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The thought has been on their minds all season.

For Coughlin, it’s a chance to reclaim lost opportunity.

For Crestwood, it’s another way to display program dominance.

And both unbeaten teams completely crave this quest to prove they’re the district’s best.

They’ll attempt to continue the direction to perfection Tuesday evening in the District 2 field hockey championships at Wyoming Seminary’s Klassner Field, where high-rolling Coughlin faces upstart Hazleton Area at 5 p.m. for the Class 3A title just before Crestwood tries to keep cruising against Lake-Lehman in the Class 2A final at 7:30 p.m.

What’s more, both Crestwood and Coughlin already defeated their fellow district finalists along the way to an unbeaten regular season.

“I just try to get my girls to realize it’s another game,” Coughlin coach Colleen Wood said.

Just another game?

Hardly.

Coughlin has been waiting for this moment since the second last season ended, with a 2-1 overtime loss to Wyoming Valley West in the 2014 District 2 Class 3A title game. The Crusaders have talked all year about claiming the one that got away, and kept them away from the state playoffs.

The result was a re-newed vigor from the 11 current seniors who returned from that team and led Coughlin to a 12-0 record during the regular season, a second straight Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 title and a thorough 7-0 dismantling of Delaware Valley in last week’s playoff opener – a District 2 Class 3A quarterfinal game.

So a victory tonight would help heal some of Coughlin’s heartache.

“We lost in districts last year,” said Coughlin midfielder Savanna Robinson, one of those returning seniors. “We wanted to come out this year really strong. It would have been a huge disappointment if we didn’t play well (in the semifinals) and hopefully, go to states.”

Win or lose tonight, Crestwood and Lake-Lehman are going anyway, since the PIAA Class 2A playoff field includes the top two teams from District 2 – unlike the Class 3A state playoff field, which only includes the District 2 champion.

So the season won’t end with defeat for the Class 2A team that fails to win the District 2 title, but Crestwood’s air of invincibility might.

The Comets, ranked as the top Class 2A team in the state, clubbed most of its opponents all season while winning the WVC Division 2 with a 10-0 record, then breezed by two opponents in the first rounds of district play.

“They’re an extremely strong, fast, talented team,” Lake-Lehman coach Jean Lipski said.

But Lehman may not be far behind.

The blemish on the Black Knights’ 13-1 record came in a 4-1 loss to Crestwood two weeks ago, when Crestwood used three second-half goals to break open a game that was tied 1-1 at halftime.

“Put together a full game, first of all,” Lipski said is the main goal of the Black Knights, who staved off Wyoming Seminary 2-0 in the district semifinals. “You have to try to play as intelligently as you possibly can, try to get to the ball first and deny them the ball. A thinking team is a better team. That last Sem game was exactly what we needed to get ready for this game. Sem pushed us for 60 minutes.”

But nobody’s been able to out-think, out-shoot, out-defend or out-last Crestwood, which boasts an abundance of offense but is backed by a defense that hasn’t allowed more than a single goal in any district or conference game this year.

“They know how to play. They know what to do. We should do well,” Crestwood coach Patsy Moratori said. “I think familiarity makes the game a lot closer. Every time you play an opponent, they figure you out more.”

Then Hazleton Area should have Coughlin down pat.

The Cougars lost twice to Coughlin during the regular season and scored just one goal in the process. But the scores – a 4-1 defeat in the first meeting and 2-0 loss the second time around – suggest the Cougars may be closing ground.

And after a 9-3 regular season, Hazleton Area reached its first-ever District 2 title game by holding off Wyoming Valley West 1-0 in a district semifinal game.

“We were feeding off each other’s energy so well,” said Annie Amentler, who produced the only goal of that semifinal victory. “We needed to play the full 60 minutes.”

And complete game of all-out effort by Hazleton Area and Lake-Lehman could pose a problem for their two opponents planning the perfect finish to districts.

“That’s why you play the game,” Wood said.

Crestwood players such as Cara Jarmiolowski, center, goalkeeper Marlee Dillon, right, and Paige Zaleppa have kept kept goals from some of the Wyoming Valley Conference’s greatest offensive weapons like Wyoming Area’s Bree Bednarski (left) to a minimum. Because of that, Crestwood is in the midst of a 12-0 season as it heads into Tuesday’s District 2 Class 2A title game against Lake-Lehman at Wyoming Seminary’s Klassner Field.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL103015FHWA-Crest_spt_1.jpg.optimal.jpgCrestwood players such as Cara Jarmiolowski, center, goalkeeper Marlee Dillon, right, and Paige Zaleppa have kept kept goals from some of the Wyoming Valley Conference’s greatest offensive weapons like Wyoming Area’s Bree Bednarski (left) to a minimum. Because of that, Crestwood is in the midst of a 12-0 season as it heads into Tuesday’s District 2 Class 2A title game against Lake-Lehman at Wyoming Seminary’s Klassner Field.
Coughlin, Crestwood try to become unbeaten district champs

By Paul Sokoloski

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Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski