Fox Chapel finds golden goal in final minutes, stops South Fayette bid for WPIAL 3-peat

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, October 29, 2025 | 10:51 PM

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The South Fayette girls soccer team came into Wednesday’s Class 3A championship game at Highmark Stadium seeking its third consecutive WPIAL title.

Fox Chapel hoped to prevent that in the rematch of last year’s championship clash won by the Lions. The Foxes also were gunning for their second WPIAL crown in three years as they claimed Class 4A gold in 2023.

The teams battled to a scoreless tie in a steady rain through 80 minutes of regulation, one 15-minute overtime and 13 minutes of a second extra session.

But senior Lily McLaughlin was able to come through for the Foxes in dramatic fashion.

She took a feed from junior Emily McKee, broke to the goal and fired a shot past South Fayette keeper Caitlyn Thompson with 1:38 remaining in the second OT to give the Foxes a 1-0 victory and a WPIAL championship for the third time in program history.

“I knew we didn’t have a lot of time left. I wasn’t sure how much time,” McLaughlin said. “We just had to get it in the back of the net. It was slippery, but I had to get a foot on it.

“Being with my team is the best part of (winning the title). We all worked hard for it together.”

The Foxes won their eighth game in a row and outscored its opponents 16-3 in four WPIAL games.

“I told the girls they have zero pressure,” Fox Chapel coach Carlo Prati said. “It was the same thing when we won 4A (against North Allegheny). Everyone was already saying they were going to three-peat and do this and that. We told them to just play the way they know how to play, and we’ll be fine.

“We played a little bit more defensive, but we still had chance after chance. I told their coach (Nick Rosser) that I was glad we gave them a run this year compared to last year. It was a good game.”

South Fayette ran away with last year’s title, defeating Fox Chapel, 4-0.

Fox Chapel (19-1-1) now will enter the PIAA playoffs and take on District 10 champion Harbor Creek in the first round Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.

“I told the girls that if they get this win tonight they will definitely have off (Thursday),” Prati said. “We will celebrate tomorrow. That is one nice thing about having a Wednesday (title) game. We have a little bigger of a break than some of the other teams. We’ll enjoy tonight and tomorrow and then regroup Friday.”

South Fayette (18-2-1) also will begin state tournament play Tuesday against the District 6 or District 5 champion.

“We still have more to play for,” said Rosser, who comforted his upset and emotional players throughout the postgame awards presentations.

“There’s still a goal out there that we can reach. It is a lot to take in right now, but there is more down the road that we have to worry about.”

Fox Chapel earned a corner kick early in the first OT, and then McKee, who came in with 12 goals in the first three playoff games and 47 for the season, took a shot on a good look with 11:10 on the clock.

South Fayette senior Mia Deramo fired one off from distance three minutes later and got another good look with three minutes to go in the period.

If the teams were feeling heavy legs as the overtime progressed, they didn’t show it. Both won semifinal games just two days earlier, but the Lions and Foxes kept fighting.

McKee made a run in the first minute of the second OT, but the Lions defense was there to put a stop to any shot attempt.

Fox Chapel and South Fayette continued to push, but the defenses stood tall.

Lions sophomore Harper Zapf unleashed a strong shot with four minutes on the second-overtime clock, and Fox Chapel junior keeper Lia Pizzella made a diving save.

About two hours earlier, both teams adjusted through the first several minutes of play in the rain that started to fall during the latter stages of the Class 2A boys final earlier in the evening.

McKee was closely marked by the South Fayette defense from the start. She got a shot off from 35 yards in the seventh minute that sailed high of the crossbar.

With eight minutes before the break, McKee got some room to move, and she took a shot from the right wing just inside the box. Thompson focused in on the shot and ranged to her right to make a diving save. The shot was the first one on goal by either team in the first half.

Lions sophomore Gabby Beinecke delivered her team’s first shot on goal with three minutes left in the half, but her attempt from the top of the box landed in the arms of Pizzella.

South Fayette freshman Silvi Rossi gave her team a chance to get on the board earlier in the half as she made a strong run down the left wing. But Fox Chapel sophomore defender Paige Capek was there to tackle the ball away from Silvi.

Fox Chapel finished the first half with a 5-2 advantage in overall shots and had a 3-2 edge in corner kicks.

South Fayette senior forward Emma Ferrari got deep in Fox Chapel territory in the 44th minute. She took a shot that sailed out of bounds to the left of the Foxes goal.

Deramo, about five minutes later, came down deep and took a shot that a Foxes defender deflected. The ball crossed the goal mouth and went out just wide to the right of the goal for a corner kick.

Fox Chapel senior Emily Korczynski made a run in the 57th minute, but she was knocked off her line by South Fayette junior defender Abbey Spalla.

A short time later, Thompson defended a good look from McKee in the box at about five yards to keep the game scoreless.

Thompson again denied McKee in the 72nd minute with an impressive kick save. McKee took the shot from prime scoring real estate at 12 yards.

“Caitlyn made some amazing saves all game,” Rosser said. “They had some good chances, and she made sure the ball stayed out. We just couldn’t do our part on the other end.”

Deramo got off a dangerous shot from 12 yards in the final minute of regulation, but Pizzella was there to make a diving save for the Foxes. Time then ran out, and the teams headed to overtime.

“They were well prepared, and we were well prepared. It was two great teams playing against each other,” Rosser said. “Everybody had great opportunities to score. We just couldn’t get that final punch in there.”

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: Fox Chapel, South Fayette