Fox Chapel boys gets past Peters Township to finally clear semifinal hurdle

By: Jerin Steele
Tuesday, October 29, 2024 | 11:20 PM

After four consecutive years of semifinal heartbreak, the Fox Chapel boys soccer team finally exorcised the demon.

Aidan Stein scored the game-winning goal in the 69th minute as No. 3 Fox Chapel earned a 1-0 win over No. 2 Peters Township on Tuesday night at Gateway’s Antimarino Stadium.

“It means so much to me and these boys,” Stein said about making it to the final. “I’ve played with most of these players since I was 4 or 5 years old, so the fact that we were finally able to crack it is such a good feeling. We’ve known we’ve wanted to get here since we were kids. Now we just have to go finish it off.”

The Foxes (12-4-2) advanced to the finals for the first time since 2015 to play top-seeded Plum in the Class 4A boys soccer final at 8 p.m. Friday at Highmark Stadium. They also clinched a state playoff berth. Peters Township finished 16-2-1.

Stein made a run in on goal on the left side and put a shot against the grain that went into the bottom right corner.

“I really blacked out after it went in,” Stein said. “The ball came through, and I just tried to get a touch on it. I was able to make a run and decided we hadn’t put enough shots on goal, so I went for it and it went in.”

After taking the lead, Fox Chapel was able to hold on over the final 11 minutes by continuing to control possession.

Peters Township got a big opportunity late after it was awarded a free kick with two minutes remaining after a yellow card was issued to Kellan Bleier for a foul. Peters Township keeper Marcus Bizyak came up to take the free kick from midfield, putting everyone in the box, but a headed attempt was smothered by Fox Chapel keeper Brady Matthews.

One final clearance was made in the final seconds and the Foxes rushed the field as time expired.

Stein’s goal came after he had a couple of opportunities just moments beforehand.

One was on a free kick that he sent well wide and another came on a run on the left side, but his shot was blocked and the rebound attempt was blocked as well before trickling to Bizyak.

The Foxes kept possession for long stretches and felt they were eventually going to break through.

“I actually thought we were going to score early in the game with all the chances we created, but (Peters Township) is hard to play,” Foxes coach Erik Ingram said. “Those Peters Township kids don’t stop working, so it’s hard. Anything you create and you build, they were right there, but we thought eventually we were going to get the goal because we were storming the gates quite a bit.”

After a scoreless first half, both teams had several opportunities to strike first prior to Stein’s goal.

Fox Chapel nearly got on the board when it had two cracks at goal, but Bizyak denied both chances.

Then it was the Indians who nearly got on the board when Alex Parise had a point-blank shot, but Matthews was there to keep it out.

In the 58th minute, Foxes midfielder Milo Chiu received a yellow card for a foul. The subsequent free kick from 50 yards was put on goal, but Matthews made another save.

“I think Brady is the best goalie in the WPIAL at any classification and he’s now been playing goal for only one year and one month,” Ingram said. “He’s a sponge and he’s amazingly athletic. We have an assistant coach that specializes in defense and goalkeeping that works with him as well.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Fox Chapel, Peters Township