Burrell girls blank Belle Vernon in WPIAL 1st round, advance to face No. 1 South Park

By: Michael Love
Tuesday, October 21, 2025 | 9:50 PM

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The Burrell girls soccer team scored just one goal in its WPIAL Class 2A first-round game against Belle Vernon on Tuesday at Buccaneer Stadium.

Junior Makiah Buchak found the back of the net with three minutes left in the first half.

But that single tally was all the Bucs needed.

The Burrell offense recorded 11 shots, including six on goal, and limited the Leopards to just two shots, none in the second half, in a 1-0 victory.

“We were ready to go. The girls are a resilient bunch,” coach Frank Nesko said of his No. 8-seeded Bucs, who improved to 10-6-2.

“The regular season ended with two losses, but they were to larger powerhouse teams (Plum and Peters Township). The girls took a lot from them and prepared hard for this game. They responded and came out with a lot of energy. I would’ve liked to have seen them finish more. I think every coach will say that. But they were able to do the things necessary to get a nice win.”

Burrell now turns its attention to Saturday’s matchup at No. 1 South Park (19-0) at a time to be determined.

The game is a rematch of last year’s dramatic semifinal contest won by the Bucs on a goal from Makiah Buchak with 16 seconds left that propelled Burrell to Highmark Stadium.

“At the end of the day, it is a soccer game, and these girls have played thousands of them, high school, cup, rec, whatever it may be,” Nesko said.

“It’s nothing they haven’t done before. They played and beat No. 1 last year. We’re just going to go out and do what we do and see if that is good enough to get another win. We’re going to come back and recover (Wednesday) and prepare for what South Park is going to bring at us because South Park is a very good team. We’re going to have to be ready to go and be firing on all cylinders.”

Belle Vernon, which came into Tuesday’s game riding a six-game winning streak — all by shutout — concludes its season at 13-5-1.

The Leopards upped the pressure in the second half and ventured several times into the Bucs side of the field. But they were not able to generate any dangerous scoring opportunities until a corner kick with 8:45 left.

“We had much more jump in the second half,” Belle Vernon coach Tracy Lovett said.

“We talked about doing a better job at getting some shots off and testing their keeper. We had to win the balls in the midfield and cut down those passing lanes. We were trying a few chips to get past the defense or a couple through balls. We were getting there but just couldn’t seem to finish.

“I thought we gave Burrell a very good game. I thought my defense played well, and my keeper (Rory Bastedo) made some stellar saves. Burrell is a really good team.”

In addition to their shot advantage, Burrell also held an 11-2 advantage in corner kicks but were not able to extend the lead over the final 40 minutes.

“I was very impressed with Belle Vernon’s effort,” Nesko said.

“They just kept coming at us. What impressed me about our girls is that we didn’t buckle under that pressure. Belle Vernon was physical. They were aggressive, and our girls handled it. We had three freshmen in the middle, and I thought they were spectacular. They didn’t back down at all.”

Belle Vernon got the first shot of the game just a couple of minutes in. Junior Leah Waldsmith, in goal for injured senior starter Casey Brancato, made the save.

Burrell then started to gain a majority of the possession and collected six first-half shots with four on goal.

On the sixth and final shot, the Bucs broke through. Makiah Buchak started a run and took a feed from sister Myla Buchak, a freshman, at about 25 yards.

She turned on the speed and broke away from a pair of Belle Vernon defenders to give her a one-on-one opportunity against Bastedo.

Bastedo tried to get int position to make a save, but Buchak put the ball into the left side of the goal for the score.

It was the fourth feed to Buchak of the first half. The first three came from sophomore Allie McMahon, junior McKenna Miller and freshman Chase Coury.

Buchak hit the left post on the first chance, was whistled for offside on the second, and had her third saved by Bastedo.

“Me having that energy and me keeping on running, we knew it was going to eventually be successful,” Makiah Buchak said.

“We never gave up on making that work.”

Miller had a strong chance after a Bucs corner kick, but her shot from 10 yards went right to Bastedo.

“We’re going to keep our heads up high, keep bringing that energy, and prepare our best for South Park on Saturday,” Makiah Buchak said.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Burrell