O’reilly Halfback Savors Senior Year Despite Team’s 1-13-2 Mark, Erika Zavada Finds Her Final High School Season Rewarding Because She Came Back From A Serious Knee Injury.
By STEVE SEMBRAT [email protected]
Monday, October 22, 2001 Page: 2D
Winning isn’t everything in high school field hockey. Neither is making the
playoffs.
Bishop O’Reilly senior halfback Erika Zavada can tell you why.
“It’s great just to be out there playing,” she said.
Today’s game at Dallas will be the final one of Zavada’s scholastic career.
The Queenswomen are 1-13-2 overall, and 0-10-1 in their division. Seven of
their losses were by one goal, three coming in overtime.
“It can be frustrating because I know our team has so much potential,”
Zavada said. “The whole team feels it. We try to keep our heads up, but it
can be hard. But winning isn’t everything, I’ve learned.”
Perseverance and determination, things that do not turn up in the
statistics, do count in life. Those are lessons Zavada learned in returning
from major knee surgery to play as a senior.
“I love being out there,” Zavada said. “I just couldn’t give it up. I
was willing to work as hard as I needed to come back.”
She ripped her knee up while skiing during her sophomore year at O’Reilly.
It took nine months of rehabilitation before she could play games again, and
she missed her junior season of field hockey.
“I learned to appreciate my health,” Zavada said. “You really take for
granted things like running up the stairs or kicking a soccer ball. I learned
that I had a lot of determination, because it was a lot of hard work.”
She also learned what qualities were necessary for her to succeed later in
life.
“I know, with this, I had to be very focused,” Zavada said. “I know if
you want something that doesn’t come easily you have to really work for it. It
takes dedication.”
Zavada was instilled with her love of field hockey by her cousin, Donna
Zavada Wilkinson, a 1986 Wyoming Seminary graduate who went on to become an
All-American at Duke University.
“She always told me about it,” Erika Zavada said. “We didn’t have it in
grade school, but as soon as I got to high school I wanted to play it. As soon
as I started playing, I loved it.”
Make no mistake, Zavada and her teammates play to win. At the same time,
she is realistic about her team’s situation.
Check out the top of the standings, and you’ll find the same group of teams
are there just about every season. The common bond between these programs is
most have stability in coaching.
O’Reilly, meanwhile, is on its fourth head coach in as many years. If this
were, say, head coach Maureen Berryman’s second year working with the program,
some of the close losses might be wins. A little stability can go a long way.
In time, though, the season’s records will be remembered only when thumbing
through scrapbooks. The things Zavada learned about herself can stay with her
for life.
“I think that I have grown as a person from this,” she said. “It has
been a wonderful experience for me.”
Playoff update
There will be a meeting today to finalize the schedule for the upcoming
District 2 playoffs. Schools already have set up tentative times and dates,
subject to the approval of the district committee.
Class 2A: Crestwood is at Wyoming Seminary at 3 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. on
Friday in a semifinal. Barring a major upset in today’s regular-season
finales, the other semifinal will be Lackawanna Trail at Lake-Lehman at 3 p.m.
on Friday.
The championship game is set for 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 31 at Lackawanna
County Stadium. The 2A champ and runner-up advance to the PIAA state playoffs.
Class 3A: There will be a special playoff to decide the third and final
berth available to WVC teams between Tunkhannock and Delaware Valley.
Officials are hoping to set that game for 3 p.m. on Tuesday at King’s Betzler
Fields in Wilkes-Barre Township (provided that field is available).
The Tunkhannock vs. Delaware Valley winner will play at Coughlin at 3 p.m.
on Friday in one semifinal. In the other semifinal, Wyoming Valley West will
host Shikellamy at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
The championship game is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 31 at Lackawanna
County Stadium. The 3A champ advances to the PIAA state playoffs.
Undefeated, uncrowned
Wyoming Seminary (14-0-2 in Wyoming Valley Conference play, 9-0-2 in Class
league opponents but not win a championship. Lehman (14-1-1, 10-0-1) captures
the 2A regular-season title if it defeats East Stroudsburg North today.
The last team to go undefeated and uncrowned was Crestwood. The Comets
finished 9-0-3 in Class 2A play in 1985, but wound up second to Dallas at 11-1
in the standings.
That was the last year that Crestwood did not advance to the PIAA state
playoffs. Back then, the regular-season champ in the WVC was declared the
district champ, and automatically advanced to states. District 2 started
holding a tournament in 1986, and has ever since.
FIELD HOCKEY TOP 10
Here’s a look at the top teams in the Wyoming Valley Conference as compiled
by Times Leader sports writer Steve Sembrat. Wyoming Valley West and
Lake-Lehman move to the top of the poll and are tied for first.
Rank. Team Prv. Rec. Between the lines
(tie) Lake-Lehman 3 14-1-1 Can win 7th straight WVC 2A crown today
