Burrell girls soccer upsets Mt. Pleasant in OT, reaches WPIAL semifinals for 1st time

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, October 28, 2023 | 6:01 PM

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With about 10 minutes to play in regulation, Burrell girls soccer coach Frank Nesko had a message for freshman midfielder Mikaya Buchak.

He also had a feeling.

“I told her, ‘You’re a warrior,’ ” Nesko said. “ ‘You’re going to win it for us.’ ”

Those words were prophetic in a WPIAL playoff stunner. Somebody finally broke Mt. Pleasant’s concentration.

Buchak scored with 7 minutes, 32 seconds remaining in overtime to lift No. 6 seed Burrell to a 2-1 upset of No. 3 Mt. Pleasant in a Class 2A quarterfinal Saturday afternoon in a misting rain at Viking Stadium.

The Buccaneers cut the tires on one of the WPIAL’s fastest teams.

“We came in prepared and did our best to slow them down,” Nesko said. “With Mt. Pleasant, it’s defend, defend, defend. Our girls stayed patient and kept after it. Mt. Pleasant is such a high-powered team. We bent but never broke. Mikaya shined bright.

“This is the biggest win we’ve had.”

Burrell (14-4) advances to the semifinals for the first time and will take on No. 7 Shady Side Academy (13-3-1) or No. 2 North Catholic (14-2) in Tuesday’s semifinals.

“I put my nerves away,” said Buchak, one of five freshmen who play for the Buccaneers. “We knew we had to fight through it and keep playing harder.

“It feels good to help us win because we have never been this far.”

Mt. Pleasant (16-3), which brought a string of 15 consecutive shutouts into the matchup, was the WPIAL runner-up last season and was confident it could return to the finals next weekend at Highmark Stadium.

Suddenly, though, a promising season is abruptly finished, and a lesson was learned: Nothing is guaranteed.

“Give credit to Burrell. They were prepared,” Mt. Pleasant coach Rich Garland said. “They’re a physical team, and they possess the ball. We had a lot of opportunities and didn’t finish our chances.”

Burrell scored twice after falling behind 1-0 early.

Junior forward Rylin Bugosh scored in front off a deflection and an assist from sophomore Morgan Gesinski in the fifth minute for Mt. Pleasant.

“We have been down 1-0 at the half many times,” Nesko said. “But the girls always believe there is a way.”

Five minutes into the second half, the Buccaneers found the equalizer as senior Tessa Mathabel put back a ball that was headed off the post by senior Andi Householder.

The play developed out of a corner kick.

It was the first goal surrendered by the Vikings since Sept. 2 against Moon.

Still reeling from the rare goal, Mt. Pleasant was dealt more adversity.

Bugosh absorbed a jarring tackle and fell to the turf, where she received attention from the training staff.

She was helped off the field with a leg injury and did not return.

“We weren’t as effective when we lost Rylin,” Garland said.

In overtime, Buchak sneaked in behind the back line and stayed with the ball when sophomore goalkeeper Laurel Rummel came out to challenge.

With Rummel turned around, Buchak reset and finished off the golden goal to deflate Mt. Pleasant.

“I saw an open ball, and no one was on me,” Buchak said. “I touched it in.”

Said Garland: “We missed a ball in the back. Give credit to (Buchak).

“Burrell had two shots, on frame and they both went in. Sometimes, that’s the way the ball bounces. No excuses. We were outplayed today.”

Mt. Pleasant had not played an overtime game since a 1-0 season-opening loss to Penn-Trafford.

Mt. Pleasant had nine shots to Burrell’s four and came up empty on eight corner kicks.

Burrell again played without a pair of starters in juniors Maggie Nesko and Lilly Householder.

“We miss having them in there,” coach Nesko said. “But the girls have rallied.”

Burrell has three straight playoff wins over the Vikings. It won back-to-back playoff games in 2019 and ’20.

“We’ll take a lot of time to mull this one over,” Garland said. “It’s a learning opportunity.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Burrell, Mt. Pleasant