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Williamsport girls soccer falls in District 2-4 Class AAAA final to Wilkes-Barre Area

By STEPHANIE PANNY 5 min read

PLAINS TWP. - After its semifinal match against Wyoming Valley West, Wilkes-Barre Area knew something had to change on the field entering Friday night.

Looking back at film, Wolfpack girls’ soccer head coach Nick Hufford saw how ultra-conservative his team played against the Spartans. Heading into Friday night's District 2-4 Class 4A subregional championship against Williamsport, Hufford wanted his Wolfpack to adopt the mentality from an earlier-season game against Crestwood.

Aggression.

"I told them channel where we were with that second Crestwood game," Hufford said. "We were the aggressor. We were the ones pressing the attack, putting them on their heels. That was that."

The Wolfpack heeded Hufford's directive.

Despite a slower start, persistent pressure on the Millionaires resulted in a hat trick from junior Addison Corchardo - plus individual goals from senior Jordan Prushinski and sophomore Aliyah Baez - that lifted WBA to a 5-1 subregional championship win over the Millionaires.

Wilkes-Barre Area (16-2-3), which will open the state tournament at Wolfpack Stadium, will have its next game on Wednesday night against District 1 fourth-placer Council Rock South.

Early on, Wilkes-Barre Area and Williamsport fought for control over the ball. Despite an early push from the Millionaires, the Wolfpack slowly established control and pressed back before finally breaking deep into Williamsport territory. The slower start sowed nerves on both sides of the field, as players and coaches alike waited for a moment when one team would break the stalemate.

Around the 29th minute, however, there was a definite shift in energy on the field as Wilkes-Barre Area began to exert influence over the pace of the game. WBA increased its pressure on the Millionaires, and the Wolfpack started finding ways to rain shots down on Williamsport goalie Valerie Beiter.

Although the Millionaires briefly tried to take back control of the game, the Wolfpack shut them down. Taking advantage of clumping players and collapsing passing lanes, WBA started to create more openings and take advantage of open territory close to the Millionaires' net.

It was on one of these opportunities that the Wolfpack struck gold.

Hailey Tapia connected on a pass with Corchado in front of Beiter. With 23:59 left on the clock, Corchado launched the ball into the right corner of the goal to get Wilkes-Barre on the board.

Just over three minutes later, Kathryn Buczymski found Corchado right at the top of the field, and Corchado fired it into the net to add insurance as WBA held a 2-0 lead at the half.

"We’re a little uptight (early on)," Hufford said. "We’re over-anxious. The energy level’s high. When Addison scored that first goal or even when, you know, we score that first goal in previous games, our team starts to relax. It’s like, 'Okay, we’re up, let’s play calm, possessive soccer,' which is the style that we want to play. Addison being able to put us on the board that early and quickly...(it) definitely let us relax."

The relaxed mentality of the team was obvious as soon as the players came back onto the field in the second half. Despite a more aggressive showing from Williamsport, Wilkes-Barre continued to control the field and push the Millionaires back into defense.

Not even 10 minutes into the second half, Corchado posted her hat trick. Securing the ball around the center-left of the field, she curled around the Millionaire in front of her and fired the ball off on another massive kick.

The crowd watched with bated breath as it drifted up and over Beiter's head. Then, the spectators let out loud howls as the ball hit the back of the net.

"I think it was just like the energy of the game," Corchado said of her goals. "We had a great crowd, a great showing, and we just we played our game. The last game...it was pretty, pretty tough. It was good to get those goals when I couldn’t last game."

"Addison is a phenomenal player. It’s why she was all-state," Hufford said. "She’s one of the heart and souls of this team, and some of the shots that she just pulls off are ridiculous. It’s just fun to watch."

About seven minutes later, sophomore Aliyah Baez took a page out of Corchado's book and drilled the ball past Beiter after receiving it from senior Jordan Prushinski. With 12:21 left on the clock, Prushinski scored an unassisted goal herself to answer a tally from Williamsport's Brynli Carnevale.

"We've been waiting for Jordan to hit one from about 40 yards out for a while now," Hufford said. "I’m proud of her taking that shot. I’m proud of all of them."

Millionaires' coach Beckham Sibiski was hoping Carnevale's goal would kickoff a scoring run. Carnevale nearly made it 4-2 not too long after her goal, but critical blocks from Wolfpack defenders shifted the momentum back onto Wilkes-Barre's side.

"(The goal) really boosted us," Sibiski said. "I thought we had a little half chance to make it 4-2, and then, you know, anything can happen from there. Soccer’s a crazy game."

The Wolfpack refused to let the Millionaires score again, fending off more shots on goal - including a mid-air snag from goalie Victoria Luna on a Williamsport corner kick - and keeping their foot on the gas until the final whistle blew.

"Sky’s the limit for this team. That’s all I’m going to say," Hufford said. "With the amount of leaders and young players that we have that have the experience, sky’s the limit. We’ll see what happens because anything can happen in the state tournament. We’re just excited to be there."

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