Lilia Calvert connects for her second goal as the Lady Comets hosted Valley View.
Buck Norton-Jennings | For Abington Journal
Abington Heights Brianna Bustos scans the field for an open teammate during the Lady Comets game on Oct. 29.
Buck Norton-Jennings | For Abington Journal
Abington Heights Allison Stanton drives past a Valley View defender during the District 2 semifinal.
Buck Norton-Jennings | For Abington Journal
Allie Rothenberger drives toward the net for the Lady Comets during the PIAA District 2 Semifinal.
Buck Norton-Jennings | For Abington Journal
Scranton, Prep’s McKenna Toolan receives in inbound pass during their game against Hazleton Area.
Buck Norton-Jennings | For Abington Journal
Scranton, Scranton Prep’s Keira Stofko passes the ball on Saturday during their game against Hazleton Area.
Buck Norton-Jennings | For Abington Journal
Scranton, Addison Ahern dribbles the ball for Scranton Prep during the first half against Hazleton Area.
Buck Norton-Jennings | For Abington Journal
Scranton, Lola Palazzari of Prep attempts to pass the ball over the Hazleton Area defense.
Buck Norton-Jennings | For Abington Journal
Scranton, Prep goalkeeper Chloe Mamera goes up to collect a Hazleton Area shot on goal.
Buck Norton-Jennings | For Abington Journal
WRIGHT TWP. — When the two finalists in the Nov. 1 District 2 Class 3A girls soccer match first met in the regular season, Abington Heights was without the services of its best player.
Lilia Calvert made up for the lost time, helping Abington Heights gain a measure of revenge on Crestwood and win the district title.
Calvert factored in on all eight of her team’s goals — scoring six herself, and assisting on the other two — as Abington Heights won the title 8-4.
After a 2-1 loss to Crestwood in the regular season, there was a bit of added motivation for Calvert and Abington Heights to get the job done on the big stage.
“Going into this game, I knew there were some pretty big shoes to fill and that we had to step it up from the last time,” Calvert said. “I was just super excited and ready.”
The quick-scoring ability of Abington Heights was on full display in this one, with the team’s first three goals coming in a span of four minutes in the first half — with a Crestwood goal from Jordan Andrews in the middle, to boot.
Calvert put a cross into the box that set up Hawley Lynott with a straight-on look at goal, and Lynott buried it to give Abington Heights a 1-0 lead with 26:38 left in the half.
Less than a minute later, Calvert converted on a penalty kick opportunity to make it 2-0. Then, Andrews had the response for Crestwood about two minutes after that.
Finally, Calvert made a long run and drilled her second goal with her left foot to make it 3-1 Abington Heights.
The quick answers would become a theme throughout the match: the two teams would add three more combined goals in a span of 1:04 in the second half, two Calvert goals with a Sophia Kwarcinski score in the middle for Crestwood.
When Keira Dougherty scored her second of the night and Crestwood’s fourth and final goal late in the second half, Calvert was there to answer just 18 seconds later.
“Our offense is incredible, led by Lilia Calvert, but altogether as a unit they’ve been so connected,” Abington Heights coach Meghan Noone said. “They’ve had hopes of scoring lots of goals tonight, so I’m glad they saw it through.”
After finishing the first half with two goals and two assists on scores from Lynott and Allison Stanton, Calvert scored all four second-half goals for Abington Heights. Allie Rothenberger provided assists on two of them, while the other two were all Calvert.
The senior striker was able to turn any little bit of space into a scoring opportunity, using her quickness to run away from Crestwood’s defenders and get open looks.
“All of our practices we work on offensive runs through,” Calvert said. “I think we have one of the best defenses in the state … going against them in practice is a huge help.”
Dougherty had two goals and an assist to lead Crestwood, her first goal a long shot on a direct kick that the Abington Heights keeper had no chance to get to.
Abington Heights advanced to open the state tournament in a game scheduled for Nov. 4 at District 4 champion Shikellamy.
Abington Heights 6, Valley View 0
Lilia Calvert completed her hat trick in less than six minutes, getting the Lady Comets off to a fast start in the Oct. 29 semifinal against visiting Valley View.
Calvert finished with four goals and assisted on one of Allison Stanton’s two scores.
Abington Heights 10, Wallenpaupack 2
Abington Heights opened the playoffs by opening an 8-0 halftime lead in the rout of visiting Wallenpaupack in the Oct. 25 quarterfinal.
Calvert scored four goals.
Stanton scored twice and Eva Kane had a goal and two assists.
Wyoming Area 2, Scranton Prep 1
Scranton Prep took top seed and eventual champion Wyoming Area to overtime in the Oct. 25 District 2 Class 2A quarterfinal.
Regular season recap
Abington Heights won the Lackawanna League Division 1 title with an 11-0-1 record, tying Valley View once and beating the second-place Cougars (10-1-1) in the other meeting.
Scranton Prep went 3-9 to finish sixth in the seven-team division.
Calvert has 64 goals and 18 assists in 20 games to lead Abington Heights (18-2-1 overall).
Stanton has 19 goals.
Allie Rothenberger is second in assists with 13.
