Belle Vernon gets past Mt. Pleasant in OT to secure boys soccer section title

By: Liam Belan
Tuesday, October 11, 2022 | 10:34 PM

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Trevor Kovatch finished a penalty kick in overtime to seal not only a 2-1 Belle Vernon victory over Mt. Pleasant, but also a Section 3-2A crown.

“This takes a bit of pressure off of us,” Belle Vernon coach Alan Yeschenko said. “We’re a little banged up, so this gives us some time to recover. The approach to the rest of the season and playoffs will be to reboot and prepare for what’s next.”

Belle Vernon (13-2, 12-1) opened the scoring early against the run of play after Brandon Yeschenko put a ball into the box from the right side that squirted through goalkeeper Aiden Johnson’s hands. Kovatch added the winner with 2:31 remaining in the first half of overtime.

On the other side, Mt. Pleasant (7-7-2, 7-4-2) responded to the opening goal through Dylan Donitzen as he found the back of the net from about 25 yards out. The Vikings were unlucky to come away with a loss, but it’s par for the course, according to coach Floyd Snyder III.

“It’s been the story of our season right now,” Snyder III said. “We possess, we work hard, but we aren’t finishing. Their goalie made some fantastic saves … and they finished on the chances they had, and that’s the game. They put more in than us.”

It was Mt. Pleasant that started the match stronger as its forwards got to work right away. Just five minutes in, Luke Domasky and Zach Livingston pressed the issue against the Leopards defense, with Livingston dragging a shot just wide of Bryce Burkhart in goal.

Five minutes after that, Aydan Gross joined the attack by nudging the ball past the sophomore in goal, but the keeper got enough of it to deflect the ball just out of Gross’ reach and harmlessly off his legs for a goal kick.

Despite the pressure from Mt. Pleasant, it was the victors who opened the scoring in the 15th minute. Johnson was forced into three saves in the first half, but Yeschenko was able to beat him from a tough angle. On the other side, Burkhart made six saves going into halftime.

The Leopards continued to push forward after their goal with Dylan Timko almost setting up a second goal. The senior got to the end line and looked to cut the ball back to a teammate, but the Vikings did well to clear the danger.

To Snyder’s point, Burkhart made two incredible point-blank saves down the stretch of the first half to keep Mt. Pleasant scoreless.

First, Dylan Donitzen ran through several ricochets and deflections while miraculously keeping control and even managed a shot from about 8 yards that was met by Burkhart’s left hand. After that, with 6:26 remaining in the opening half, the Vikings played a perfect passing exchange and crossed into Gross, who put a laser towards goal, but Burkhart was again up to the task with cat-like reflexes.

“Bryce has been doing this for us all season,” Yeschenko said. “We’re very pleased with him. He started as a field player before we moved him over to be the steady keeper this year, and he’s done everything and more.”

The Leopards tried to double their lead before halftime as Dylan Rathway played a threatening through ball to Kovatch, but Johnson came out and just beat him to the ball. This left Belle Vernon’s lead at one going into the break.

It only took the Vikings five minutes in the second half to equalize as Donitzen received the ball off a free kick from Luke Rivardo and put a strike over the reach of Burkhart from a long range.

Mt. Pleasant took complete control of the match for the first half of the second 40 minutes, sending waves of attacks at the Leopards. Belle Vernon went several minutes without possession in the Vikings’ defensive half, but Burkhart and the back line continued to thwart the away squad’s chances.

With 25:05 remaining in the match, Wyatt Zarinchak was given a yellow card after his slide tackle fouled a Viking forward. The ensuing free kick was cleared back to Rivardo, who forced Burkhart into a diving save with a strong strike from 20 yards.

The Leopards eventually grew into the second half, but they were still being dominated by the Vikings. Still, both teams found themselves in a stalemate at the end of 80 minutes.

Belle Vernon almost won the match just 30 seconds into overtime after a shot was fired towards Johnson from a scrum of Leopards, but the goalie made a save with his foot to keep the match going.

The Leopards continued to push forward in extra time, and with 2:31 remaining, they were able to draw a penalty kick that Kovatch put away.

On Thursday, Belle Vernon will return to play against McGuffey while Mt. Pleasant will take on Waynesburg.

“We still have a few more games before playoffs to work on things,” Snyder said. “That’s the biggest thing, getting ready for playoffs.”

Tags: Belle Vernon, Mt. Pleasant