The Knights Are Rising: Wyoming Seminary Field Hockey Shows Signs of a Resurgence
By: Matt Flanagan | SportzWire | September 11, 2026 | Photo courtesy Sportzwire
KINGSTON — For decades, the Wyoming Seminary field hockey program represented the standard against which other teams in Northeastern Pennsylvania were measured.
The Blue Knights were not merely a local contender. They were a state and national powerhouse.
Wyoming Seminary owns 10 PIAA state championships, 12 District 2 titles and 18 Wyoming Valley Conference divisional championships. Its remarkable history also includes Olympians Lauren Powley, Kat Sharkey and Kelsey Kolojejchick.
The program’s most recent dynasty captured four consecutive PIAA championships from 2018 through 2021. The 2020 team became the first program in Pennsylvania field hockey history to win three consecutive state championships.
That championship era featured an extraordinary collection of talent, including Emma Watchilla, Ella Barbacci, Maddie Olshemski, Isabella Pisano, Mia Magnotta, Alex Wesneski and countless others who continued their careers at some of the highest levels of college field hockey.
Watchilla now plays at Virginia. Barbacci went to perennial national power North Carolina. Olshemski continued her career at Indiana and Rutgers, Pisano plays at Temple, and Magnotta developed into a standout goalkeeper at Iowa after earning a place with the United States U21 National Team.
Wesneski also became a major contributor at Iowa. She appeared in every game during multiple seasons and enjoyed a breakout junior campaign in 2022, leading the Hawkeyes with 11 goals and earning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors. She completed her collegiate career by appearing in all 18 games and scoring three more goals during the 2024 season.
Replacing a collection of talent like that was never going to happen overnight.
After finishing 22-2 and winning the 2021 state championship, Seminary remained strong in 2022, going 16-5-1. The program then experienced an unfamiliar decline, finishing 5-13-1 in 2023, 6-11-2 in 2024 and 8-10 last season.
For three consecutive years, one of Pennsylvania’s most recognizable field hockey programs finished with a losing record.
Now, however, there are signs that the Blue Knights could be on their way back.
Wyoming Seminary has opened the 2026 season with three consecutive victories. The Blue Knights defeated Wyoming Area 2-1, shut out Easton 1-0 and overwhelmed Wallenpaupack 8-0.
Through three games, Seminary has outscored its opponents 11-1 and recorded two shutouts. MaxPreps currently ranks the Blue Knights sixth in Pennsylvania and second in Class A.
The opening victory immediately attracted attention.
Wyoming Area entered the season as one of the established teams in the Wyoming Valley Conference and had eliminated Seminary from the 2024 District 2 Class A tournament with a 4-0 victory. This time, Seminary found a way to reverse the result.
Sophomore Emma Ey opened the scoring in the first quarter, converting an assist from senior Anna Rolland. Wyoming Area’s Talia Pizano tied the game before halftime, but senior Addison Anderson delivered the decisive moment in the fourth quarter, scoring off an assist from Ey to give Seminary a 2-1 victory.
Seminary earned the win despite being outshot 8-5 and conceding 18 penalty corners without producing one of its own. Goalkeeper Lizzy Vankuyk made seven saves as the Blue Knights survived sustained Wyoming Area pressure.
It was also the head-coaching debut of Kelsie Sincavage, who has been charged with leading the storied program into its next chapter.
Sincavage brings a strong local and collegiate background to Kingston. A former Dallas standout, she played Division I field hockey at Lock Haven and has coached at Washington & Jefferson, Randolph-Macon, Dallas and with Electric Surge Field Hockey Club.
She is joined by assistants Lunda Dickson-Comisky and Paige Tedik-Skrepenak, giving Seminary a staff with extensive experience in player development, defensive organization and goalkeeper training.
The addition of Ey has been particularly significant.
Ey arrived at Seminary after being named Wallenpaupack’s varsity offensive player of the year in 2025. She was also selected for the 2026 United States U16 Women’s National Team and appeared on the NFHCA High School Watchlist.
Her impact has been immediate. Ey recorded a goal and an assist against Wyoming Area and has emerged as the Blue Knights’ early offensive leader with eight points and four assists.
She is far from the only young player making an impact.
Freshman Charlotte Fissler, an addition from the Crestwood and Mountain Top area, has already scored twice and currently leads Seminary in goals. Sophomore Erin Cavanaugh provides versatility with the ability to play midfield, defense or forward, giving the Blue Knights another promising piece around which they can build.
With Ey and Cavanaugh only sophomores and Fissler beginning her freshman season, Seminary may already have several foundational players capable of developing together over the next three years.
The young talent is being supported by an experienced senior group.
Rolland helped create the opening goal in the victory over Wyoming Area. Anderson supplied the game-winner. Ella Plummer, Apollonia Bruno, Chiara Gustinucci, Emma Murphy and Anna Murray give the Blue Knights additional experience throughout the lineup.
Behind them, Vankuyk has anchored a defense that recorded consecutive shutouts and surrendered just one goal through its first three games.
The roster’s construction offers another reason to believe this could be more than a one-year turnaround. Seminary’s official roster includes seven seniors, one junior, seven sophomores and eight freshmen.
That combination gives Sincavage and her staff veteran leadership in the present while providing an unusually large group of young players to develop for the future.
No one should declare a new dynasty after three games.
The Blue Knights still have difficult tests ahead against programs such as Crestwood, Dallas, Lake-Lehman, Wyoming Area and Blair Academy. Crestwood remains the early team to beat in District 2 after winning 18 games, a conference title and another district championship last season.
But the early evidence is becoming difficult to ignore.
Seminary defeated a Wyoming Area program that had recently controlled the rivalry. It then traveled to Easton and earned a shutout before producing eight goals against Wallenpaupack. Those results demonstrate toughness, defensive discipline and rapidly developing offensive potential.
More importantly, there once again appears to be genuine momentum surrounding Wyoming Seminary field hockey.
The names have changed. The coaching staff has changed. The road back to the top will require much more than three victories.
But for the first time in several seasons, the Blue Knights are beginning to look like a team capable of reminding the Wyoming Valley—and eventually the rest of Pennsylvania, what Wyoming Seminary field hockey once was.
The powerhouse may not be completely back yet.
But the Knights are rising.
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