Pine-Richland shocks defending champion Seneca Valley in Class 4A boys WPIAL final

By: Jerin Steele
Saturday, November 5, 2022 | 8:45 PM

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In preparation for the WPIAL Class 4A boys soccer final, Pine-Richland coach Jordan Weigand kept telling his players, “Somebody has to beat them,” referring to two-time defending champion Seneca Valley.

In the process, he was instilling belief in his group that they could be the ones to do it.

And on Saturday night, the Rams did just that, pulling off one of the bigger upsets in WPIAL boys soccer championship history.

Ben Rishel scored the lone goal in the 60th minute and No. 6 Pine-Richland denied top-seeded Seneca Valley a three-peat with a 1-0 victory Saturday night at Highmark Stadium

The Rams (15-4-1) won their first WPIAL boys soccer title. They did it after missing the playoffs for three consecutive seasons.

“We knew at some point somebody had to beat them,” Weigand said. “We have all the respect in the world for them. They are proven champions, and we knew it was going to take a performance. We talked it over and thought maybe it would take something off a set piece, and it was nice to see that come to fruition.”

The set piece was a free kick by Tyler Fritz into the middle of the box, headed by Tyler Derks toward the right post, where Rishel put it into the net before being mobbed by his teammates.

“That’s the only way I score goals,” Rishel said with a laugh. “That’s my fifth goal this year, and they were all inside the 6 (yard box) off of set pieces just bouncing randomly to me. It was a whirlwind. I didn’t see the ball. I just ran straight into the 6 and hoped it popped to me and it did. I didn’t have time to think. All I could do was hit it home.

“I never imagined being in this position after missing the playoffs three straight years, but we went to work. I feel we train harder than any other team. We went four days a week in the summer and it paid off. This was the perfect group to win with.”

Seneca Valley swept Pine-Richland in Section 1-4A play this year, winning 3-2 and 5-0.

Rishel said they tried different tactics against Seneca Valley on Saturday to try to slow them down and frustrate them.

After the goal, Seneca Valley pressed forward and put several attempts toward the box, but the Pine-Richland defense was there to keep it out of danger.

“We had to weather the storm at times,” Wiegand said. “Great teams can put in that performance on both sides of the ball and I feel we did just that. For how much talent Seneca Valley has at every position, we knew we had to put some pressure on them and make it a little more challenging.”

When one did slip through, Rams keeper Cadan Bennett was sharp. He made 10 saves, including one on Beau Lizewski off a header in tight with less than six minutes remaining.

“We expected exactly what they threw out there,” Seneca Valley coach George Williams said. “We knew they were going to try to slow us down. Bottom line, we didn’t speed it up enough and we didn’t score when we had our chances, so they won the game.”

Both teams will continue into the state tournament, but first there’s going to be a party in Pine Township.

“They were asking me how we are going to prep for states, but we’re going to wait a day and enjoy what just happened before we get locked and loaded to compete again,” Wiegand said.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley