 44, of Honesdale, wonthe First Female Cancer Survivorto Finish the Run award with a26:35-time.

SCRANTON–JakeShoemakerand Nadalie Solomon led a fieldof about 550 runners, capturingoverallmale and femalehonors inthe Race for the Cure 5K Run onSaturday at Courthouse Squarein downtown Scranton.Shoemaker, 27, of Philadel-

phia, broke the tape in 17 min-utes, 22 seconds. He outran sec-ond-place finisher, Mark Arzie,16, of Scott Township, by 40 sec-onds.“Everyone started fast,” said

Shoemaker, who ran track andcross country in high school, butnot at the college level. “I justtried to keep an even pace. I tookcontrol at around mile 1. That’swhen I pulled in front. After that,I just tried to settle into a goodrhythm. I just tried to keep aneven pace and save energy for thehill at Cooper’s (bar and restau-rant).”The Philadelphian was given a

heads up about the hill at Coop-er’s by his sister-in-law, Jen Kin-cel, who lives in Olyphant.

Jim Boettger, 62, of Duryea re-ceived the overall male award inthe 5K walk, finishing in 37:05.Marisa Naughton, 45, of Scran-ton,won top female honors in thewalk, clocking in at 39:11. Aman-da Jarrow, 25, of Jessup, was thefirst female cancer survivor to fin-ish, clocking in at 38:56.This year’s race, according to

Dolly Woody, executive directorof the Susan G. Komen Founda-tion for Northeastern Pennsylva-nia, drew around 6,500 (about550 runners and the restwalkers)participants and raised around$200,000, between sponsors andparticipants.“Last year, between the race

and other events, wewere able tofund around $270,000 for educa-tion, screening and treatmentgrants to non-profit organiza-tions throughout 16 counties inNortheastern Pennsylvania,”said Woody. “And it looks likewe’re going to reach our goal of$275,000 for this year’s race.”Woody said, “It’s all about the

hope – coming together. The en-ergy and spirit of the day is out-

standing. This race is the largest5K cause-related event in north-eastern Pennsylvania. And we’reclose to our goal.”Seventy-five percent of the

money from the event stays innortheastern Pennsylvania. Theother 25 percent go for breastcancer research.

Scranton Race for the Cure results5K RunOverall Male Winner: Jake Shoemaker, 27,

Philadelphia, 17:22Overall Female Winner: Nadalie Solomon, 32,

Mountain Top, 20:36First Male Cancer Survivor to Finish: John

Major, 49, Scranton, 26:26FirstFemaleCancerSurvivor toFinish:Karen

Gannon, 47, Honesdale, 26:355K WalkOverallMaleWinner: Jim Boettger, 62, Duryea,

37:05Overall Female Winner: Marisa Naughton, 45,

Scranton, 39:11First Male Cancer Survivor to Finish: NoneFirst Female Cancer Survivor to Finish:

Amanda Jarrow, 25, Jessup, 38:56Field:550 (run), 5,950 (walk). Starter and timing:

Insta Results. Results: Steve Hill. Race director: Mi-chele Tierney. Susan G. Komen Foundation Exec-utive Director for Northeastern Pennsylvania: DollyWoody.

ScheduleSunday, Sept. 16: Scranton Lupus Loop 5K

Run/Walk at Nay Aug Park at 11 a.m. Info: 1 (888)99-LUPUS or Lupus Foundation Pocono/NortheastBranch, 558-2008 or www.lupuspa.org

Saturday, Sept. 22: Wyoming Valley StridersEnd of Summer 10K Run (final leg of Striders TripleCrown) at Kirby Park at 9 a.m. Info: Vince Wojnar,474-5363.

Sunday,Oct. 7:Steamtown Marathon, starting atForest City Regional High School at 8 a.m. and fin-ishing at Courthouse Square, downtown Scranton.Info: 345-3481.

Sunday, Oct. 14: Jewish Community Center ofWyoming Valley’s Benjamin August Memorial 3 MileRun/Walk at the JCC, S. River Street, Wilkes-Barreat 9 a.m. Info: Bill Buzza, 824-4646.

R U N N I N G

JASON RIEDMILLER / FOR THE TIMES LEADER

Women’s winner Nadalie Solomon of Mountain Top reached the

finish line in 20:36 on Saturday.

JASON RIEDMILLER / FOR THE TIMES LEADER

Jake Shoemaker of Philadelphia was the overall winner, breaking

the tape in 17:22 on Saturday.

Cure event won by PhiladelphianBy ROBERTMINER

For The Times Leader

Thanks tohigh schoolfootball keep-ing me extrabusy at workand the spottyweather we’vehad the last

few weeks, I’ve hardly had achance to get on my bike atall.But the good people at the

Wilkes-Barre YMCA and Lu-zerne County Bikes and Walksmay just have the answer forme.The two are combining for

‘Y Cycle Sundays,’ a series offour morning rides to areas ofinterest in the Wyoming Valleyand Hazleton.“We do Y Walk Wednesdays

to increase people’s physicalactivity and so people have funand get used to walkingaround downtown,” said Mi-chelle Schasberger, of theWilkes-Barre YMCA and Lu-zerne County Bikes and Walks.The bike rides seemed like a

logical extension of the walks,according to Schasberger.Today’s ride will leave the

parking lot across from theYMCA on Northampton Streetin Wilkes-Barre at 9:30 a.m. Itwill take River Street and thelevee system to Barney Farmsand the Wyoming Valley Sani-tary Authority in HanoverTownship.Once at the WVSA, an offi-

cial will give a brief talk aboutthe Authority and what it doesfor the Wyoming Valley.(Here’s a hint: it’s a dirty

job, but somebody has to doit.)The total trip should be

about four miles. A good dis-tance for someone just startingout.“It’s (a good distance) for a

beginner interested riding in agroup,” Schasberger said.“There really aren’t that manygroup rides for beginners.“Most of them start at 25

miles and that can be a littledaunting.”Schasberger added that the

rides are great opportuntiesfor families to get out together.OK, I’m certainly not a be-

ginner, but I did say I haven’tridden that much lately.The rides will continue

through September, endingwith a ride in the Hazletonarea on Oct. 3.

Survey underway

In addition to planningrides, Luzerne County Bikesand Walks is also busy track-ing pedestrians and cyclists indowntown Wilkes-Barre.With the help of students

from King’s College andWilkes University, the groupwas counting the number ofwalkers and riders at severalpoints downtown today. Theprocess will continue through-out the week.They take their counts in

the morning, at lunch time

and early evening.They then use the numbers

to look for changes in patternsof use in the area and to com-pare our area to other parts ofthe country.According to Schasberger,

the aim of the project is to seehow people are using thedowntown area.One thing they learned, we

have a busy downtown.“A lot of people say Down-

town Wilkes-Barre is dead,”Schasberger said. “Our down-town is very far from beingdead.”This is the third year the

group has down the count.Numbers from pervious yearsare available on the groupswebsite.If you are interested in help-

ing, contact Schasberger at714-1953.

Race results

• Richard Meeker’s string ofvictories finally came to anend.The former Plymouth resi-

dent’s streak of 14 victoriesended at the USA Cycling’sMasters Road Nationals inBend, Ore.No shame for Meeker here,

though. He finished second inthe 50-59 road race Thursdaynight.• David Novak’s fall season

at Lindsey Wilson College hasbegun.Novak, a sophomore from

Tunkhannock, was on hismountain bike at the RedHawks Romp in Wild Rose,Wisc., earlier this month. Hefinished 10th in the short trackcross country race and 13th inthe cross country event.• Luke Lukas, of Courtdale,

competed in the Green Moun-tain Stage Race in Vermontrecently.Lukas’ best finish in the

four-day event was 56th in thejunior division criterium.

Great opportunityin planned rides

JOE SOPRANOC Y C L I N G S C E N E

Y Ride SundaysSchedule

• Today, River Street andLevee Trail to Wyoming ValleySanitary Authority andBarney Farms• Sept. 16, Levee Trail toKmart in Edwardsville• Sept. 23, Levee Trail toForty Fort Airport• Oct. 3, Hazleton YMCA toGreater Hazleton Rail TrailAll rides start at 9:30 a.m.For more information, go tothe Luzerne County Bike andWalks website athttp://www.golcbw.org.

Joe Soprano writes about cycling

for The Times Leader. His Cycling

Scene column appears every other

Sunday. Reach him at jsopra-

no@timesleader.com or 570-829-

7164.

MADRID — Alberto Conta-dor kept the overall leader’s redjersey and is closing in on hissecond Spanish Vuelta title af-ter Denis Menchov won Satur-day’s punishing 20th stage.Alejandro Valverde and Joa-

quin Rodriguez, Contador’sclosest pursuers in the generalclassification, finished ahead ofthe Spanish leader but the dif-ference wasn’t enough to closethe gap.Contador finished 4 minutes,

15 seconds behind Menchov torun his overall time to 82:14:52,which was 1:16 quicker thanValverde and 1:37 ahead of Ro-driguez before Sunday’s laststage, a largely processional 71-mile ride into Madrid.Contador is on the verge of a

fifth major victory to go with a

pair of Tour de France titlesand the 2008 Giro d’Italia,which he won before his firstVuelta victory later that sameyear.“Yes, now the Vuelta is prac-

tically won,” the Madrid nativesaid. “It has been very difficultand we’ve had to hold our headhigh and our legs strong.”On the bending climb to the

weather station atop the Boladel Mundo, Contador was justin front of Valverde and Rodri-guez as the peloton eased fromsmooth pavement to an unevensurface as throngs of fanschoked the road.Rodriguez made a late dash

as the riders dug in and the pe-loton slowed to a crawl attimes while navigating the 23percent angled climb to the fin-ish.

C YC L I N G : S PA N I S H V U E LTA

Menchov wins 20th leg;Contador set for victoryThe Associated Press

last names that are familiar.An older sister used to be a

Comet perhaps. Or, after 37 sea-sons, a mom used to play forGemski.“It’s very special … strong

words … extremely special,”Gemski said. “It makes you feelwonderful to be around that kindof energy and excitement (fromthe players). And the parents area large, crucial part of the journeyevery year.”“I think it’s tradition, it’s the

loveof thegame,” assistant coachand former standout goalie LissaMunley said. “For her, winningcomes second, everything elsecomes first.”“Keeping all the girls, not cut-

ting anyone,” said assistantcoach Patsy Moratori, anotherformer Comet star. “That’s differ-ent from everyone else. They allget a chance. I respect that.“She does say hockey is your

main focus during the season.But outside of the season, shewants the girls to play basketballor softball. That’s another thing,too. We don’t do much in the off-season.”• CHANGE IN THE AIR: The

days of offsides calls, no self-starts, shots from outside the cir-cle and limited substitutions areall in the past. Gemski remem-bers them, but they are all erasedfrom her playbook.“She’s changed with the

game,” said Moratori, whoplayed at Crestwood in the 1980sbefore starring at Connecticut.“Some coaches just want to do itthe old schoolway. She seeswhatthey’re doing in college and else-where, and adapts.”“She’s really changing with the

times,” said Munley, who played

collegiately at Iowa. “She’s learn-ing to live in (the players’) world.They dance before a game andthat’s OK. That’s something myclass didn’t do.”• BY THE NUMBERS: Crest-

wood has won four state cham-pionships and 18 District 2 titlesunder Gemski.The Comets have had 133 col-

lege players, with 39 beingnamed team captains. TwentyCrestwood alums are currentlyplaying collegiately and twomore are head coaches.Gemski has a dozen 20-win

seasons to her credit (includingthe last three) and just two losingseasons in her 27 seasons. Onewas her program’s first season in1976, when the Comets were 5-6-2. The other came in 1979,meaning it has been 32 seasonssince her last sub-.500 record.

• ADMIRED BY ALL: Gem-ski, a Hall of Famer, is still a leg-end at her alma mater.“She’s a great supporter of

Temple,” head coach AmandaJanney said last month. “CoachGemski and her husband comedown when they can. They loveto talk Temple football and fieldhockey. Six hundred wins is agreat accomplishment.”It wasn’t that long ago that the

Comets coach was earning trib-utes for half that many wins.“People don’t understand how

difficult it is to start up andmain-tain a program at such a high lev-el,” Berwick football coach Ge-orge Curry said of Gemski in1997,whenboth coaches reached300 wins. “Anyone who can dothat is doing something truly out-standing.”•WHATITMEANS:Theplay-

ers knew this win was comingand their first goal for the seasonwas to make it happen.“We definitely want to win it

for her,” junior forward MarissaSurdy said Thursday after Crest-wood beat Dallas. “We reallywant to get it for her Saturday. Itwould mean a lot to us, too.”For Gemski, she can look back

at a program born as a club teamin 1973 and is now a nationalpowerhouse 600 wins later.“It’s just a matter of a love for a

sport,” Gemski said. “And I’vebeen fortunate enough to be sur-rounded by so much support atthe beginning of it all. So manyembraced the program in theearly stages and now it is just on-going.”

Crestwood 1, Selinsgrove 0Crestwood.................................................... 0 1 — 1Selinsgrove .................................................. 0 0 — 0

Second half: 1. CRE, Ashleigh Thomas (Han-nah Ackers), 12:27.

Shots: CRE 10, SEL 1; Saves: CRE 1 (DallasKendra), SEL 9 (Madeline Troppe); Corners: CRE7, SEL 6.

Crestwood 7, Mifflin Co. 0Crestwood.................................................... 4 3 — 7Mifflin Co....................................................... 0 0 — 0

First half: 1. CRE, Ashleigh Thomas (MorganKile), 28:50; 2. CRE, Marissa Surdy, 18:41; 3. CRE,Surdy (Maury Cronauer), 15:15; 4. CRE, HannahAckers (Chandler Ackers), 9:19.

Second half: 5. CRE, Sarah Wodarczyk (H.Ackers), 27:04; 6. CRE, Kile, 9:51; 7. CRE, Kara Jar-miolowski (Wodarczyk), 4:50.

Shots: CRE 15, MIF 9; Saves: CRE 7 (DallasKendra), MIF 4 (Jordan Myers); Corners: CRE 6,MIF 7.

W L T Coach School State First year

797 66 56 Nancy Williams Shore Regional N.J. 1970

763 73 34 Susan Butz-Stavin Emmaus Pa. 1976

665 69 46 Angela Tammaro Greenwich Academy Conn. 1963

648 96 34 Linda Kreiser Lower Dauphin Pa. 1977

630 85 75 Cheryl Poore Harwich, Monomoy Mass. 1969

600 120 23 Elvetta Gemski Crestwood Pa. 1976

578 82 42 Nancy Cole Centereach, Ward Melville N.Y. 1970

569 137 44 Karen Klassner Wyoming Seminary Pa. 1972

567 Maurene Polley Villa Maria Pa. 1968

556 Debby Watson Villa Duchesne, Barat Academy Mo. 1973-2005,2009-

Compiled from topofthecircle.com and other sources

All-time winninest coaches

GEMSKIContinued from Page 1C

STAN GEMSKI/SPECIAL TO TIMES LEADER

The Crestwood

Comets gather as

a team for a photo

with their coach,

Elvetta Gemski,

third from left,

outside Selins-

grove High School

to mark the

coach’s 600th

career victory, a

7-0 win over Mif-

flin County on

Saturday.

User: jsoprano Time: 09-08-2012 22:40 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 09-09-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: sports_06 PageNo: 9 C Color: CMYK

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SPORTS S E C T I O N B

THE TIMES LEADER WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2012timesleader.com

SAN FRANCISCO— Jim Ley-land and theDetroit Tigers foundout the hard way that rest meansrust in the World Series.

Six years ago, their last Seriesappearance, they lounged aroundfor nearly a week before gettingwiped out by St. Louis.

This time, while once againwaiting for the National Leagueopponent to be decided, theystayed busy byworking on bunts,

playing against their instruction-al league team and letting aceJustin Verlander throw to hitters.“Well, we just tried to come up

with something,” Leyland saidTuesday. “It wasn’t like in 2006,where some people would indi-cate we sat around happy to getthere, not doing anything, eatingbon-bons.”“That wasn’t the case. We ran

into badweather problems inDe-

troit, so we were really hand-icapped,” the manager said. “Sothis timewe’ve done some thingsto try to keep us from being idlefor four or five days. I definitelythink it affected the lastWorldSe-ries.”Verlander will start Game 1 to-

night against Barry Zito and theSan Francisco Giants, fresh offanother stirring comeback and aGame 7 win Monday night over

the Cardinals.“I feel like I haven’t played in

over two months when youclinch so quick like this and haveto wait for the other team,” Ti-gers reliever Jose Valverde said.Not quite that long.“What is it, eight months of

baseball? What’s five days?” Ti-gers star Prince Fielder asked.

W O R L D S E R I E S

It will be a showdown of perfect strangersUnfamiliar foes Detroit andSan Francisco will tangle infirst postseason meeting.

By BENWALKERAP Baseball Writer

Detroit Tigers atSan Francisco Giants

When: 8 p.m. todayTV: FOX

G A M E 1

See SERIES, Page 5B

YORK — Holy Redeemer’sMariano Medico was alreadyslated to playwith his team in thePIAA State Golf Team Cham-pionships that start today afterthe Royals took home first place

in the District2/4 subregion-al team tourna-ment.Medico’s sev-

enth-place fin-ish at the East-ern Regionalsgave him an op-portunity to

compete in the individual cham-pionships, and while he didn’tperform as well as he thought hecould, Medico still relishes theopportunity.“I’m not disappointed (in my

performance), because I gothere,” Medico said. “I knew, tomyself, I couldhaveplayeda littlebetter.”After shooting a 2-over 73 in

the first round of the PIAA StateGolf Championships, Medicoshot a 6-over 77 to take a cumu-lative score of 8-over150 and fifthplace in the championships.Medico set himself up nicely in

the first round, tying for thirdplace with Leechburg’sMatt Bar-

P I A A G O L F

Medicoends upin fifthat statesRedeemer star has soggyfinish in individual competitionand eyes team finals today.

By By CASEY SNYDERFor The Times Leader

Medico

See MEDICO, Page 5B

The beach.”Holidays and puppies were spared for

now.No time for frivolity this week anyhow.

NotwithOhio State coming into town forSaturday’s game at Beaver Stadium.Add trying to solve the undefeated

Buckeyes to the list.“I can tell you Ohio State is the most

talented teamwe’veplayed to thispoint in

Bill O’Brien sighed at themention of it.The Penn State coach said he didn’t real-ize Tuesday was his 43rd birthday untilone of his older brothers textedhim in themorning.“I’m not a big birthday guy,” O’Brien

said at hisweekly press conference beforerattling off a list of things he doesn’t par-ticularly enjoy.“Birthdays. Weddings. Theme parks.

P S U F O O T B A L L

Get ready for the battle of the banned

AP PHOTO

Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller throws a pass against Purdue during thethird quarter of a 29-22 overtime victory over Purdue on Saturday.

AP PHOTO

Penn State coach Bill O’Brien listens to a question during his weekly news confer-ence Tuesday as the Nittany Lions prepare to host No. 9 Ohio State.

O’Brien wants to taste victoryover rivals, not birthday cakeBy DEREK LEVARSEdlevarse@timesleader.com

See O’BRIEN, Page 3B

They called it whiplash. A sore neck.Just three hours after Ohio State wasbracing for life without its starting quar-terback, Braxton Miller was back.No serious injury. Cleared to practice

this week and nothing to worry aboutlong-term.And while the Buckeyes are readying

both Miller and backup Kenny Guitonfor Saturday’s game at Penn State, the

Nittany Lions are making to sure to pre-pare for the dynamic Miller.As they have throughout Big Ten play,

Penn State coaches are turning to Eu-gene Lewis for help.It’s Lewis who is already simulating

the Heisman candidate in practice,drawing on his own experience as a starquarterback at Wyoming Valley West.Indeed, Miller has made college de-

Dangerous QB Miller snapsback into action for BuckeyesBy DEREK LEVARSEdlevarse@timesleader.com

See MILLER, Page 3B

DALLAS -- Wyoming Area remem-bered the one-sided loss it suffered atDallas last month.The Warriors remembered their sea-

son ending against the Mountaineerslast season in the playoffs. And the yearbefore that.Wyoming Area exacted some revenge

Tuesday, as freshmanBree Bednarski scored80 seconds into over-time to give the War-riors a 4-3 upset of Dal-las in a District 2 Class2A fieldhockeyquarter-final.

“It feels sogood,”Warriors seniorLexiCoolbaugh said. “We’ve lost to them thelast five timesweplayed them.We lost tothem last year in the playoffs. And Serra(Degnan) got carded last year. It’s goodto finally get them back.”The Warriors (7-8), the No. 5 seed,

will playNo.1seedCrestwoodonThurs-

daywith a state tournamentberthon theline. Fourth-seeded Dallas sees its sea-son end with a 12-5 mark.WyomingArea overcame plenty of ob-

stacles on its way to victory. The War-riors were shorthanded for fiveminutes,opening the door for two power-playgoals by Dallas to tie the game at 3 with18 minutes left. They lost goalie Christi-na Granteed to a right leg injury with 16minutes remaining. And they killed off a

BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

WyomingArea’sSerra Deg-nan, left,congrat-ulatesteammateLexi Cool-baugh afterscoring agoalagainstDallas in aDistrict 2Class 2Afield hock-ey quarter-final gamein DallasTownshipon Tuesdayafternoon.

D I S T R I C T 2 C L A S S 2 A G I R L S F I E L D H O C K E Y

Wyoming Area wipes away frustrationBree Bednarski’s goal 80 secondsinto overtime finally gets Warriorspast nemesis Dallas.

By JOHNMEDEIROSjmedeiros@timesleader.com

4WYOMINGAREA

3DALLAS

INSIDE: More District 2 field hockey, 4B

See WARRIORS, Page 4B

User: rstouch Time: 10-23-2012 23:26 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 10-24-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: sports_f PageNo: 1 B Color: CMYK

C M Y K

PAGE 4B WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2012 THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com➛ S P O R T S

WRIGHT TWP. -- Tuesdaybecame a day many at Crest-wood will remember for a longtime, as the Comets scored onfour of their first five penaltycorners in an 11-1 victory overNorthwest in a District 2 Class2A field hockey quarterfinal.With the win, top seed Crest-

wood (17-2) advances to playNo. 5 seed Wyoming Area, a 4-3winner in overtime againstDallas.Sophomore Casey Cole had

the biggest game of her career,netting three goals and threeassists. She capped her scoringwith a reverse stick shot fromthe right wing to make it 9-1.Junior Morgan Kile had her firsthat trick of the season and anassist against the Rangers(16-2). And sophomore Daniella

Callaghanscored her firstcareer goal --and followedwith two morefor her first hattrick.

“It feels great,” Callaghan saidafter the win. “I got my firstvarsity goal (on a sweeping shotset up by Elizabeth Dessoye’scentering pass). We all workedtogether. We know we’re notjust one or two players; it takeseverybody. And the whole teamis always so supportive of eachother.”Kile had her three goals in the

game’s first 13 minutes as theComets scored on six of theirfirst eight shots. Callaghan hadtwo goals in 1:19 late in the firsthalf to give the Comets an 8-0lead at the break. The markerfor the hat trick will stick withher as much as any goal shescored.“I like the third one the best,”

Callaghan said. “I got to use myspeed to create the opportunity.Casey gave me a great pass (to

spring her on a rush).”Marissa Surdy had a goal and

an assist for Crestwood. Fresh-man Hunter Pitman added hersecond career goal.Northwest scored on a corner

in the first minute of the secondhalf as Morgan Price netted her15th of the season, tipping in aGlenn Carr blast from the top ofthe circle.This was the third playoff

meeting between the teams infive years. Crestwood won theprior two matchups by 4-0counts in 2008 and 2010.Northwest...................................................... 0 1 — 1Crestwood .................................................... 8 3 — 11First half: 1. CRE, Morgan Kile (Marissa Surdy),27:38; 2. CRE, Kile (Casey Cole), 26:33; 3. CRE,Cole (Chandler Ackers), 24:38; 4. CRE, Kile (Cole),17:05; 5. CRE, Cole, 15:02; 6. CRE, Surdy (Eliza-beth Dessoye), 13:58; 7. CRE, Daniella Callaghan(Dessoye), 1:24; 8. CRE, Callaghan (Kile), :05.Second half: 1. Second half: 9. NW, Morgan

Price (GlennCarr), 29:03; 10. CRE, Cole, 24:41; 11.CRE, Hunter Pitman, 14:13; 12. CRE, Callaghan(Cole), 12:33.Shots:NW8, CRE22;Saves:NW6 (AliviaWo-

melsdorf), CRE 6 (Dallas Kendra); Corners: NW 6,CRE 15.

Wyoming Seminary 1,Lake-Lehman 0

Morgan Malone scored theonly goal to lead Wyoming

Seminary over Lake-Lehman ina District 2 2A quarterfinal.Hannah Dressler recorded

four saves to secure the shutoutfor Wyoming Seminary.Tiffany Malinowski stopped

10 shots for Lake-Lehman.Lake-Lehman.................................................. 0 0 — 0Wyoming Seminary....................................... 0 1 — 1First half: 1. No scoringSecond half: 1. Morgan Malone, 9:27Shots: LEH 5, SEM 15; Saves: LEH 10 (Tiffany

Malinowski), SEM 4 (Hannah Dressler); Corners:LEH 5, SEM 8.

Holy Redeemer 7, Nanticoke 0

Greta Ell, Marney and Melan-ie Kusakavitch each scored twogoals apiece to lead Holy Re-deemer over Nanticoke in aDistrict 2 2A quarterfinal.Mallory Kusakavitch chipped

in three assists while StephanieMcCole added a goal.Maddy O’Donohue recorded

13 saves for Nanticoke.Nanticoke ........................................................ 0 0 — 0Holy Redeemer.............................................. 4 3 — 7Firsthalf:1.StephanieMcCole (Alexis Lewis), 8:32;2. Greta Ell (Mallory Kusakavitch) 3:56; 3. MarneyKusakavitch (Mallory Kusakazitch), 2:50; 4. MelanieKusakavitch (Sarah Altemose), 0:00Second half: 1. Marney Kusakavitch (Ell),

16:37; 2. Melanie Kusakavitch (Mallory Kusaka-vitch), 15:07; 3. Ell (Rachel Platko), 2:39Shots: NAN 2, HR 21; Saves: NAN 13 (Maddy

O’Donohue), HR 3 (Selena Malacari); Corners:NAN 1, HR 11.

D I S T R I C T 2 G I R L S F I E L D H O C K E Y R O U N D U P

Comets go crazy with goalsCasey Cole accounts for sixpoints as Crestwood rollsthrough quarterfinals.

By JOHNMEDEIROSjmedeiros@timesleader.com

11CRESTWOOD

1NORTHWEST

10-minute shorthanded situationdown the stretch.“It was very important to get

that first goal,” Warriors coachLunda Comiskey said. “Lookingback, we were 7-1 this season

when puttingthe ball in thecage first. I letthemknow thatstat before thegame.”Coolbaugh

scored on thegame’s firstshot, tucking ashot stick-sideon a play start-ed by SerraDegnan andplayed aheadby Lindsay Ca-rey. The leadlasted almost14 minutes be-fore Dallas’ Jen-ny Cavepounced on arebound of aKaty Comitzshot to tie thegame.The Moun-

taineers made things one-sided,holding a 12-3 edge in penaltycorners in the first half. But thescoreboard tilted in the other di-rection, as Wyoming Area scoredtwo late goals. A corner combina-tion play with Abby Schwerdt-man, Carey, Coolbaugh and final-ly Bednarski setting up Degnan.Two minutes later, Degnan drewgoalieLilyAmadio away fromthecage before diving and punchingthe ball across to Bednarski for a3-1 lead.“I think it took us a little longer

to settle in,” Dallas coach KylieRosengrant said. “We were flatthe whole first half. This was thefirst varsity (playoff) experience

for a lot of our players ...“They had a nice breakaway in

the overtime to win.”After a yellow card, Dallas’ Va-

nessa Parsons connected on aspinning shot and Cave tipped afree hit by Michelle Thompsonover Granteed to tie the game at3. Andon theMountaineers’ nextoffensive possession, Granteedwas injured.Into the goal stepped Cool-

baugh, the Warriors’ goalie forthe first six games of the season.Without a warm-up, and havingleft the game during the first halfwhen she was struck in the headby a stick, Coolbaugh had foursaves, including one in overtimeon aComitz tip of a Parsons shot.“As soon as Christina got hurt,

I knew I was going in,” Cool-baugh said. “I knew I had to at-tack the ball against them. I got

the best of both worlds today,scoring a goal and playing goal.”Sally Deluca had a defensive

save for Wyoming Area.Wyoming Area............................................ 3 0 1 — 4Dallas ........................................................... 1 2 0 — 3First half: 1. WA, Lexi Coolbaugh (Gianna Gen-nets), 28:55; 2.DAL, JennyCave, 15:08; 3.WA,Ser-raDegnan (BreeBednarski), 8:20; 4.WA,Bednarski(Degnan), 6:31.Second half: 5. DAL, Vanessa Parsons (Mi-

chelle Thompson), 20:58; 6. DAL, Cave (Thomp-son), 18:16. Overtime: 7. WA, Bednarski (Degnan),13:40.Shots:WA 9, DAL 12; Saves:WA 8 (Christina

Granteed4,Coolbaugh4),DAL4 (LilyAmadio);Cor-ners:WA 5, DAL 19.

WARRIORSContinued from Page 1B

BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

Dallas’ Kayla Thomas, left, knocks the ball away from the cage as Wyoming Area’s Lindsay Careyattacks in a District 2 Class 2A field hockey quarterfinal game Tuesday afternoon.

“It wasvery im-portant toget thatfirst goal.Lookingback, wewere 7-1this seasonwhen put-ting theball in thecagefirst.”

LundaComiskey

Wyoming Areacoach

WILKES-BARRE - Meagh-an Wernimont scored thego-ahead goal with 11:41remaining in regulation tolock up the top seed in theFreedom Conference Tourna-ment for the King’s Collegefield hockey team as theLady Monarchs defeatedDeSales University 3-2 Tues-day.Abby McManus and Ste-

phanie Wingerter alsochipped in a goal apiece forKing’s, while Megan With-row added five saves.The Lady Monarchs will

host a semifinal game Oct. 31in their next match.

Field HockeyWilkes 2, Misericordia 1

Aliya Frankel scored thegame-winning goal in thesecond half to give Wilkes

the victory over FreedomConference foe Misericordia.Ashley Hahn added a goal

off an assist from Frankel inthe first half while AlexisReed recorded 10 saves atgoalie for Wilkes.Lindsay Hischak scored

the lone goal for Misericor-dia.Goalie Grace Riker stop-

ped 14 shots in the loss.

Men’s SoccerSusquehanna 3, King’s 0

Andrew Murphy scoredtwo goals to lead Susquehan-na University to a shutoutvictory over King’s College.Goalie Mark Labbadia

recorded three saves for theMonarchs.With the loss, King’s drop-

ped to 10-5-1 on the season.

Women’s Soccer

Wilkes 2, SUNY Cortland 2

Erin Donnelly led WilkesUniversity with two goals asthe Lady Colonels tied Cor-tland State University.Katy Fissel and Lyndsay

Ellis each chipped in anassist for Wilkes.The Lady Colonels moved

to 10-4-3 on the season withthe tie.

VolleyballKing’s 3, William Paterson 0

Alexa Nelson led King’sCollege with 12 kills as theLady Monarchs defeatedWilliam Paterson Universityin straight sets.King’s won by scores of

25-23, 25-28 and 26-24.Mary Loughran added 27

assists, four kills and 11 digs,while Kelsie Kramer chippedin seven kills and one blockfor the Lady Monarchs.

C O L L E G E R O U N D U P

King’s secures its spot at the topThe Times Leader Staff

DALLAS – It didn’t lookgood for Nanticoke Area.Down 2-1 in the match and

22-15 in the fourth set. A pos-sible second seed for the up-coming District 2 Class AAplayoffs hanging in the bal-ance.One loss, and no

chance for the twoseed.Cue Alexandra

Brassington.The Trojan setter

used her crafty under-hand serve to rack upnine consecutiveservice points tosqueak out a fourth-set win and Nanti-coke led wire-to-wirein the fifth en routeto a 3-2 win overDallas in WyomingValley Conferencegirls’ volleyball.Match scores were

25-16, 23-25, 22-25,25-22 and 15-11.“We pulled ourselves togeth-

er and said this is what weneed to do,” said Brassington,who finished with a match-high 31 assists. “We had to pickourselves up. If we would havelost this one, there was nochance for that second seed.”That was the mantra for

Nanticoke (14-3). Win, and letthe intangibles play out.Currently, the Trojans, Crest-

wood and North Pocono are alltied for the No. 2 seed – and allare expected to finish that wayafter the regular season ends.Of course, the second and

third seed is important becauseit means the opposite side ofthe bracket from undefeatedHoly Redeemer (16-0).“We would rather go against

that toss or pull the name outof a hat, whatever is decidedupon,” Nanticoke head coachDeb Krupinski said. “A losshere and we were locked intothat fourth seed.”It was a match of emotion.Nanticoke rolled to a 25-16

win in the first set, only to seeDallas’ 10 seniors respond intheir final home game.Behind several big smashes

from Tanner Englehart, andcrafy net play by Rachel Ols-zewski, the Mountaineersrallied for a win in the secondset after trailing by as many as

six.Marlee Nelson took over the

third, racking up five kills andending it on an ace, puttingDallas up 2-1.“The girls wanted it because

this was their senior night,”Dallas coach Meredith Ohlsaid. “They knew how impor-tant this was. Nanticoke is ateam we may see in the post-season. The intensity got to us.I think that all the adrenalinestarted to kick in, and I thinkwe lost our focus a little bit.”

It appeared all butover as Dallas (11-6)held a seemingly-com-fortable 22-15 lead inthe fourth set.It slipped away in

five minutes – thanksto nine straight servicepoints by Brassingtonand several big swingsby Kayley Schinski andAllie Matulewski.“I can’t do an over-

hand serve. I tried it asa freshman and justcouldn’t do it,” Bras-sington said of theunderhand serve. “Mymom was a volleyballplayer and she told meto try an underhandserve, and it worked for

me. I really just tried to stayfocused and after each serve, Ijust kept telling myself to workon the next one. I didn’t wantto talk with anyone. I wasn’teven cheering with the team. Iwas just so focused.”The fifth set wasn’t close.Schinski had kills on five of

the first nine points and Nanti-coke jumped out to an 8-1 lead.“It was a crazy game with so

many highs and lows. We dugourselves out, and I still don’tknow how,” Krupinski said. “Ithink this was the first team allseason that we’ve come upagainst that truly blocked well.They double-block so well. Igive them a lot of credit. Theturning point was when Lefty(Alexandra Brassington) wasserving with that soft, under-hand motion. I think it finallyrattled them. It was a longgame. You have to keep yourhead in it.”Schinski and Matulewski

combined for 23 of the Trojans’39 kills. Englehart had 12 killsto pace Dallas.

Nanticoke 3, Dallas 2Nanticoke............................... 25 23 22 25 15 — 3Dallas ..................................... 16 25 25 22 11 — 2Nanticoke Leaders: Kayley Schinski 12 kills, 1assist, 1 ace; Allie Matulewski 11 kills, 3 aces;Alexandra Brassington 31 assists, 4 kills, 3 aces.Dallas Leaders: Tanner Englehart 12 kills, 5

aces; Rachel Olszewski 9 kills; Marlee Nelson 5kills, 4 aces; Lauren Jones, 12 assists.

H . S . G I R L S V O L L E Y B A L L

Nanticoke servesnotice to leagueBrassington makes specialdeliveries as Trojanettes viefor No. 2 district seed.

By TOM FOXFor The Times Leader

“We had topick our-selves up.If we wouldhave lostthis one,there wasno chancefor thatsecondseed.”

AlexandraBrassington

Nanticoke setter

Nicole Slavoski led HolyRedeemer with five kills, 24service points and three assistsas the Lady Royals secured thetop seed in the District 2 Class2A playoffs with a 3-0 victoryover Hazleton Area on Tues-day.Sarah Warnagiris added 11

kills, seven service points, oneblock and one assist for HolyRedeemer.The Lady Royals moved to

17-0 with the win and have a107-game winning streakagainst Wyoming Valley Con-ference foes dating to 2007.Hazleton Area ............................................ 6 7 9Holy Redeemer.......................................... 25 25 25HAZ: Not reportedHR: Nicole Slavoski 5 kills, 24 service points,

3 assists; Lauren Slavoski 4 kills; Sarah Warnagi-ris 11 kills, 7 service points, 1 block, 1 assist;Alyssa Platko 5 kills

MMI Prep 3, GAR 1

Kristen Purcell and KaylaKarchner each recorded agame-high 11 kills to pace MMIPrep.Kristen Young chipped in

eight kills during the victory.Banessa Flores led GAR with

four aces, four service points,one kill, one dig and 12 assists.

MMI Prep .............................................. 25 25 18 25GAR....................................................... 19 13 25 23MMI: Kristen Purcell 11 kills, 4 digs, 5 aces, 4blocks, 12 service points; Kayla Koschner 11kills, 2 assists, 3 digs, 2 aces, 14 service points;Kristen Young 8 kills, 2 digs, 7 aces, 1 block, 13service pointsGAR: Banessa Flores 4 aces, 4 service

points, 1 kill, 1 dig, 12 assists; Julianna Leco 2aces, 5 service points, 5 digs; Monika Missal 5kills, 5 digs; Jocelyne Vazquez 9 kills, 3 aces, 8service points, 8 digs

North Pocono 3, Berwick 0

Kelli Bray collected a match-high 13 kills as the Trojansearned a home sweep.Berwick........................................................ 15 14 8North Pocono............................................. 25 25 25BER: Not reportedNP: Kelli Bray 13 kills, Amanda Downer 7 kills,

Kayla Perez 11 service points, Kaity Raven 11service points

Wyoming Valley West 3,Hanover Area 0

Gabby Gadomski recorded12 service points, 13 assists andfour kills to lead WyomingValley West in straight sets.Ashley Temerantz chipped in

six kills and four blocks forWyoming Valley West.Kim Ozmina had 10 assists

and five digs for Hanover Area.Wyoming Valley West .............................. 25 25 25Hanover Area ............................................. 15 10 18WVW: Gabby Gadomski 12 service points, 13assists, 4 kills; Ashley Temerantz 6 kills, 4blocks; Sarah Fugate 7 kills, 6 service pointsHAN: Kim Ozmina 10 assists, 5 digs; Amanda

Fuller 4 kills, 3 digs, 1 block; Holly Saraka 6 digs,3 kills, 3 service points

G I R L S V O L L E Y B A L L R O U N D U P

Redeemer’s streak keepsrolling behind SlavoskiThe Times Leader Staff

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dale Earn-hardt Jr. was cleared Tuesday for thisweekend’s race atMartinsville Speedwayaftermissing the last twoweeks to recov-er from a pair of concussions.NASCAR’smostpopulardriverwasex-

amined by neurosurgeon Dr. Jerry Pettyone aday after he ran123 laps at half-mileGresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson,Ga. Petty monitored Earnhardt duringMonday’s test at Gresham.“Dale Jr. has done everything asked of

him,” said Petty, who consultswithNAS-CAR and is Earnhardt’s personal physi-cian. “He hasn’t had a headache sinceOct.12, andwehave not been able to pro-voke any symptoms since that time. Ihave informed NASCAR and HendrickMotorsports that he is medically clearedfor all NASCAR-related activity.”Petty sidelined Earnhardt after Earn-

hardt complained of a lingering head-ache following a 25-car accident on thelast lap of the Oct. 7 race at Talladega.

A U T O R A C I N G

Earnhardt gets a greenflag from neurosurgeonThe Associated Press

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C M Y K

SPORTS S E C T I O N B

THE TIMES LEADER TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2012●timesleader.com

WILKES-BARRE – “Wait!Wait! Ma, come here!”Brigid Wood yelled to her

mother the way any youngster

would after a big accomplish-ment. In this instance, theCoughlin freshman was callingher coach, ColleenWood, over tojoin the team in accepting its Dis-trict 2 championship trophy.Among those in the celebra-

tion was Brigid’s teammate andsister, Caitlin, a senior whoscored the championship goal.Now they are off to the state

playoffs – together – beginning

tonight at 5 in Hazleton againstDistrict 11 runner-up Strouds-burg.“This is our only chance,” said

Caitlin, who is second on theteam with 14 goals. “Even in in-door, we don’t get to play togeth-er (Brigid is on a different teamand Colleen does not coach). Itwas our one goal to be here. Now,itwouldbenice tobeat that fresh-man season and go on for more

than one game.”“This is the last time we’ll ever

get to play together at states andthe first time,” Brigid said. “Thisis really special to our family.”It’s an interesting dynamic –

the veteran and the rookie, led bymom. Does it break down intosibling rivalry? Not exactly.“She definitely has a strong

H I G H S C H O O L F I E L D H O C K E Y

Warning: Woods are ahead

JOHN MEDEIROS/THE TIMES LEADER

Coughlin senior Caitlin Wood, right, talks to freshman Brigid Woodduring practice Monday at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium.See WOODS, Page 3B

Coughlin’s dynamic family isready for a run at state gold,beginning this evening.

By JOHNMEDEIROSjmedeiros@timesleader.com

Coughlin is making its third appear-ance in the PIAA boys soccer champion-ships in four years.There are many differences this time

around, though.For starters, the2009squadenteredas

district runner-up and the 2010 showingin the state tournament was when theCrusaders (16-2-1) were in Class 3A andwere overpowered by state runner-up

Central Bucks East in the first round.Now they are back in 2A.The previous two seasons were also

when the core of the players on the teamwere underclassmen. Tonight at 7 when

they faceDistrict 4 championLewisburgat Loyalsock High School, those playersare now seniors and ready for anothershot.“Now, we still have state experience

coming back. That’s something we real-ly never had because, even two yearsago, wewon the district title andwe lostsix starters that year,” Coughlin coachRob Havard said. “Now, with six, seven,eight seniors, plus Tommy Sebia andDave Marriggi, who were here as fresh-men,we nowhave state experiencewithus, so that should help.”Winning tonight and becoming the

first boys squad from the Wyoming Val-PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER

Coughlin’s Kyle Grego (1) and Lake-Lehman’s Chris Edkins fight for possessionduring Saturday’s district title game, won by the Crusaders, who are in thestate tournament for the third time in four years.

H I G H S C H O O L B OY S S O C C E R

New Crusaders ready for state challengeCoughlin, in the PIAA boys soccerplayoffs for the third time in fouryears, faces Lewisburg tonight.

By DAVE ROSENGRANTdrosengrant@timesleader.com

See CRUSADERS, Page 3B

“Now, with six, seven, eightseniors, plus Tommy Sebia andDave Marriggi, who were hereas freshmen, we now havestate experience with us, sothat should help.”

Rob HavardCoughlin coach

ver, also getting a 22-yard touch-down run from Chris Ivory.Philadelphia (3-5) lost its

fourth straight, which is sure tokeep theheat onVick andembat-tled coach Andy Reid. Vickthrew a 77-yard touchdown passto DeSean Jackson in the thirdquarter, but that was about theonly highlight for the visitingteamwhich sawVick sacked sev-en times.Not that they didn’t have their

chances. The Eagles had first-and-goal four times and man-

NEW ORLEANS — DrewBrees threw two touchdownpas-ses, extending his NFL recordstreak to 51 games, and PatrickRobinson returned an intercep-tion 99 yards for a score to leadthe New Orleans Saints to amuch-needed win, 28-13 overMichaelVickand the reelingPhi-ladelphia Eagles on Mondaynight.TheSaints (3-5)bouncedback

from a dismal 34-14 loss at Den-

aged only two field goals byAlexHenery. In fact, they were out-scored in those situations, withRobinson going the other wayfor a touchdown just when itlooked like Philadelphia was onthe verge of scoring.Rubbing salt in the wound,

Philadelphia squandered achance to get back in the gamewith a brilliant trick play on akickoff return. Riley Cooper laidflat in the end zone, unseen bythe Saints, then popped up totake a cross-field lateral from

Brandon Boykin.Cooper streaked down the

sideline for an apparent touch-down.Only oneproblem—Boy-kin’s lateral was actually a for-ward pass by about a yard, ruin-ing theplaywithapenalty.Coop-er stood with his hands on hiships, in disbelief, as the officialsbrought it back.Philadelphia finishedwith 447

yards—theeighth straight teamtoput upmore than400 yards on

N F L

AP PHOTO

New Orleans Saints running back Chris Ivory (29) eludes Philadelphia Eagles defensive back David Sims (21) during the first halfof Monday’s game at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Ivory, playing his first game of the season, had a 22-yard TD run.

See EAGLES, Page 6B

Saints hand Eagles 4th consecutive lossBy PAUL NEWBERRYAP National Writer

WE CANQUANTIFYmost of thethings a foot-ball coach doesto help histeam wingames.

Count the hours he puts in.Track whether players get betteror worse. Turn his schemesinside out, tote up blown time-outs at the end of close games,and more. Or just go straight tothe standings.All of those things combined

don’t quite explain what’s beengoing on with the IndianapolisColts. They were 1-2 six weeksago, when coach Chuck Paganowas diagnosed with leukemia.They’re 4-1 since, and he just gotsome promising news from hisdoctor — that the cancer is in“complete remission.” Theturnaround was already a con-versation starter in Indianapolis.Now that the rest of Americagot to watch Pagano addressingthe team after it narrowly beatthe Dolphins, try to put a num-ber on inspiration.Think back to last season,

when it was Tim Tebow con-founding the experts and theBroncos who were somehowmore than the sum of theirparts. Now he’s stuck on abench in New York and themomentum has resettled 1,100miles or so to the east in Indi-anapolis. The Colts are still along way from being a playoffcontender, but they made them-selves the best story in the NFLso far. They weren’t expected todo much, not after losing Pey-

OPINIONJ I M L I T K E

Pagano andColts NFL’sbest story

See LITKE, Page 6B

STATE COLLEGE — D.J.Newbill is a poster boy for PennState basketball before he eventakes a shot for his new team.From all accounts, the transfer

from Southern Miss has the cre-dentials for his sudden notorietyin Happy Val-ley. The sopho-more is the keyaddition inYear 2 in Pa-trick Cham-bers’ rebuildingproject, and theenthusiasticcoach isn’t shyabout heaping the responsibili-ties on his new guard.Penn State opens the season

Friday against St. Francis, Pa.Teammates say Newbill can runthe floor with top point guardTim Frazier, and that he has theconfidence to call for the ball incrunch time.What would you expect for a

kid from Philadelphia?“He’s just got that Philly swag-

ger in him,” Frazier said Mondayat the team’s media day.And just what is “Philly swag-

ger?”“I don’t know,” Frazier joked,

“I’m from Texas.”

C O L L E G E B A S K E T B A L L

New faceready forchallengeat PSUNewbill, a transfer fromSouthern Miss., is gettingrave reviews from coach.

By GENARO C. ARMASAP Sports Writer

Newbill

See CHALLENGE, Page 4B

User: rstouch Time: 11-06-2012 00:12 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 11-06-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: sports_f PageNo: 1 B Color: CMYK

C M Y K

THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2012 PAGE 3B➛ S P O R T S

ley Conference to reach the statequarterfinals since Wyoming Val-ley West in 2006 won’t be an easytask though.Coughlin takes on a Green

Dragons squad that has just twolosses and one tie on the season –to Danville and Selinsgrove – butavenged those three blemishes inthe district semifinals and finalsto claim their third straight D4title and sixth in seven years. Le-wisburg (18-2-1) scored five goalsin districts, coming from fourplayers. Udoka Eze scored twicein a 2-0 shutout over Central Co-lumbia in the opening round.From there, the third-seededGreen Dragons went on to beatsecond-seeded Danville 1-0 on agoal by Nikolas Janesch. Thenthey bested the No. 5 Seals forthe district title after trailing 1-0in the second half on goals byMax Reed and Kerry Shutt.Lewisburg, which enters to-

night’s match winners of ninestraight, has scored 65 goals thisseason, including the playoffs.In their recent state appearanc-

es, the Dragons lost to ScrantonPrep last year in the first roundand defeated the Cavaliers in thefirst round of the 2010 tourna-ment before bowing out in thequarters. During its seven-yearrun, Lewisburg has won in even-numbered years in the first roundand lost in the odd-numberedyears.

“States is going to be hard, butwe’re going to have confidence,”Coughlin senior Pat Malone said.“We’ve been there a couple timesbefore. We’re going to knowwhatto look for.”Lewisburg and Coughlin have

striking similarities.While the Dragons have been

streaking of late, the Crusadershave also put together a run, win-ning three in a row after drop-ping a pair of matches in a weekto Dallas before the playoffs start-ed. Lewisburg had trouble withtwo teams this season andCoughlin’s only losses and tiehave come to the Mountaineers.On offense, the trio of seniors

Malone and Justin Okun andsophomore Travis Kiel – who ac-counted for 40 of the team’s 48goals in the regular season – havebeen hurting opponents in thepostseason as well. Malone hasthree playoff goals, while Okunand Kiel have two apiece to makeup the Crusaders’ seven in thepostseason.The Coughlin defense has also

been playing great of late. If youtake out the nine goals scored bythe Mountaineers in three games– including the WVC Division Itiebreaker – the team has al-lowed just eight scores in 16games.“We had a little spell at the end

with some injuries, but we reallyweren’t executing the way weshould,” Havard said about hisdefense. “Through playoffs wegave up two goals so the defensecame back. They reformed them-selves.”

CRUSADERSContinued from Page 1B

WILKES-BARRE – John Ka-blick is no stranger to the worldof coaching.Sure, he knows people will

judge a season on wins and loss-es. That’s the way the sportingworld works – most of the time,anyway.The Holy Redeemer head

coach knows a little somethingabout winning as the Royals re-cently captured their sixthstraight district title last week-end -- seven if you count thecrown won by Bishop Hoban inits last season before combiningto form Redeemer.Sure, crisp passes, hard hit-

ters, ground-shaking serves andperfect back-row defense makesit easier.But it starts before that.“Chemistry,” he said.As the Royals take the court

at 5 p.m. today at Dallas HighSchool in the opening round ofthe PIAA Class 2A Tournamentagainst District 4 champ Wells-boro, Kablick knows this possi-ble state-title run began long be-fore the ball is put into play.“We did have some question

marks heading into this sea-son,” he said. “We lost a lot fromthe 2011 team. We knew that wehad two of our three hittersback, plus we had Biz (Eaton),who was going to be a four-yearsetter. We had a three-year start-ing libero with Sydney (Kotch),so we had a good starting point.But we had to find quality peo-ple to surround them with, andnot just people who were goingto stand around on the court.That’s why people like KayaSwanek, Alyssa Platko andCasey Carty have been so im-portant to our team this year.”

That’s where the chemistrybegins.Out of the 12 players on the

varsity squad, only four had var-sity experience. The Royals didhave a great starting point,though, in standout Sarah War-nagiris, but the squad hasevolved and maintained the pro-gram’s winning ways.“You can’t put a price tag on

chemistry,” he said. “You aretalking about six girls runningall over a 30-by-30 court, all atthe same time. If you don’t talk,and know what your teammateis doing, you are going to have alot of balls hitting the court. Allteams are different. No matterwhat year it is, every team takeson a different persona. Thisyear, all these girls are together.There are no groups or factionson the team. Everyone hangsout together off the court, and

gets along. That’s so importantbecause you don’t want finger-pointing or name calling before,after or during matches. If youhave just one small fraction, youcould have a major, major prob-lem.”There’s been none of that, as

evident by watching the girlstalk, rotate and glide around thecourt.“I think our early-season

schedule helped us to build thatchemistry,” Kablick said. “It’snot that those teams were easybecause there are no easygames in the conference. Butsome of the perennial teams likeDelaware Valley, Crestwood andNanticoke were toward the endof our schedule. I think the girlsgot comfortable playing togeth-er, and worked on that commu-nication aspect of the game.”With the regular season in the

past, all sights are pointed to-ward Wellsboro.“We have some statistics, and

a team photo,” the Redeemercoach laughed when askedabout what he knew about theHornets. “The statistics aregood because it gives you anidea of what they are running,and what they like to do withthe serve-receive.”Leading the way is Hannah

Zuchowski, who had 33 killsand 24 digs in the district cham-pionship game against Mans-field, and also have a four-yearsetter in Mackenzie Marple.“Obviously, we are going to

have to focus on those two earlyin the match.”The winner moves into the

state quarterfinals to face offwith the victor of Delone Ca-tholic and Masterman on Satur-day.

H I G H S C H O O L V O L L E Y B A L L

Royals clicking at right time

JOHN MEDEIROS/THE TIMES LEADER

The Holy Redeemer girls volleyball team celebrates after winning its sixth straight District 2Class 2A championship last weekend at North Pocono High School.

Holy Redeemer’s chemistry isgelling entering today’s stateopener vs. Wellsboro.

By TOM FOXFor The Times Leader

Like any team making itsthird consecutive PIAA appear-ance, Berwick came into thegirls soccer postseason withHershey on its mind.Unfortunately, for the Wyom-

ing Valley Conference cham-pions, the Bulldogs are forcedto make an appearance at Her-sheypark Stadium much earlierthan anticipated.Saturday’s 6-1 loss to Scran-

ton Prep shattered the Bull-dogs’ quest for a third consec-utive District 2 championship.Instead of hosting a game at

Wilkes University, the Bulldogstravel to Hersheypark Stadiumto face Trinity (Camp Hill) to-day at 5 p.m. in the first roundof the PIAA Class 2A playoffs. IfBerwick wins, it will match upagainst either Moon or ForestHills – both from WesternPennsylvania – in the quarterfi-nals.The task won’t come easy for

the Bulldogs. Trinity is rankedNo. 4 in the final PennsylvaniaSoccer Coaches Associationsmall school poll.The Bulldogs (17-1) must

shake off a funk that plaguedthem against the Classics onSaturday. Scranton Prep scoredtwo goals in the first 13 min-utes, and Berwick was neverable to recover.Berwick looked nothing like

the team that steam-rolled

WVC competition throughoutthe year. Berwick had nottrailed all season until ElanaFalcone’s goal in the fourthminute Saturday. In fact, theonly time they had been threat-ened offensively was PittstonArea’s Madison Mimnaugh’sfirst-half goal on Sept. 19.Relying heavily on its de-

fense, Berwick’s success restsheavily on seniors Kelly Shep-tock and Bridget Orlando. Oli-via Seely and Olivia Conklinperformed well in the midfieldthis season.The defense championed

shutouts of WVC stalwartsCoughlin, Lake-Lehman andDallas during the regular sea-son, and silenced the BlackKnights again in the semifinals.Karleigh Hartman and Caty

Davenport continue to be the

playmakers for Berwick.To make matters worse for

the traveling Dawgs: District 3has not been kind to the Bull-dogs of late.Berwick fell to the District 3

sixth seed each of the past twoseasons in the spring state play-offs. Mechanicsburg ousted theDawgs 3-2 this past spring, andManheim Township shut themout 4-0 in 2011.Trinity (21-3) defeated North-

ern York 3-0 to win the District3 championship.Sara Sajer scored two goals

in the Shamrocks’ win and isthe team’s leading scorer with27 goals. Micaela Oliverio wasnamed the Mid Penn-Capitalplayer of the year with 16 goalsand a league-leading 20 assists.The Shamrocks average 4.3

goals per game.

H I G H S C H O O L G I R L S S O C C E R

Berwick hoping third time in states is a charmBulldogs open PIAA Class 2ATournament with a match vs.Trinity today in Hershey.

By JAY MONAHANFor The Times Leader

personality,” Caitlin said of Bri-gid, nicknamed “Coach” duringher stint with the junior highteam because of her extensivefield hockey knowledge. “It canbehard to tell her things. But shelistens. She doesn’t always showit, but she does.”They live the game and take it

home once in a while. But theyare nothing but smiles talkingabout it.“A lot of people don’t under-

stand thewayweyell at eachoth-er,” Caitlin admitted.“Yeah, all the time,” Brigid

added. “If we are just screamingat each other, that’s howwe com-municate.The have the ultimate referee

in coach/mom Colleen. Shekeeps things on an even keel,though the players know not tovexmom, because coachmay bethere to punish them.“Mom’s actually a lot more

strict (than coach),” Brigid said.“You try to not get on her bad

side at home, though, so shedoesn’t make you run more atpractice.”“You clean your room if she

tells you to,” Caitlin said.The freshman is one of three

area players selected to partici-pate in theUSAFieldHockeyFu-tures Elite program. Despite awealth of talent, she still had tofind a role with a very goodCoughlin squad.The senior is a two-time all-

state selection, with a third nodlikely on the way.They enjoy pushing each oth-

er to be better each game.“Everyone expects her to be

the best player,” Brigid said ofCaitlin. “Some of the guys cheerforme. They cheer ‘She’s a fresh-man’ or ‘We want Little Wood’just to get under her skin.”But it’s all in good fun.For the Wood family, this is a

special time, one that can bemade more special each timethey extend it with a victory. It’salso been a long time in themak-ing.“The last timewewent on that

run, both of them were little,”Colleen said of Coughlin’s state

finalists eight years ago. “Whenthe kids were little, they were al-ways on the sideline with us.Now, when the old players comeback, they remember them fromwhen they were little.”With this one chance to shoot

for state gold together, theWoods are as ready as they couldever be.“We’ve worked so hard to be

here, and to do it with my sisterandmymothermakes all the dif-

ference,” Caitlin said. “We un-derstand what we need to donext.”Not only do they understand,

but they can see it.“I want Martz buses and pasta

parties,” Brigid said.“And our own pep rally,” Cait-

lin added.And while unsaid, they have

the same goal as Class 2A’sCrestwood and Wyoming Semi-nary – state gold in two weeks.

WOODSContinued from Page 1B

JOHN MEDEIROS/THE TIMES LEADER

Coughlin coach Colleen Wood, center, directs her players duringpractice Monday at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium.

NEW YORK —Miguel Cabre-ra is waiting for the crown thatwas presented to him at theWorld Series to arrive at hishome. He’ll give it a prominentspot in his office.“I’ll show it to my friends, my

family,” the Detroit Tigers thirdbaseman said Monday after add-ing another honor by beating outPittsburgh center fielder AndrewMcCutchen and Los Angeles An-gels rookie Mike Trout for playerof the year as voted on by theirfellow major leaguers. “I thinkit’s going to be something specialfor my kids. ... It’s going to be agood story for my grandkids.”Cabrera, the first Triple Crown

winner in the big leagues since1967, hit .330 with 44 homersand 139 RBIs for the AL cham-pion Tigers. The slugger was giv-en an actual crown by MajorLeague Baseball during theWorld Series in honor of hisachievement.Detroit was swept by San Fran-

cisco in the World Series. Cabre-ra hit .231 with three RBIs andended the Series by taking acalled third strike.“It’s really disappointing be-

cause we didn’t want to finish

like we fin-ished,” he said.“It was veryhard to accepthow we lost.”But winning

the PlayersChoice Awardwas special be-

cause the voters were his bigleague peers.“It makes you feel proud and

makes you feel like you’ve got towork harder, you’ve got to workto get better,” the 29-year-old Ca-brera said. “You’ve got to get bet-ter every year.”Retiring Atlanta third base-

man Chipper Jones was votedMarvin Miller man of the yearfor excellence on and off the fieldover finalists Paul Konerko of theChicago White Sox and MichaelYoung of Texas in Players Choicevoting announced Monday.Other awards went to Cabrera

(AL outstanding player),McCutchen (NL outstandingplayer), Tampa Bay’s David Price(AL outstanding pitcher) andNew York Mets knuckleballerR.A. Dickey (NL outstandingpitcher). Trout and Cincinnatithird baseman Todd Frazier werevoted the outstanding rookies,and Adam Dunn of the ChicagoWhite Sox and San Franciscocatcher Buster Posey were cho-sen comeback players of the year.Voting took place in Septem-

ber.

M L B

Cabrera voted topplayer by his peersHe edged Pittsburgh’sMcCutchen and the Angels’Trout for the honor.

The Associated PressCabrera

BRISTOL, Conn. — ESPN ra-dio announcer Jim Durham,who called NBA games for thenetwork, has died. He was 65.ESPN said Monday that Dur-

ham died over the weekend athis home in Tomball, Texas. Acause of death was not an-nounced.In 2011, Durham received the

Curt Gowdy Media Award fromthe Naismith Memorial Basket-ball Hall of Fame for his contri-butions to the sport. A Chicagonative, Durham called Bullsgames during Michael Jordan’sfirst seven seasons. He alsoserved as a broadcaster for theDallas Mavericks, ChicagoWhite Sox and Houston Astros.“Jim was the voice of the Bulls

for 18 years and he was the bestat calling a basketball game I ev-er heard,” Bulls owner Jerry Re-insdorf said in a release. “I lovedthe energy he brought to ourbroadcasts, the way he painted aword picture of what was hap-pening on the court which madeyou feel like you were there, andhis sense of humor.”Durham was the lead play-by-

play commentator for NBAgames on ESPN Radio since itsinception in 1996. His last as-signment for ESPN was Tues-day’s season opener betweenBoston and Miami.The Mavericks and Trail Blaz-

ers observed a moment of si-lence before their game at theAmerican Airlines Center onMonday night.

M E D I A

ESPN radio announcerDurham dies at 65The Associated Press

User: rstouch Time: 11-05-2012 23:18 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 11-06-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: sports_01 PageNo: 3 B Color: CMYK

PAGE 4B SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2012 THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com➛ P I A A F I E L D H O C K E Y

starter) and I couldn’t have asked for abetter groupof teammateswelcomingme andhelpingme learn.”It’s been the veterans’ turn this sea-

son to bring along new freshmen.Those players were in first grade thelast time theComets played for a statetitle.“We try to make them feel as wel-

come as possible,” Surdy said. “Ifsomething goes wrong, we try to keeptheirspiritslifted.Wearejustabigfam-ily.”The coaching staff also plays an im-

portant role. Coach Elvetta Gemskistarted the program. Her assistants,both former players, are able to offerdifferent perspectives.“A tremendous part of this is having

Patsy (Moratori) as a player and acoach,andnowLissa(Munley),”Gem-ski said. “They can bring that experi-ence to the group.”Thefamilyheadsoutonthefieldone

lasttimetoday,lookingtodowhattheydo best. And that’s what has Crest-woodplayingforgold --everyoneinthefamily is making contributions to theteam, making memories that will lastforever.“This is the biggest game in my life

so far,”Cronauersaid. “Inothersports,we’veplayed indistricts or for our con-ference. I remember last year againstGreenwood, in overtime when Istepped back on the field and theyscored (to end Crestwood’s season inthe state playoffs). This game (today),I’ll remember forever.”

COMETSContinued from Page 1B

Villa Maria CrestwoodRecord 22-1 22-2Goals 109 94Saves 89 93Shutouts 13 14Goals against 15 15Against state teams 10-0 7-0Coach’s careerwins

Maurene Polley,587

Elvetta Gemski, 617

Villa Maria HurricanesLikely starters

No. Name Gr. Pos. G A P5 Megan Parsons Jr. F 31 8 709 Amelia Iacobucci So. M 12 1 2512 Olivia Bolles Sr. M 5 1 1115 Meghan Murphy Sr. M 20 4 4416 Maura Zarkoski Sr. B 0 0 029 Alex Ostoich So. F 6 4 1632 Lindsay Moore Sr. B 0 0 034 Caroline Mackrides So. F 6 1 1338 Alena McGonigle Sr. B 0 0 048 Katie Mooney So. F 14 4 32No. Name Yr. Pos. GAA Sv.

Pct.SO

47 Erika Miller So. G 0.65 .856 13

Reserve scoringNo. Name Yr. Pos. G A P4 Morgan Bosken Jr. F 3 0 66 Caroline Mullen Fr. M 1 0 27 Adiline Del Gatto So. F 1 0 213 Katie Faunce Sr. M 4 1 917 Abby Siana Fr. F 1 1 321 Caroline Zielinski So. F 2 0 431 Julia Giampietro So. F 4 0 8Playoff goals (23): Parsons 8; Murphy 5; Iacobucci 3, Mack-rides 3; Mooney 3; Bosken 1.

Crestwood CometsLikely starters

No. Name Gr. Pos. G A P1 Chandler Ackers Sr. B 9 11 292 Maury Cronauer Jr. F 12 6 305 Hannah Ackers Fr. M 1 2 49 Morgan Kile Jr. F 6 5 1715 Rachael Ritz Sr. B 0 0 017 Elizabeth Dessoye Fr. M 10 8 2818 Ashleigh Thomas Fr. F 15 6 3624 Marissa Surdy Jr. F 19 11 4929 Megan McCole Jr. B 1 1 336 Casey Cole So. M 10 11 31No. Name Yr. Pos. GAA Sv.

Pct.SO

4 Dallas Kendra So. G 0.63 .861 14

Reserve scoringNo. Name Yr. Pos. G A P00 Daniella Callaghan So. F 4 0 86 Jessica Jennings Sr. F 0 1 17 Kailee Krupski Jr. M 2 0 410 Kara Jarmiolowski Fr. B 1 0 213 Hunter Pitman Fr. M 2 0 423 Angela Teberio Sr. F 0 1 131 Sarah Wodarczyk So. F 2 1 5Playoff goals (24): Surdy 6; Callaghan 4; Cole 4; Kile 3; CAckers 2; Cronauer 2; Dessoye 1; Pitman 1; Thomas 1.

Tale of the tape

A first-shot goal, a last-shot goal anda double-overtime thriller.It’s more a yellow brick road to the

state final instead of a leisurely driveto view the fall foliage.Crestwood has taken winning to a

different place once the state tourna-ment started, claiming victory in waysit never had during the season.“They are like barely wins,” junior

defender Megan McCole said. “Thedifference is we keep on working, wepush to the end. Even when we weredown against Greenwood, we kept init and just kept working. We knew wewere going to get back in it. We allhave that kind of faith in each other.”That faith shows.A team that faced little stress during

district play has excelled in the pres-sure cooker of win-or-go-home action.“We just keep fighting the whole

time,” sophomore midfielder CaseyCole said. “It’s easy for us to be thatway because we’re family, we all loveeach other. We want to do our best foreach other and we want to win for ourtwo senior captains (Chandler Ackersand Rachael Ritz).”The first shot of the second half was

the only goal against Hamburg. A shotwith two seconds on the clock elim-inated Selinsgrove. The last shot ofthe second overtime against Green-wood sparked a Crestwood celebra-tion.While it’s scoring that caps these

fantastic finishes, it takes more thangoals to create the season-extendingwins.“We have such a great defense,”

Cole said. “Without (goalie) Dallas(Kendra), we wouldn’t be going any-where.”McCole turned aside a sure Ham-

burg score, reaching across an opengoal to stop a shot ticketed to tie thegame. Elizabeth Dessoye turned mo-mentum in the game with a steal andrush upfield 1-on-3, one which endedwith a Crestwood corner.Against Selinsgrove, a smart play

keeping the ball in action during thefinal seconds set up the winning goal.Greenwood saw the potency of theComets’ depth, as Daniella Callaghanraced onto the field on a player changeand went right downfield to force acorner.“We honestly just come out with

heart and with our skill, and it justhappens for us,” junior forward Maris-sa Surdy said of the variety of game-changing plays.The Comets played 20 games up to

the district final. Only one, at Selins-grove in early September, was a one-goal game. The district final againstWyoming Seminary was a 2-1 Comets’win, but the game wasn’t an elimina-tion affair, as both teams knew theywere advancing to states.Since then, Crestwood has faced un-

known opponents. The Seals appearedon the slate again, but teams evolve 20games later in the season. Now, it’slast year’s runner-up, Villa Maria,which looks to do better against a Dis-trict 2 foe after losing to WyomingSeminary in last year’s final.“Playing Sem, we’ve got a pretty

good rivalry between us,” junior for-ward Maury Cronauer said. “We knoweach other and they are always biggames. This game (Villa), we don’teven need to know about them. Wejust have to make sure to play ourgame as well as we can.”

“All I know about it is that it’s anall-girls school and they’re very good,”McCole said. “That’s enough for me. Idon’t like to look at stats. I just like toshow up and play the game. We’ll playour best and they play their best.”There is little left to do, outside of

taking the field and playing for gold --a trip to the Lehigh Valley made pos-sible by seemingly every Comet.

“Those last few (state titles) -- 1999,2003, 2004 -- all had dramatic endings.We’ve already had a couple of thosethis year,” Crestwood coach ElvettaGemski said. “Keeping their poise --those kinds of moments bring it out.Each one of them, on offense and de-fense. The goal line saves, the winninggoals. Most times, it’s the coach sayingit. This team has experienced it. “

AIMEE DILGER FILE PHOTOS/THE TIMES LEADER

Crestwood goalie Dallas Kendra (4) hugs teammate Rachael Ritz after Crestwood beat Greenwood in double overtime of the state semifinals Tuesday night. Thevictory was one of the dramatic moments during the Comets’ run to the state championship game.

Comets have survived plenty of dramaCrestwood has found some newways to win in the state playoffs.

By JOHNMEDEIROSjmedeiros@timesleader.com

Head coachElvettaGemski,below, andassistantsPatsy Mora-tori, stand-ing with redscarf, andLissa Mun-ley, right,have hadplenty oftense mo-ments dur-ing the stateplayoffs thisseason.

There’s nothing like playing fora state championship.While this experience is new to

Crestwood’s players, Cometscoach Elvetta Gemski gets toenjoy the newness of the experi-ence -- after all, each seasonbrings a new team together --coupled with greatmemories ofpast trips to the state’s cham-pionship celebration. The list ofplayers who built thesememoriesis lengthy and their efforts appre-ciated.Here’s Coach Gemski’s stroll

downmemory lane ...

1981: A new era for field hockey

It was the first time the PIAAused the present-day champion-ship brackets. (U.S. Olympian andcurrent Providence coach) DianeMadl was a freshman on the 1981team that reached the statequarterfinals, losing to Reading-Holy Name, 3-0.

1983: Cometsgo19-1-1, losefinal toSpringfield, 1-0

We used togo to a college-like final four atShippensburgUniversity. We’d

go down on Thursday night, playFriday and then youwere in thefinal game or the consolationgame Saturday. That year, webeat Reading-Holy Name 3-2,then played Springfield-Montco.Back in ’83, we split goalkeepers-- we had two goalies split time --and it was all grass fields. We hadfive seniors that year, and weactually stayed at a hotel calledthe Alamo.

1984 and1987: Comets go18-2-2 in ‘84 as Class 3A team,and18-3-1 in ‘87 as Class 2Asquad

We returned to the final four asa Triple-A team (in 1984). We had

the theme of "Remember theAlamo" and got back to the finalweekend.The teamwas there again in

1987, but had bigger accomplish-ments on the horizon.

1988: Comets go 24-0-0, winfinal over Northwestern Lehigh,2-1

I remember a lot of this, beingon a football field at Gov. MifflinH.S., we played under the lights.There was a steady rainfallthroughout andwewere doing alot of slipping by the end. (Assist-ant coach) Patsy (Moratori) was acaptain and center halfback. (U.S.Junior Teammember) KathyPhelan was another captain --they provided very serious lead-ership.Northwestern Lehigh used a

very long, effective what’s nowcalled an aerial, but what wecalled a scoop then. That wassomething we really hadn’t comeup against. Wewere winning 2-0

and they scored in the last 11 sec-onds. My view of it, I rememberwewere watching the big footballscoreboard. The clock was run-ning down, and usually the clock’sat the table. But we had thatscoreboard with the big numbersrunning down. They were able toput one it. Now that wasmy view,not the players on the field.Having won, one of themost

exciting things is when you pickup the police escort and the firetrucks for the victory parade. Andthat year, they actually had din-ner waiting for us, win or lose.

1999: Comets go 24-2-1, winfinal over Southern Lehigh, 3-2in OT

This is one of the stories I useas amotivating factor. We hadnine new starters and a goalkeep-er who had never played goaliebut was a talented softball player;we lost through graduation alarge group of talented seniors.We had just three seniors, but one

happened to be (Olympic teammember) Sara Silvetti. "Believe"was ourmotto. Wemet SouthernLehigh, the returning champs, atMessiah and they had a 58-gamewin streak. Southern Lehighscored first andwe fought back.They scored again, we foughtback again. It was 2-2 in overtimeand ... That group. They specifi-cally enjoyed Country andWest-ern dancing. They did it all thetime -- pregame even -- and itworked for them.

2003: Comets go 22-3-0, winfinal over Oley Valley, 1-0 in 4OT

With four overtimes, it hadnever happened before and it willnever happen again -- theychanged the rule the next year. Itwas four five-minute overtimesandwe scored finally in the lasttwominutes. If we hadn’t, wewould have been co-champs. Itwas a game of heroic efforts byboth teams. We thought we hadscored earlier in overtime and

everyone ran onto the field atMessiah. We had to bring every-one back to the sideline. Theteam had to rally itself from thatandwe finally won on a corner.

2004: Comets go 26-0-0, winfinal overWyoming Seminary,1-0 in OT

Wewent back-to-back andwereundefeated. The final was actual-ly all District 2 -- we played Semand even the officials were allfromDistrict 2, and wewere downatWissahickon H.S. That team,even losing three seniors from’03, was great. (Assistant coach)Lissa (Munley) was a senior in ’04.This group of seniors were verygood and effective leaders. Thatwas a big factor. They were a veryfocused group of seniors to followfrom ’03 like that.

2012: Comets are 22-2-0entering final against VillaMaria

We’ll let you know.

Gemski shares championship memoriesBy JOHNMEDEIROSjmedeiros@timesleader.com

Gemski

C M Y K

SPORTS S E C T I O N C

THE TIMES LEADER SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2012timesleader.com

STATE COLLEGE -- MichaelZordich, dedicated fullback,cleared the path for his friendafter the game.His helmet off and extended

out in front of him, Zordichwaded through the crowd mak-ing sure there was plenty ofspace for this two-man convoyto reach the rest of the team.Michael Mauti followed slow-

ly behind him. He had stood be-side Zordich four months agoon a field just around the cornerfrom here as the two promisedto keep Penn State footballalive.

He needed crutches to followZordich to the end.His left knee injured, perhaps

seriously, Mauti reached therest of his team following a 45-22 drubbing of Indiana to singthe alma mater. Standing infront of the crowd in the cornerof the end zone, the players lis-

tened as the student sectionstopped a “Let’s-Go-Li-ons”cheer midway through, quicklychanging the verse.“Mi-chael-Mau-ti! Mi-chael-

Mau-ti!”The senior linebacker began

to tear up. He would be one ofmany over the next hour.Mauti’s injury -- the exact se-

verity is still unknown, accord-ing to coach Bill O’Brien -- lin-gered over an afternoon thatsaw Matt McGloin cement hisplace as one of the most prolificplayers in Penn State history.McGloin threw for a career-

P E N N S TAT E F O O T B A L L

The emotional aftermath behind record-filled victory

AP PHOTO

Michael Mauti (42) follows Penn State running back Michael Zor-dich (9) off the field on crutches after a 45-22 win over Indiana.Mauti was injured on a play in the first quarter.

Mauti’s knee injury leads to tears all aroundBy DEREK LEVARSEdlevarse@timesleader.com

45PENN STATE

22INDIANA

See PSU, Page 6C

Football/InsideThird-ranked Notre Dameremained undefeated bytopping Wake Forest. 7C

UCLA finally tops archrivalUSC. 7C

BERWICK– It seemed like a perfect sce-nario for Berwick on Saturday afternoon.It ended up being an imperfect result.AbingtonHeights’ offense hadn’t scored

in its last nine quarters,but once theCometsgot ajolt of confidence theyoverwhelmed Berwick’sstaunch defense for a 44-35 victory in the District2 Class 3A championshipgame.Abington (10-2) will

play District 11 champion Allentown Cen-tral Catholic (7-5) at 1 p.m. next Saturdaytentatively at Valley View High School inthe PIAA Class 3A tournament. Berwickended its year at 10-2.Berwick had allowed its last three oppo-

nents just one touchdown each. It surren-

H I G H S C H O O L F O O T B A L L

Dawgs justcan’t handle5-wide setAbington Heights, using five receiverformat, too much for Berwick.

By JOHN ERZARjerzar@timesleader.com

44ABINGTONHEIGHTS

35BERWICK

See BERWICK, Page 5C

WHITEHALL -- Crestwood stand-out Chandler Ackers knew her gamewas golden, days before the state fi-nal. And not because she’ll be wear-ing the black and gold of Iowa in col-lege next season."We’re not going to lose the rest of

the year," Ackers said Tuesday nightafter her state semifinal-winninggoal. "We’ve got one more win left.There’s no way we’re losing."

After Saturday’sPIAA Class 2Achampionshipgame, Ackers wascrying. The sobbingfeatured tears of joy,though, as she setup the only goal of

the title game, won by her Comets1-0 over Villa Maria on Saturday atthe Zephyr Sports Complex."I still can’t believe what hap-

pened," Ackers said Saturday. "I

think I’m going to start crying again.These girlswanted it so bad and theyplayedsohard. I amsoproudof everyone of them. They played till the endand we got the gold."It was a season that started with a

split of games, and then a rainy dou-bleheader in Selinsgrove in whichcoach Elvetta Gemski became thesixth coach to reach 600 career wins.A season where they lost to an im-pressive Holy Redeemer squad, thenavenged that loss in a division cham-

pionship playoff.And then there was drama. Lots of

it.Crestwood won the District 2 title

against two-time defending statechampWyomingSeminary by a goal,then ran off four more one-goal winsin four state tournament games --eachonecappedbyagreater flurryofexcitement."It feels sogreat," saidCometsgoa-

P I AA F I E L D HOCKEY

GOLDEN COMETS

BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

Crestwood’s Hannah Ackers, left, and Casey Cole hug after defeating Villa Maria Academy 1-0 to claim the PIAA Class 2A field hockey championshipSaturday afternoon at the Zephyr Sports Complex in Whitehall.

Another dramatic win gives Crestwood state titleBy JOHNMEDEIROSjmedeiros@timesleader.com 1

CRESTWOOD

0VILLA MARIA

See COMETS, Page 8C

HERSHEY - A coupleof funky goals put theWilkes-Barre/ScrantonPenguins in an early hole.A late lapse in the sec-

ond period finished themoff.Tomas Kundratek

shoveled home a power-play goal with just four-tenths of a second re-maining in the second pe-riod Saturday andBradenHoltby stopped 23 shotsas the hated HersheyBears pushed aside thePenguins, 4-1, in a gameof oddities at the Giant Center.Boyd Kane put the finishing touches on

Hershey’s victory by poking home an emp-ty-net goal with 30 seconds to play.Bears winger Garrett Mitchell put the

Bears on top twice with a couple of unusu-

A H L

See PENGUINS, Page 5C

Unusual goalslead Bears winBy PAUL SOKOLOSKIpsokoloski@timesleader.com

4BEARS

1PENGUINS

User: jsoprano Time: 11-17-2012 22:29 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 11-18-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: sports_f PageNo: 1 C Color: CMYK

Crestwood’sCasey Cole,left, andDaniellaCallaghanstudy theirgold medals.

C M Y K

PAGE 8C SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2012 THE TIMES LEADER www.timesleader.com➛ P I A A F I E L D H O C K E Y

lieDallasKendra. "I’m sohappy Idon’t even know what to say. Iwant to scream with joy."Players, coaches and fans cele-

brated like no other time in re-cent memory -- Crestwood’s laststate championship came in2004, when the seniors were infourth grade."We just went through quite a

few of them," Gemski said of thedramatic wins. "We told themthe only important thing is to beone-upat the finalwhistle. Itdefi-nitely helped us. The win withtwo seconds remaining (againstSelinsgrove in thequarterfinals),

for example. It’s a mental experi-ence they had. They know howto work through it."The Comets came out hard,

bursting into the Villa circle andgetting the game’s first scoringchancesasAshleighThomaswasset up by Maury Cronauer. ButHurricanes goalie Erika Millerwas there to stop Thomas’ shotand the rebound opportunity.Crestwood earned a penalty

corner from the ensuing scram-ble. The Comets didn’t get ashot, but Elizabeth Dessoyepicked up another corner. Thesecond corner was a direct passfrom Ackers to Marissa Surdy,and the junior’s blast knockedthegoal’sbackboardwithaheavythud."Every game we want to get

out thereandget the lead,"Surdysaid of her 20th goal of the sea-son. "We wanted to score first,maybe get an easy one, andmessthem up.""It’s just one of our corners we

practice a lot," Ackers said. "Ma-rissa is great at the 3-slot. She’sgoing to help them somuch nextyear."Play through the first 20 min-

utes was dominated by Crest-wood, which had four of the firstsix corners called and five of thefirst six shots.In the16thminute, itwas near-

ly 2-0 asCaseyColedribbled intothe circle and let a reverse stickshot go that Surdy tipped.Millermade the save but the reboundwas poked past her, only to bepushed away by the diligent

work of Villa midfielder MeghanMurphy."We knew we had to keep the

pressure up," Crestwood co-cap-tain Rachael Ritz said. "And ev-eryone just had to keep calm outthere."The Hurricanes finished with

a16-9 edge in corners, nonemoredangerous than the one in thesixth minute of the second half.Olivia Bolles took a pass fromMurphy at the top of the circleand slipped a shot past Kendra.Megan McCole made the de-

fensive save at the goal line, butAbby Siana pounced on the re-bound. An official’s whistle halt-ed the threat and theHurricanes’goal celebration."It was an obstruction call,"

Ackers said. "Onegirl ran in front

of the other girl."After a long rush upfield by

Dessoye earned Crestwood acorner with seven minutes re-maining, the Comets kept Villafrom mounting another threatthe rest of theway. Itwas the sec-ond consecutive loss to aDistrict2 team for the Hurricanes in thestate final, as they fell to Wyom-ing Seminary last season.Crestwood................................................... 1 0 — 1Villa Maria ................................................... 0 0 — 0First half: 1 CRE, Marissa Surdy (Chandler Ack-ers), 27:01.Shots: CRE 10, VIL 9. Saves: CRE 6 (Dallas

Kendra), VIL 6 (Erika Miller). Penalty corners:CRE 1 of 9, VIL 0 of 16. Long corners: CRE 3, VIL 4.Defensive saves: CRE Megan McCole, VIL MeghanMurphy.LineupsCrestwood -- (F) Maury Cronauer, Elizabeth

Dessoye, Marissa Surdy, Ashleigh Thomas, (M)Hannah Ackers, Casey Cole, Morgan Kile, (B)Chandler Ackers, Megan McCole, Rachael Ritz, (R)Daniella Callaghan. Villa Maria -- (F) CarolineMackrides, Kate Mooney, Alex Ostoich, Megan Par-sons, (M) Olivia Bolles, Amelia Iacobucci, MeghanMurphy, (B) Alena McGonigle, Lindsay Moore, Mau-ra Zarkoski, (R) Abby Siana, Morgan Bosken.

COMETSContinued from Page 1C

WHITEHALL – Against Crest-wood, sometimes no corner is agoal.A talented Villa Maria team

had16penalty corners – themosttheComets allowed in regulationall season – yet came up emptyevery time in Crestwood’s1-0 vic-tory Saturday.Itwas just aweek prior that the

Hurricanes scored on 3 of 9 op-portunities against a District 2foe, eliminating an exceptional

WyomingSeminarysquad.“They

were underconstantpressurefrom VillaMaria andthey with-stood it,”Crestwood

coach Elvetta Gemski said of herteam. “They had repeated cor-ners over and over again, but wewere able to persevere.”The Hurricanes ran their cor-

ners through big-hitter MeghanMurphy at the top of the circle.Connecticut recruit Olivia Bollesand Amelia Iacobucci were op-tions for a pass, as was MeganParsons, who handled the injec-tion play.The first corner endedona foul

and the second saw Iacobucci’sshot snuffed out by Comets de-fender Rachael Ritz. The thirdsaw Iacobucci get a shot through,but goalie Dallas Kendra wasthere to bat it down with herblocker. The sixth featured an-other Iacobucci shot -- again es-chewing Murphy and Parsons,who had a combined 51goals thisseason -- and another Kendrasave, this one off the right knee.“I was expecting them,” Ken-

dra said of the shots. “They hadus outnumbered, but I kept myfeet moving and stepped to theball.”“We had trouble on their cor-

ners at first, then we fixed it,”Ritz said. “Morgan (Kile)was fly-ing out but I had trouble with thedump pass. (Assistant) coach(Patsy)Moratori and coachLissa(Munley) fixed that. They had usmakea little change that set usupto pick off passes and deflectshots.Three Villa corners in twomin-

utes came up empty late in thefirst half. In the second half, thefirst corner looked like it mighthave ended with an Abby Sianascore for Villa, but an obstructionfoul ended the threat.“They’ve been amazing,”Gem-

ski said of the group, which in-cluded Chandler Ackers andMorgan McCole. “We got a tre-mendous fly from Morgan Kile.Rachael Ritz was great. Thewhole group just shut themdown.”TheCometswithstood a flurry

of five corners in two-plus min-utes of the second half and fin-ished with just six shots allowedon the 16 corners. Six other triessaw shots blocked along the pe-rimeter and three ended on Hur-ricanes fouls.“We knew what we were com-

ing up against and the defensedid a great job running them outof the circle,” Crestwood’s Maris-sa Surdy said.Crestwood finished the post-

seasonallowing just four goals on54 corners.The stellar defense went be-

yond corner play, though. WithVilla pushing for the tying goallate, the Hurricanes had difficul-ty just getting across themidfieldstripe.Ritz would cut off an outlet

pass. Or Kile. Or Casey Cole.McCole shut down a rush by thedangerous Parsons, a 31-goalscorer. Chandler Ackers inter-cepted passes and dribbled deepinto Hurricanes territory.Perhaps none was better down

the stretch, though, thanHannahAckers.“She stopped a lot of big balls

for us,”Moratori said of three keyplays in the final minutes. “Andfor a freshman to play with thatkind of poise, making the stops,putting the ball into safety. Shewas very calm under pressure.”

Cornered,the Cometsstepped upVilla Maria had 16 penaltycorners, but Crestwood’sdefense didn’t give in.

By JOHNMEDEIROSjmedeiros@timesleader.com

ComingMonday• Crestwood’sgood luckcharms• ElvettaGemski’s fifthtitle• Seniors strikegold

BILL TARUTIS PHOTOS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER

The PIAA Class 2A state field hockey champion Crestwood Comets.

Crestwood players celebrate their victory over Villa Maria Academy 1-0 in the PIAA Class 2A fieldhockey championship game on Saturday afternoon at the Zephyr Sports Complex in Whitehall.

Crestwood’s Marissa Surdy, right, knocks the ball away from VillaMaria Academy’s Meghan Murphy.

Crestwood’s Daniella Callaghan, right, hugs a teammate after thePIAA Class 2A field hockey championship game on Saturdayafternoon at the Zephyr Sports Complex in Whitehall.

User: jsoprano Time: 11-17-2012 22:03 Product: Times_Leader PubDate: 11-18-2012 Zone: Main Edition: Main_Run PageName: sports_05 PageNo: 8 C Color: CMYK