Greensburg Central Catholic is Perfect Champion in Winning WPIAL Girls A Soccer Title

By: Bruce Markey
Saturday, November 5, 2011 | 7:29 PM

This title tilt marked the third time this season that these two Section 4 (A) rivals had met on the soccer pitch. The Centurions had captured the first two contests both by 1-0 scores. Springdale’s championship game appearance was the 4th time the Dynamos played for the title in the last 5 seasons, and this was their first Class A appearance after winning the Class AA WPIAL title in 2009.

Greensburg Central Catholic struck first and the Centurions super sophomore Frannie Crouse struck often, netting a hat trick in a 7 minute span of the first half. Crouse spilt two defenders on the left wing to net the game’s first tally in the 10th minute of play. Six minutes later, Crouse found a loose ball at the top left of the crease and found the back of the net to make the score 2-0. A minute later, Crouse found herself open in space on the right wing and her shot sailed past Springdale goalkeeper Erica Roney and inside the far post for a 3-0 Centurions lead. Springdale would get its only goal of the game in the 31st minute of play. Senior forward Krista Edwards was held in the box. Edwards misfired to the near post on the penalty kick, but Greensburg Central Catholic goalkeeper MacKenzie Shearson was called for moving too quickly off her line. Edwards buried the redo PK under the crossbar to make the score 3-1.

Edwards’ goal was her sixth of the playoffs and she now leads Springdale with 13 goals in 2011. For Crouse, her astronomical numbers keep adding up. The hat trick was her third multi goal game in four playoff matches as she scored 3 against Neshannock and netted 4 in a quarterfinal win over OLSH. Dating back 12 games to September 23rd during the regular season, Crouse has authored 8 multi-goal games, five hat tricks, two (5) goal games and one (4) goal match. The sophomore mid/forward now has (53) goals on the season and 85 in her two-year career.

Springdale’s WPIAL season ends at (13-7-2) and the Dynamos head back to the state playoffs as the number 2 team from District 7 (WPIAL). Last season, Springdale made it to the PIAA semifinals before losing to Sewickley Academy. Greensburg Central Catholic remained perfect, improving to (20-0) and capturing its second WPIAL Championship, first since 2005. The Centurions are the top seed from District 7 and will face Richland, the champions from District 6 in the upcoming PIAA Class Girls State Tournament.  The Centurions win also completed the state playoff qualifying order for the WPIAL as Shady Side Academy slots in as the third place team and Avonworth is number four.

Greensburg Central Catholic       3 – 0 = 3
Springdale                                           1 – 0 = 1

First Half
(10th Minute) – GCC – Frannie Crouse (51st)
(16th Minute) – GCC – Frannie Crouse (52st)
(17th Minute) – GCC – Frannie Crouse (53st)
(31st Minute) – Springdale – Krista Edwards (13th) – Penalty Kick

Second Half
No Scoring
Goalkeepers
GCC – MacKenzie Shearson (7 Shots – 6 Saves)
Springdale – Erica Roney (8 Shots – 5 Saves)
 

Tags: Greensburg C.C.