Canon-McMillan girls roar out of halftime break, get past Penn-Trafford

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, October 24, 2024 | 11:00 PM

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Canon-McMillan ordered personal pizzas from Pizza Hut for the drive home Thursday night from Harrison City.

The food arrived much earlier than expected, at halftime.

The Big Macs’ go-ahead goal to open the second half was delivered even faster.

Sarah Coffman ran wide and poked a shot past Rease Solomon just 13 seconds into the second half, and the sixth-seeded Big Macs rode the momentum to a 3-1 victory over No. 3 Penn-Trafford in a WPIAL 4A quarterfinal girls soccer game at chilly Warrior Stadium.

Canon-McMillan (13-3-1) advances to try and grab another piece of the pie in these playoffs. It moves into the semifinals for the second straight time and will face No. 2 Seneca Valley (13-2-2) on Monday at a neutral site.

Seneca Valley blanked No. 7 Upper St. Clair, 1-0.

Disrupted by the quick goal, Penn-Trafford never recovered and finished the season at 13-5. The Lady Warriors had a first-round bye and were looking for their first win in the first round in seven years.

“That goal is every coach’s worst nightmare,” Penn-Trafford coach Jimmy Mastroianni said. “It was a simple breakdown by us.”

A quick adjustment at the top of the offense produced an instant result for the Big Macs.

“We changed our formation at halftime,” Canon-McMillan coach Matt Fonagy said. “We wanted to get the ball to open some space around their backers, so we went from two forwards to three. It worked out.”

Rachel Tomley added an insurance goal in the 63rd minute, heading in a free kick connection from Elena Moreschi to make it 3-1.

Canon-McMillan’s playing style can be described as the opposite of passive. Shots come in waves, from various spots in the attack. The constant activity leads to a number of free kicks and corners.

“We knew what they can do offensively,” Mastroianni said. “They work, they’re strong and they’re fast. This was a good, back-and-forth game. We had some really good chances.”

Abby Ault somehow slipped a corner kick past Solomon for the game’s first goal in the 34th minute to give Canon-McMillan the early lead.

The ball nearly grazed Layla Widenhofer, who positioned herself near post in front of Solomon, but the ball curved into a small opening and found the net.

Penn-Trafford responded about a minute later when Alexis Brown sent a free kick from 40 yards out into the cage to make it 1-1, a score that held at halftime.

Several girls took hard fouls in a physical second half, but the Big Macs weathered the Warriors’ attack down the stretch.

“We have a super-talented group of kids, great kids,” Fonagy said. “Their work rate never stopped tonight. We don’t have the prettiest style, but it works for us.

“Our seniors, 11 of them, are leaders for us.”

The Big Macs outshot Penn-Trafford, 14-6.

Solomon had eight saves in her final game in green and gold before her college career begins at Robert Morris.

“The great thing about this team is how they handled so much adversity this year,” Mastroianni said. “It stings, but the girls battled until the very end.

“We were the No. 16 seed two years ago. I couldn’t be prouder of them. The seniors were fantastic. They got everyone together when we had all of the injuries. The girls trusted each other.”

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

Tags: Canon-McMillan, Penn-Trafford