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LEHMAN TWP. — In the midst of a rather sluggish start, Taylor Alba kept pulling the trigger while attempting to snap her team to life.

Makayla Adams made sure it paid off.

And the hard-hitting Lake-Lehman Black Knights pulled off an undefeated regular season, along with the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 field hockey championship.

Alba finished with three assists Thursday, Adams scored the first two goals and Lehman clinched the WVC title by shutting down Coughlin, 3-0 on the black turf of Lake-Lehman.

“It’s awesome,” Alba said, “especially since it’s my senior year. “It’s exciting to be league champs. Hopefully we can go farther and get the district championship and move on to states.”

The 13-0-1 Black Knights, who finished ahead of 12-2 Wyoming Seminary and 11-2-1 Crestwood in Division 1, won’t be the top seed when the District 2 Class A postseason opens next week. That honor falls to 12-0 WVC Division 2 champion Holy Redeemer.

But the Black Knights feel especially prepared for the district postseason, after moving from the old WVC Division 3 into a revamped Division 1 and beating area field hockey powerhouses such as fellow Class A team Wyoming Seminary, Class 3A foes Hazleton Area and Lackawanna Trail and Class 2A schools Crestwood, and finally, Coughlin.

Lehman will enter districts as the No. 2 seed, with the only blemish on its record coming in the form of a tie against Class 2A Wyoming Valley West.

“It’s exciting,” Adams said. “We knew it was going to be a tougher season than our past seasons, because of the (divisional) change. But we were confident. We had a really good season this year. I think we’re really prepared for playoffs next week.”

The Black Knights warmed up by limiting Coughlin’s scoring chances and surrendering only two shots through the entire game.

“Offense sells tickets. Defense wins games,” Lake-Lehman coach Jean Lipski said. “You can score as many goals as you can. If the other team can get through and score one more than you, you’re not going to win the game.”

Alba ensured the Black Knights won the league title.

She smashed two hard setups into the circle in the first half, and Adams tipped them both into the cage. Alba also registered an assist on the game’s final goal, a shot by Madison Klopp with 28 seconds to play that punctuated an undefeated regular season for the Black Knights and overcame their somewhat lackluster offensive performance.

“Obviously it’s looking up at the right time, someone being in the right place at the right time,” Alba said. “It’s just luck, really.”

No luck involved, as far as Lehman’s concerned.

“Taylor Alba sent me a nice ball from the top,” Adams said of her first goal, which put the Black Knights on the board just under four minutes into the game. “I tipped it to the right post. It was very important. We were playing kind of sluggish all day. Once we got going the first half was really something.”

Her second tip-in of an Alba pass gave the Black Knights a two-goal lead with 11:44 remaining in the opening half — and ultimately put Coughlin in a huge hole.

“Lehman does have a very good team this year,” said Coughlin coach Colleen Wood, whose Crusaders are heading to the District 2 Class 2A playoffs next week. “They return pretty much their entire lineup. For our girls to hang in there with them, that’s saying a lot.”

Lehman believes finishing a season in a WVC Division 1 stacked with talent speaks volumes, in terms of playoff potential.

“It’s an honor, with the kinds of teams we play,” Lipski said. “We have some beautiful teams in this conference. To come out on top is just a testament to all the work these kids have done, not only all season, but all year. It’s exciting. It bodes well.”

Wyoming Seminary 3, Crestwood 1

Hannah Maxwell assisted on the game’s first goal and scored the second as the Blue Knights sewed up second place in the WVC Division 1 by staving off the Comets.

Maxwell fed Alicia Carr to open the scoring just 53 seconds into the day, then took an assist from Aubrey Mytych and put a shot in the cage to give the Blue Knights a two-game lead with 10:36 gone in the opening half.

Crestwood cut its deficit in half with Jacklyn Cavanaugh’s goal midway through the second half, but the Blue Knights answered when Emily Sims took an assist from Carr to clinch the victory with 4:14 to play.

Delaware Valley 2,

Wallenpaupack 1 (OT)

Kara Gearhart scored her second goal to decide the game 20 seconds into overtime to lift the Warriors to a victory Wednesday.

Gearhart gave Delaware Valley a first-half lead by scoring 7:55 before halftime, but Madison Schmalzle tied it for Wallenpaupack just over four minutes later.

Hanover Area 4, Meyers 3 (OT)

Madison Hummer scored her second goal of the game just over four minutes into overtime to give the Hawkeyes a victory in a game played Tuesday.

Karly Bennett also scored twice for Hanover Area, including a goal that tied the game at 3-3 with 10:57 to play.

Lake-Lehman 3, Coughlin 0

Coughlin`0`0`—`0

Lake-Lehman`2`1`—`3

First half — 1. LL, Makayla Adams (Taylor Alba), 26:09; 2. LL, Adams (Alba), 11:44. Second half — 3. LL, Madison Klopp (Alba), 0:28.

Shots — COU 2; LL 20. Saves — COU 17 (Briannah Lee); LL 2 (Alicia Galasso). Penalty corners — COU 10; LL 2.

Wyoming Seminary 3, Crestwood 1

Crestwood`0`1`—`1

Wyoming Seminary`2`1`—`3

First half — 1. SEM, Alicia Carr (Hannah Maxwell), 29:07; 2. SEM, Maxwell (Aubrey Mytych), 19:24. Second half — 3. CRE, Jaclyn Cavanaugh, 16:02; 4. SEM, Emily Sims (Carr), 4:14.

Shots — CRE 5; SEM 12. Saves — CRE 9 (Marlee Dillon); SEM 4 (Alexis Sokach). Penalty corners — CRE 9; SEM 5.

Delaware Valley 2, Wallenpaupack 1 (OT)

Delaware Valley`1`0`1`—`2

Wallenpaupack`1`0`0`—`1

First half — 1. DV, Kara Gearhart (Maecy Chiebowski), 7:55; 2. WAL, Madison Schmalzle, 3:35. Overtime — 3. Gearhart, 14:40.

Shots — DV 10; WAL 4. Saves — DV 3 (Meghan Kelly); WAL 8 (Katie Irving). Penalty corners — DV 7; WAL 0.

Hanover Area 4, Meyers 3 (OT)

Hanover Area`1`2`1`—`4

Meyers`2`1`0`—`3

First half — 1. HAN, Karly Bennett, 21:22; 2. MEY, Meghan Morris (Kendra Krolic), 15:25; 3. MEY, Sara Mangold (Maddy Davies), 3:29. Second half — 4. HAN, Madison Hummer (Brooke Stevens), 15:10; 5. MEY, Selena Soto, 14:15; 6. HAN, Bennett (Erika Merth), 10:57. Overtime — 7. HAN, Hummer (Bennett), 10:56.

Shots — HAN 4; MEY 5. Saves — HAN 2 (Chrissy Kratz); MEY 0 (Olivia Jackson). Penalty corners — HAN 3; MEY 11.

Lake Lehman’s Izzy Radel, right, steers the ball away from Coughlin’s Jordan Pugh.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_lehmancoughlin01-1.jpg.optimal.jpgLake Lehman’s Izzy Radel, right, steers the ball away from Coughlin’s Jordan Pugh.

Lake Lehman’s Makayla Adams splits Coughlin defenders Jolene Ulichney, left, and Emily Anderson in Thursday’s WVC girls high school field hockey game in Lehman Twp.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_ll1-1.jpg.optimal.jpgLake Lehman’s Makayla Adams splits Coughlin defenders Jolene Ulichney, left, and Emily Anderson in Thursday’s WVC girls high school field hockey game in Lehman Twp.

By Paul Sokoloski

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