Burrell, Freeport girls soccer teams meet again, this time with spot in state final on line

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, November 9, 2025 | 4:53 PM

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The Burrell and Freeport girls soccer teams challenged some of the best squads in the state in the first two rounds of the PIAA Class 2A playoffs.

After both programs collected a pair of wins, the road to the state championship game led back to each other.

The Buccaneers and Yellowjackets will meet for the fourth time this season at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Fox Chapel with a spot in the state championship game as a reward.

“There’s no secrets between us and Freeport,” Burrell coach Frank Nesko said. “We know we are going to be in for a tough match. We have to play well. The last few times we’ve played them, it comes down to who makes plays and who doesn’t. (Freeport coach) Steve (Kukic) does a great job preparing the girls.”

Freeport (20-1) beat Burrell, 1-0, in the WPIAL championship game at Highmark Stadium. The Yellowjackets also collected a pair of wins in section matches, 3-1 and 1-0.

Freeport coach Steve Kukic says this match will be different.

“We’ll make a few adjustments and throw a few new looks at them so they can’t totally plan for what we are going to do,” Kukic said. “It’s always tough, especially with Burrell. They are always going to come at you. It’s going to be physical and close.”

Burrell (14-7-2) advanced through the first round of the PIAA playoffs with a pair of 2-1 wins over Cathedral Prep and Bedford. The Buccaneers had to overcome a heroic effort from Bison keeper Rebeka Costal, who made 22 saves, to advance Saturday.

Bedford scored first, but Burrell was able to battle back with second-half goals from McKenna Miller and Katie Koehler to grab the win.

Nesko said he didn’t think the Buccaneers had their legs underneath them for the 4 p.m. start in Windber.

“It wasn’t the players or coaches who were complaining, but there was a lot of grumbling that it wasn’t centrally located,” Nesko said. “Maybe there was a little bit of that in the back of our mind, but it took us a little while to get our legs under us. Once we steadied ourselves, it was just soccer.”

Camryn Woods scored the winner for Freeport during a tense battle with Lancaster Catholic in the quarterfinals. Woods, who had strained a tendon in her right foot during the Yellowjackets’ win over Fort LeBoeuf in the first round, netted the winner four minutes into the match.

“It’s been fun for us because we got to play somebody new,” Kukic said. “We weren’t just playing the same teams over and over again. We played one of our best games against Lancaster Catholic, and they gave us all we wanted. We were able to hold on.”

Both programs are looking to punch their ticket to the PIAA championship game for the first time in school history.

Kukic, who is in his second year leading the program, looks forward to the challenge. Kukic came to Freeport after being an assistant coach for the Pitt-Greensburg women’s soccer team for 12 years.

“I’ve only been living in the area for a year-and-a half or 2 years,” said Kukic, who is from North Versailles and lived in Greensburg. “I was aware that Freeport has a great tradition of girls soccer. It just hasn’t been able to get over the hump. It’s a credit to this group of players. They are talented and motivated. It makes my job easy. They are self-sufficient on a mission.”

Tags: Burrell, Freeport