Canon-McMillan Stuns Defending Champs, Blank USC in Boys AAA Finals

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, November 3, 2012 | 9:59 PM

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The WPIAL AAA Boys Soccer Championship featured the #13 Seed Canon-MacMillan Big Macs taking on the #2 Seed Upper St. Clair Panthers, a team they had lost to twice during the regular season in Section 5 AAA.  History didn’t matter to the Big Macs as they turned in a stellar performance to come away with a 1-0 stunner over the defending champion Panthers. 

Just 7 minutes into the 1^st half USC got a huge chance when Canon Mac was called for a hand ball in the goal area and the Panthers were awarded a penalty kick.  Troy Kiernan took the shot for the Panthers trying to beat Big Mac goalie James Hathaway to his left, but Hathaway laid out and just got a hand on the ball and then dove on the rebound for the huge save. 

The teams continued to go back and forth with the Panthers dominating the play early in the half but as the game progressed Canon MacMillan started to gain confidence and took the attack to USC. 

With 14:29 remaining in the first half a Big Mac corner kick force USC goalie Joe Conlon to punch the ball away in a crowd of players.  The ball flew out of the scrum to about 25 yards away from the goal where Canon MacMillan’s Josh Krucek was waiting with a clear shot on goal and he buried a rocket shot in the back of the net to give the Big Macs the only score they would need.

The second half saw both teams with chances to score, but both goalies came up big time and again and eventually the clock struck twelve, not on Cinderella, but on the defending champions. 

It was a very exciting and entertaining game between two very talented teams, but tonight the bounces went the Big Macs way and they pulled off the upset, from #13 Seed to WPIAL AAA Champions. 

The Canon Mac players were still out celebrating on the field some 25 minutes after the game actually ended.  For the Big Macs, their first trip to the Big Dance was a rousing success and they didn’t want the night to end.

Tags: Canon-McMillan, Upper St. Clair