High school roundup for Oct. 24, 2019: Seneca Valley edges Moon in WPIAL girls soccer quarterfinals

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, October 24, 2019 | 11:59 PM

Purchase Photo Options

Sometimes all it takes is one goal, and that adage rang true on Thursday at Mars High School as fifth-seeded Seneca Valley (13-3-2) took down third-seeded Moon (15-3-1) 1-0 in a Class AAAA girls soccer quarterfinal matchup.

With just under three-minutes remaining in the first half, Seneca Valley’s Breana Valentovish hit a 30-yard shot that found its way into the back of the net. Seneca Valley goalie Morgan Sinan made seven saves to record the clean sheet. The Raiders will meet No. 1 Norwin in Monday’s semifinals at a time and site to be determined.

Norwin 4, Fox Chapel 3 — Eva Frankovic kicked in the game-winner with 4 minutes, 55 seconds left in overtime as top-seeded Norwin edged past No. 9 Fox Chapel in a back-and-forth Class AAAA quarterfinal at Norwin Knights Stadium.

Megan Dietz delivered a corner kick and Frankovic finished with a clear shot of a deflection for the Knights (17-1), who were coming off a first-round bye. They move into the semifinals for the fifth straight year.

Fox Chapel, which was seeking its first semifinal trip since 2016, is finished at 10-8-1. The Foxes got two goals from Lucy Ream and a third from Kaylee Uribe, who made it 3-2 with 9:09 to play in regulation.

That was before Abby Bartos scored for Norwin with 8:19 left for the equalizer.

Kennedy Soliday and Paloma Swankler also had goals for the Knights, who have 10 straight wins.

Peters Township 5, Butler 0 — Sarah Heisinger scored twice and Hannah Stuck recorded a goal and an assist for second-seeded Peters Township (17-1-1) in a win over No. 7 Butler (12-5-1). The Indians will face No. 3 North Allegheny (15-2-1) in the semifinals.

North Allegheny 3, Penn-Trafford 0 — Ava Ruppersberger gave her team the lead for good in the first half and Sarah Schupansky and Ellie Wrigley also scored as third-seeded North Allegheny (15-2-1) blanked sixth-seeded Penn-Trafford 13-4-0) in a Class AAAA quarterfinal match.

Class AAA

Mars 7, Thomas Jefferson 0 — Taylor Hamlett and Londynn Gonzalez each scored twice for top-seeded Mars (16-0-1) in a win over No. 9 Thomas Jefferson (12-7-1) at North Allegheny. Caroline Wroblewski, Gracie Dunaway and Julia Gagnon each added a score for the Fighting Planets, who meet Belle Vernon in the semifinals.

Belle Vernon 1, Oakland Catholic 0 — Autumn Forte scored a first-half goal off a Morgan Einodshofer corner kick and her defense made it stand up as fifth-seeded Belle Vernon (15-3-0) shut out fourth-seeded Oakland Catholic (13-5-1) in a Class AAA quarterfinal match. Belle Vernon will meet top-seeded Mars in Monday’s semifinals.

Plum 4, Hampton 2 — Kaitlyn Killinger had two goals and an assist to lead second-seeded Plum past seventh-seeded Hampton in a Class AAA quarterfinal. Gina Proviano and Marissa Liberto also scored and Emily Kirkpatrick added an assist for the Mustangs, who will meet West Allegheny (15-2-0) in Monday’s semifinals.

Class AA

Freeport 2, Hopewell 1 — Freeport’s girls soccer team was the underdog coming into a Class AA quarterfinal match with top-seeded Hopewell, and when Raychel Speicher scored 10 seconds into the game, it looked like the eight-seeded Yellowjackets might be in for a long night.

Just the opposite turned out to be true. Freeport (16-4) shut down Hopewell (12-3) the rest of the way and came away with a victory.

Freshman Akina Boynton played the hero’s role, scoring the game-winning goal with less than 30 seconds left in regulation. High-scoring senior Sidney Shemanski also played a key role, scoring to forge a 1-1 tie before halftime and assisting on Boynton’s goal. Kylie Hoffman had an assist and Maddy Zarichnak recorded 11 saves. Freeport will meet Yough (16-1-1) in Monday’s semifinals.

North Catholic 2, Brownsville 1 — Second-seeded North Catholic (12-4-0) held on to defeat 10th-seeded Brownsville (10-7-0) and earn a semifinal matchup with South Park.

South Park 4, Deer Lakes 0 — Four Eagles scored a goal as No. 3 South Park (13-3-1) won a Class AA quarterfinal over sixth-seeded Deer Lakes (14-4-1). Maddie Raymond, Nora Ozimek, Haleigh Finale and Grace Albitz scored. Ali Miklos recorded a shutout.

Class A

Freedom 6, Bishop Canevin 0 — Renae Mohrbacher netted a hat trick while Julia Mohrbacher scored twice as as Freedom (20-0-0) defeated No. 8 Bishop Canevin (13-3-1) at Hopewell. Jessica Scheel also added a goal while Morgan Schwab produced a shutout. The top-seeded Bulldogs will face Greensburg Central Catholic in the semifinals.

Greensburg Central Catholic 4, Seton LaSalle 0 — Sam Nemeth netted two goals and Jessica Nemeth also scored as the fifth-seeded Centurions (12-3-0) turned in a convincing 4-0 victory over fourth-seeded Seton LaSalle (13-6-0) in a Class A quarterfinal match at South Park. Bethany Winnor also scored for Greensburg Central Catholic, which will meet undefeated top seed Freedom (20-0-0) in Monday’s semifinals. Freedom defeated Bishop Canevin 6-0 Thursday night.

Bentworth 3, Serra Catholic 1 — Jocelyn Timlin produced two goals and Caroline Rice added one as No. 2 Bentworth (17-1-0) beat No. 10 Serra Catholic (10-8-0). Bentworth will meet Shady Side Academy in the semifinals.

Shady Side Academy 4, OLSH 1 — Callie Davis netted two goals and chipped in with an assist for No. 3 Shady Side Academy (15-1-0) in a win over OLSH (13-7-0).

Girls volleyball

Class AA

North Catholic 3, Burrell 0 — Top-seeded North Catholic (13-0) defeated Burrell in a Class AA first-round match. Sara Novak had five kills and Olivia Kelly added seven digs for Burrell (7-7). North Catholic will meet Ellwood City in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

Serra Catholic 3, Keystone Oaks 0 — Fourth-seeded Serra Catholic (14-1) raced past Keystone Oaks (9-8), sweeping the Golden Eagles for the third time this season. At home, Serra won the first set in competitive fashion, 25-17, before taking the next two 25-14 and 25-9. Grace Fazio, Amelia Bogovich and Lauren Karp led the sheet in the kill department, while Hannah Kessler and Bri Pasternak both had multiple aces.

In the first set, Serra led 24-14 before it was made tighter by Keystone Oaks. Then in the second set, the Eagles trailed 3-2 before rattling off seven-straight points to lead 9-3. Eventually the Eagles won eight of the final nine rallies to take the set. The reigning semifinalist scored the first six points of the third set, and, leading 10-6, scored the next 12 points, eventually running away with the set and match. Serra Catholic won all 39 sets it played against Section 4-AA foes this season.

The Eagles will now meet No. 5 Beaver in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

Beaver 3, Deer Lakes 0 — Deer Lakes lost a close three-set match to fifth-seeded Beaver, 26-24, 25-19, 25-18. Cameron Simurda led third-seeded Deer Lakes (9-5) with seven kills and eight digs. Renee Robson added 16 digs and seven service points. Desiree Herman had four kills and three blocks. Beaver (13-0) will meet the winner of Serra Catholic and Keystone Oaks in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

Freeport 3, South Park 0 — Lauren Lampus had 12 kills and 10 service points as second-seeded Freeport (13-0) opened postseason play with a victory over South Park (8-6) in a Class AA first-round match. Isabella Russo had nine kills and Tori Radvan and Mackensey Jack added seven kills apiece. Maddie Clark had 33 assists and 16 service points for Freeport, which will meet Hopewell (9-4) in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

Hopewell 3, Derry 1 — Hopewell used a strong first set to start the night, eventually pulling off the minor upset in a Class AA first-round matchup. The 10th-seeded Vikings (11-5) received significant offensive efforts from Leah Driscoll, whose five kills in the first set got the lower seed going, and Sierrah Nicol. Haley Barkovich, Rachel Katekovich and Alexis Thompson all made big contributions to the victory.

The Vikings defeated Derry (11-3), who was a winner as the seventh seed last year, but saw its season come to an end at Serra Catholic. Hopewell took nine of the final 10 points in the first set to win it, 25-15.

In set two, Derry had its strongest set, as it went back and forth, before ultimately evening the match at a set apiece, 26-24. Hopewell led 13-4 in the early portion of the third set before winning five of the final six rallies and taking the set, 25-15. The Vikings closed the match with a late push in the fourth set, as they trailed 11-10 before winning it 25-13.

Class A

Bishop Canevin 3, Riverview 0 — Top-seeded Bishop Canevin jumped up early in set one against 16th-seeded Riverview and rolled to a sweep by set scores of 25-15, 25-10, 25-14.

Led by seniors Maddie Maziarz, Hanna DeLisio and Alexa Malloy, along with junior Gillian Golupski, the Crusaders never trailed in any of the sets and dominated like it has over the decade. Bishop Canevin will meet Brentwood in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. This year, Brentwood dropped both of its conference clashes to the Crusaders.

Riverview (8-8) was stifled throughout, but continued to creep back and didn’t make it easy on the top seed. Alyssa Cappa and Katie Zatawski were the top hitters for Riverview.

Brentwood 3, Beaver County Christian 0 — Ninth-seeded Brentwood (9-4) topped eighth-seeded Beaver County Christian (11-4) in a match that was close from the start with only the last set victory being by more the five points.

In the first set, Brentwood won a tough 25-22 battle. Down 22-17 in the second set, the Spartans managed to complete the comeback, in large part to a lift violation by the Eagles, and win, 28-26. Brentwood took the final set 25-19 and used the comeback momentum from set two to open set three up 8-0 before sealing a spot in the quarterfinals.

Geibel 3, Leechburg 1 — Leechburg, the 12th seed in the Class A field, took the first game from fifth-seeded Geibel in a first-round match but ended up losing, 23-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-21. Geibel will meet Carmichaels in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

Brenna Callahan led Leechburg (10-5) with 20 kills and four digs. Maddie Ancosky had 12 kills and 12 digs. McKenna Pierce added six digs and 35 assists. Ashley Grinne had five kills, Gracie Reinke 16 digs and three aces, and Ava Powell five kills and three blocks.

Fort Cherry 3, Avella 0 — Allie McKean recorded 14 kills while Reagan Carter tallied 13 as No. 2 Fort Cherry (11-2) defeated No. 15 Avella (8-8) in a WPIAL first round matchup. Jadyn Hartner added 25 assists and four aces for the Rangers, who take on No. 7 Vincentian Academy (13-2) in the quarterfinals.

Greensburg Central Catholic 3, Western Beaver 0 — Greensburg Central Catholic (15-0) opened WPIAL playoff competition with a sweep of 11th-seeded Western Beaver (9-6) in a Class A first-round match, 25-19, 25-12, 25-17. Rebecca Hess led the sixth-seeded Centurions with six kills and three aces. Mackenzie Kallock had three kills and two aces, and Elizabeth Colecchia added four kills.

Greensburg Central Catholic will meet third-seeded Shenango (15-0) in a battle of unbeatens in a quarterfinal match Tuesday. Shenango swept Union on Thursday.

Hockey

Bishop Canevin 6, Burrell 4 — The Bucs (0-4) led 3-1 after one period, but the Crusaders (2-4) rallied with four goals in the second and went on to post a PIHL Class B victory. Luke Rose and Preston Rice each tallied two goals and two assists for Burrell, and Carson Kaczmarek and Cole Vassana contributed assists. Cameron Ropchock recorded a hat trick for Bishop Canevin, and Chase Evans assisted on three goals. Austin Schueler posted 22 saves for the Bucs, and Zach Hartlep made 28 stops for the Crusaders.

South Park 4, Freeport 2 — The Eagles (3-1) scored twice in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie and beat the Yellowjackets (1-3) in a PIHL Class A game. Cole Mitchell and Nico DiSanti scored for Freeport, and Nate Legin stopped 26 shots.

Hempfield 8, Armstrong 5 — Matt Traczynski had three goals and two assists to lead Hempfield past Armstrong. Trent Gray had two goals and Christian Konieczka had a goal and three assists for Hempfield. Noah Oliver had two goals and an assist for Armstrong.