Moon girls blank feisty Latrobe to earn spot in WPIAL Class 3A semifinals

By: Dave Mackall
Friday, October 27, 2023 | 12:10 AM

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For Moon girls soccer coach Bill Pfeifer, winning never gets stale. Even after notching back-to-back PIAA championships, his two-time WPIAL champion Tigers continue to provide daily thrills.

Thursday night on their home turf at Tiger Stadium was no different.

In a particularly chippy atmosphere that saw multiple players tumbling to the surface, No. 3 seed Moon advanced to the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals with a 1-0 victory over No. 6 Latrobe in the quarterfinals. But the Wildcats didn’t go meekly.

“They have great players. They’re a nice team,” Pfeifer said, looking the way of the Latrobe bench. “We knew it was going to be a good game. At the beginning of the year, I figured they’d be there at the end. I thought there were eight teams that could probably push for the title, and they were in that eight.”

Of course, so was Moon, which won the Class 3A championship in 2022 and the Class 4A title in 2021.

“They’ve got a lot of experience, and their coach has been in the game for a while,” Latrobe coach Jamie Campbell said.

Sydney Felton’s corner shot found the back of the net early in the second half for the game’s only goal, and Serayah Leech posted the 51st shutout of her high school career to lead Moon (13-1-2). The Tigers will play Thursday in the semifinals against No. 7 Montour, a surprise 2-0 winner over No. 2 Plum.

Moon, which has allowed just two goals this season, came away with its 15th shutout.

“This team maybe isn’t as much workman-oriented as some others,” Pfeifer said. “But do they ever enjoy being around each other. They have fun and they still see the prize at the end.”

It’s a younger group — eight players saw varsity action this season for the first time — but the results have been similarly successful to other seasons.

Moon watched several scoring opportunities sail over the net and, in one case, couldn’t punch it in during a frantic scrum in front of the Latrobe goal at the 16-minute, 30-second mark of the first half.

“We didn’t finish some chances that we had. A bad touch here, a bad touch there,” Pfeifer said. “Same with them, though.”

Latrobe’s opportunities at getting to the net were limited, but the Wildcats defense was stout, and goalkeeper Corinne Brunetto made several fine saves.

“Unfortunately, we’d have liked to get a couple more chances ourselves, but I thought we did a really nice job shutting down their opportunities,” Campbell said. “We didn’t give them very much, and, obviously, that’s a really strong team.”

Felton took an assist from Marina Mollica at 38:27 of the second half and threaded the ball through the Latrobe defense.

“I don’t exactly even know how it found its way in there,” Campbell said.

Latrobe (13-3) was playing without two regulars, including senior defender Ava Yurko, who, Campbell said, tore an ACL in the Wildcats’ first-round, 3-1 victory over No. 11 West Allegheny.

“The girls rallied together as a group and fought like hell,” Campbell said. “I was unbelievably proud of them, their play this season. Such a small group that battled through a lot of injuries, a lot of obstacles. They keep showing up every single day, all their heart, giving us everything they’ve got.”

Latrobe also played the entire season without injured starter Ella Bulava.

“Just couldn’t be more proud of what they’ve done,” Campbell said.

Moon surges ahead in search of a threepeat.

“Just looking to keep it going,” Pfeifer said. “We’ve got a chance. Time will tell.”

Tags: Latrobe, Moon