CWNC Blanks Springdale in Boys 1-A Finals for First WPIAL Soccer Title

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, November 4, 2017 | 5:51 AM

As the temperature dropped outside, the Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic boys soccer program heated up. The Trojans defeated Springdale 2-0 to win the WPIAL 1-A boys soccer Championship.

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic came into the contest with an overall record of 19-1 and section record of 14-0. The previous two meetings between the Trojans and Dynamos went in favor of Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic as they won 7-1 and 1-0.

The Trojans made it to 1-A WPIAL Championships last year but lost 1-0 to Sewickley Academy. They also advanced to the second round of state playoffs but, following tonight’s win, expect to be in the PIAA Championship this season.

As for Springdale, the Dynamos haven’t won a boys soccer championship since 1973 but did compete in a WPIAL championship in 2009 but lost 2-1 to Greensburg Central Catholic. Springdale won 9 WPIAL Championships from 1961-1973 but couldn’t convert that number to double digits.

Moving on to the game at hand, both teams displayed strong defense in the first half as the scores was tied 0-0 after 40 minutes.

The second half was a much different story as the Trojans dominated time of possession. Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic scored its first goal at the 33:57 mark in the second half thanks to a Mike Drambel header off a cross from Bryce Kopchak.

Kopchack would pick up another helper at the 18:34 mark in the second half as he set up, 52 goal scorer, Joe Kearney.

Springdale only tallied a few shots all game, landing two on net. The Dynamos focused heavily on defense and saw little offensive chances.

With the win Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic advances to 20-1 on the season and will compete in the PIAA State Playoffs this upcoming Tuesday.

Following the heartbreaking loss, Springdale moves to 15-5-1 on the season but will have a chance at a state title as they play Tuesday as well in the PIAA State Playoffs.