High school roundup for Oct. 28, 2019: Norwin, North Allegheny to meet for WPIAL Class AAAA girls soccer title

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, October 28, 2019 | 11:42 PM

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Pitt recruit Katelyn Kauffman scored the lone goal with 29 minutes, 44 seconds to play in the second half to propel top-seeded Norwin (18-1) to a 1-0 victory over No. 5 Seneca Valley (13-4-2) in a WPIAL Class AAAA girls soccer semifinal Monday night at North Allegheny.

The defensive struggle saw great goalkeeper play, particularly from Norwin keeper Liz Waszkiewicz, who made 16 saves.

Norwin will play No. 3 North Allegheny (15-2-1) in the championship game Thursday, Friday or Saturday at Highmark Stadium.

It will be the Knights’ fourth finals appearance in five years. Norwin won WPIAL titles in 2015 and 2016.

“I knew the shots would be hard because Seneca Valley has a lot of good shooters,” Waszkiewicz said. “It’s always rewarding to have a defense in front of you to help you.”

North Allegheny 2, Peters Township 1 (SO) — Sarah Schupansy scored a second-half goal and converted her penalty kick in the tiebreaking shootout to lead third-seeded North Allegheny (16-2-1) past second-seeded Peters Township (17-2-1) in a Class AAAA semifinal.

Isabella Pietropola scored the decisive goal in the fifth round of penalty kicks. Ava Ruppersberger and Halle Marsalis also converted their attempts. Hannah Stuck scored in regulation for Peters Township.

Class AAA

Plum 1, West Allegheny 0 — The Plum girls soccer team already made history by advancing to its first-ever WPIAL semifinal game. The No. 2 Mustangs extended their run with a victory over No. 3 West Allegheny and will play for the Class AAA championship at Highmark Stadium.

The game winner came with 4 minutes, 37 seconds left in the second half. Junior Emily Kirkpatrick took a free kick from 40 yards that found its way to West Allegheny freshman goalkeeper Kayla Howard.

Howard stopped Kirkpatrick’s shot, but the ball remained loose, and sophomore Marissa Liberto was there to fire home the rebound from a couple feet away.

“I was just hungry for it all game, and once I saw the opportunity, I just had to finish it,” said Liberto, who scored her second goal in as many games.

“Everyone contributed to this win. It’s a great feeling.”

Plum (17-1-1) will face No. 1 Mars (17-0-1) for the title on a date and time to be determined. The Planets defeated No. 5 Belle Vernon on Monday in the other semifinal.

“West Allegheny played an awesome game tonight,” Plum coach Jamie Stewart said. “They are a very good team, and they made it very difficult on us. I told the girls they earned the right to be here (in the semifinals), and they worked their tails off for the opportunity to play for a championship. They deserve it, and I am so happy for them.”

Plum finished with eight shots on goal to five for West Allegheny.

The Indians had solid chances in the second half. A header by freshman Macy Partyka off a corner kick with 30:40 went just wide right of the goal, and a free kick with a minute remaining was gobbled up by Plum keeper Erica Taylor.

Plum was denied a goal midway through the first half as Howard ranged to her right to stop a penalty kick off the foot of Kirkpatrick.

West Allegheny’s season is not over. The Indians (15-3) will face Belle Vernon (16-4) on Wednesday in the consolation game at a site and time to be announced to determine the third team from the WPIAL to the PIAA tournament.

Class AA

North Catholic 4, South Park 0 — Jayden Sharpless scored twice to lead second-seeded North Catholic (13-4-0) past third-seeded South Park (13-4-1) in a Class AA semifinal. Tehya Dave and Maddie Laird also scored for North Catholic, which will meet Yough in the championship game.

Girls volleyball

Class AAAA

Pine-Richland 3, Oakland Catholic 2 — Class AAAA No. 2 Pine-Richland found itself on the brink elimination after falling behind No. 10 Oakland Catholic 2-1, but went to its “Doctor” to cure its ills. Freshman standout outside hitter Kaili Doctor had 14 kills over the final two sets and the Rams rebounded for victory.

Doctor had a half dozen kills in the fifth set, including one on match point giving the Rams a 15-10 win.

Oakland Catholic led 8-5 in the fourth set looking to close out the match, but then Pine-Richland went on a 7-0 run with junior defensive specialist Sarah Hansen at the service line and never looked back. The Rams (14-2) went on to win the set 25-21.

Prior to the comeback, Oakland Catholic (9-8) controlled the second and third sets with their front line of Ava Barkich, Liz Ford and Cat Jezerc. The Eagles led for the majority of both of them, winning the second 25-21 and the third 25-19. Pine-Richland took a back and forth first set 26-24.

Canon-McMillan 3, Shaler 0 – The third-seeded Canon-McMillan Big Macs (14-2) rode good performances by Morgan Galligan, Jenna Vogen, Sam Parker and Kaitlyn Weston to a straight-set victory over Shaler (12-6) in quarterfinal action at Canon-McMillan High School.

The Big Macs and Titans fought to a 14-14 tie in the first set before Canon-Mac closed the game on an 11-3 run to win the set and lead the match. In a back-and-forth, wild second set, Canon-Mac won in extra rallies, 30-28, including coming back from down 24-21. Canon-Mac then took the match in a competitive third set, 25-21.

It was the first playoff win for the Big Macs’ girls volleyball program in the 21st century. They last made the playoffs in 2015, losing to perennial power North Allegheny as the 15th seed. Shaler will lose one senior, starter Hayley Barry, as its season comes to an end. Canon-Mac moves on to play No. 2 Pine-Richland, which defeated Oakland Catholic in five sets Monday. The semifinal will be played Wednesday at a site and time to be announced.

Moon 3, Baldwin 2 — Moon jumped out to a 2-0 lead and held on to defeat section rival Baldwin to head to the Class AAAA semifinals.

Moon (12-3) won the first two sets handily, 25-13 and 25-15, but the Highlanders (12-4) raced back behind the outstanding play of Allison Murray to take the third and fourth set, 25-19 and 25-21. Murray finished with 20 kills and five blocks.

Moon outlasted Baldwin in the pivotal fifth set, winning 15-13. The Tigers were led offensively by sophomore Molly Simmons, who had a match-high total of 27 kills. It was the third consecutive time the Tigers took down the Highlanders this season.

North Allegheny 3, Seneca Valley 1 — The top-seeded Tigers (13-0) shrugged off losing the third set to roll past ninth-seeded Seneca Valley (7-7) 25-10, 25-16, 19-25, 25-21 and into the semifinals.

Class AAA

Knoch 3, West Allegheny 1 — Knoch continued a gutsy run through the Class AAA playoff bracket, defeating ninth-seeded West Allegheny in four games at North Allegheny. Playing without its top two hitters, Hannah Rowe and Kennedy Christy, due to injury, the two-time defending WPIAL champs pulled out a 13-25, 25-11, 25-18, 25-20 win.

Skyler Burkett stepped up and registered 16 kills for the Knights. Kate McCarty added eight more kills. Kenzie Kerkan and Ally Albert each had 10 service points.

“I’m very proud of the effort,” Knoch coach Diane Geist said. “We played a very bad first set and it looked like it could be an early exit. But we came back and played really well in the second game. The girls were just determined. They didn’t want to be done.”

The win set up a battle of unbeatens in Wednesday’s semifinals. Top-seeded Knoch (16-0) will meet Franklin Regional (16-0).

Geist said she doesn’t know if Rowe or Christy will be able to return in the playoffs.

Franklin Regional 3, Armstrong 0 — Aly Kindelberger had 18 kills to lead No. 4 Franklin Regional to a sweep Section 1 rival and No. 12-seeded Armstrong. Kindelberger, a junior and a DePaul recruit, also had seven blocks

After winning the first set 25-18, Franklin Regional (17-1) trailed for the majority of the second. Armstrong (11-7) led 24-23 and served for set point, but a Hannah Flick kill tied the score.

After a service error by the Panthers, Armstrong served for set point again, but a hitting error tied it at 25-25. Another error on the River Hawks gave Franklin Regional the lead. Aly Kindelberger kill clinched the set for the Panthers, 27-25.

Franklin Regional built a comfortable lead in the third set and cruised to a 25-19 victory that closes out the match.

Jaide Dudek had 11 kills for the River Hawks.

Thomas Jefferson 3, Chartiers Valley 1 — For the second consecutive year, the Jaguars advanced into the semifinal round of the Class AAA playoffs. The Jaguars (16-0) started slowly and committed several unforced errors in losing the first set, 25-22. But they stormed back behind Julia Palmer’s 16 kills to win the final three sets 25-11, 25-18 and 25-9.

Natasha Yanief and Tyler Turk both chipped in with 13 kills apiece. Turk added five blocks and two aces. Senior Amaleen Malcom led the way for the Colts with 10 kills.

South Fayette 3, Elizabeth Forward 0 – It was all Lions in the Class AAA quarterfinal played at Canon-McMillan High School between South Fayette (16-1) and Elizabeth Forward (12-5). South Fayette received solid efforts from Luaren Saulle and Lilah Speca offensively, as well as Alisa Gealey and Izzy Franjione.

The third-seeded Lions also took advantage of good work on the service line and poor work on the service line by the 11th-seeded Warriors, who were fresh off an upset of No. 6 Mars last week in the first round. South Fayette won the games 25-14, 25-18 and 25-16, and had multiple aces in every one of the three sets.

The Lions will appear in a semifinal for the first time since 2016, when they lost to West Allegheny in five sets, before losing a consolation match in straight sets to Knoch to close the season. They will meet No. 2 Thomas Jefferson.

District 6

Phillipsburg-Osceola 3, Ligonier Valley 0 — Jenna Moore had seven blocks and six kills for Ligonier Valley (7-10) in a 25-20, 25-16, 25-19 playoff loss to Phillipsburg-Osceola. Hailey Stormer had six kills and three blocks. Lexie Smith had seven service points. Bella Vargulish added eight digs and seven assists.

Hockey

Norwin 7, Wheeling Park 0 — Logan Connelly scored four times and added an assist as the Knights (5-0-0-0, 10 pts) defeated Wheeling Park (0-2-0-0, 0 pts) in a PIHL Class A nonconference contest. Jacob Dally produced four points, a goal and three assists. Devin Barrett and Mason Pivarnik each assisted on two goals. Sam Coll made 23 saves.

Latrobe 6, Plum 2 — Cole Ferri scored four goals to lead Latrobe to victory. Logan Schlegel scored twice for Plum.