High school roundup for Oct. 28, 2023: Norwin stuns top seed Seneca Valley in boys soccer quarterfinals

By: Tribune-Review
Saturday, October 28, 2023 | 10:17 PM

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Even though his team’s recent track record against defending state champion Seneca Valley wasn’t exactly impressive, Norwin boys soccer coach Scott Schuchert was happy when the WPIAL playoff pairings came out.

“Love it. To be the best, you have to beat the best,” Schuchert said.

The Knights beat the best Saturday afternoon.

Owen Christopher, Alex Brown, George Bunovich and Chase Molinaro converted their penalty kicks as eighth-seeded Norwin defeated top-seeded Seneca Valley, 3-2, in a shootout in the Class 4A quarterfinals.

Luke Halberg and Brown scored in regulation for Norwin, which held a 4-2 advantage in the shootout. The Knights (13-5-1) will meet No. 5 Fox Chapel in Tuesday’s semifinals.

Zach Garma and Cole Kamarec scored in regulation for Seneca Valley (13-1-3).

The Raiders beat the Knights, 5-1, in an early season matchup this year and knocked Norwin out of the playoffs in the 2020 WPIAL semifinals (5-1), 2019 quarterfinals (3-2) and 2018 finals (5-2).

North Allegheny 6, Canon-McMillan 1 – Joey Vojtas scored a pair of goals and No. 2 North Allegheny (15-1-3) scored the last five goals of a Class 4A quarterfinal win. Arnav Patel, Will Love, Nathan Katari and Zach Nash also scored for the Tigers, who will face No. 3 Butler in Tuesday’s semifinals. Louis Liberatore scored for Canon-McMillan (10-7-1).

Butler 3, Peters Township 0 – Jaxon Llewellyn, Chris Rubcic and Thomas Sheptak scored goals while Lawson Neigh recorded two assists as No. 3 Butler (14-2-3) shut out No. 6 Peters Township (12-4-1) in the Class 4A quarterfinals. Goalkeeper Drew Knight posted the clean sheet for Butler, which faces No. 2 North Allegheny in Tuesday’s semifinals.

Fox Chapel 2, Upper St. Clair 1 – Fifth-seeded Fox Chapel (12-4-2) got past No. 4 Upper St. Clair (14-2-2) in the Class 4A quarterfinals. The Foxes will meet No. 8 Norwin in Tuesday’s semifinals.

Girls soccer

Avonworth 4, Quaker Valley 3 – Minah Syam and Fiona Mahan scored two goals apiece and Emma Luther dished out a pair of assists to lead top-seeded Avonworth (16-1-2) to a Class 2A quarterfinal win. The Antelopes will take on No. 5 South Park in Tuesday’s semifinals. Mia Modrovich scored twice and Ariana Bosh added a goal for No. 9 Quaker Valley (11-7-1).

Freedom 3, OLSH 2 – Shaye Bailey, Mackenzie Mohrbacher and Brianna Casto scored as No. 2 Freedom (14-3) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat No. 7 OLSH (10-5) in the Class A quarterfinals. Maura Randal and Alexa Taylor scored for the Chargers. The Bulldogs will meet No. 6 Springdale in the semifinals Tuesday.

Riverview 3, Chartiers-Houston 0 – Lola Abraham turned in another spectacular performance, scoring all three goals as top-seeded Riverview (17-2) defeated No. 8 Chartiers-Houston (14-4) in the Class A quarterfinals. Lily Hood, Hannah Hudack and Cailey Trosch had assists for the Raiders, who will take on No. 12 South Allegheny in the semifinals Tuesday.

Shady Side Academy 3, North Catholic 1 – Seventh-seeded Shady Side Academy (14-3-1) pulled the quarterfinal upset of No. 2 North Catholic (14-3). The Bulldogs will face No. 6 Burrell in the semifinals Tuesday.

South Allegheny 1, Winchester Thurston 0 (SO) – After both teams were held scoreless in regulation and overtime, 12th-seeded South Allegheny won 4-2 in a penalty shootout to complete a second straight upset in the Class A bracket, beating No. 4 Winchester Thurston (11-4). Ella Lotz, Rylee Stetz, Molly Zrenchak and Abby Allan converted their penalties for South Allegheny, which will meet top-seeded Riverview in Tuesday’s semifinals.

Springdale 6, Charleroi 2 – Molly Hurley had a hat trick as No. 6 Springdale (14-3) handled No. 3 Charleroi (15-3) in the Class A quarterfinals. Briana Ross had a goal and two assists and Charli McClafferty and Hailey Marchlewski also scored for the Dynamos, who will play Freedom in Tuesday’s semifinals. McKenna DeUnger and Rhianna Grogan scored for the Cougars.

Football

Bishop Canevin 48, Carlynton 0 – Marquis Carter ran five times for 159 yards and two first-quarter touchdowns as Class A No. 3 seed Bishop Canevin (8-1, 6-1) tuned up for the playoffs with a Class A Black Hills Conference win over Carlynton (2-8, 1-6). Jason Cross caught two touchdown passes, a 32-yarder from Kole Olszewski and a 56-yarder from Jayden Lindsey. Olszewski also hit Az’Juan Marshall with a 54-yard scoring strike, Tiger Clayton returned a punt 64 yards for a score, and Najeh Austin had a rushing touchdown.

Riverview 40, Springdale 21 – Carlo Buzzato had another huge rushing day, running 32 times for 412 yards and three touchdowns, as Riverview rallied from a three-touchdown deficit to beat Springdale in the Class A Eastern Conference. With the win, the Raiders (5-5, 2-4) secured their first .500 season since they went 6-4 in 2010.

Springdale (1-9, 0-6) jumped out to a 21-0 lead on two touchdown passes and a touchdown run by Chase Weihrauch. He hit Colton Gent on a 35-yarder and Garrett Myers from 19 yards out. Riverview scored the last 40 points of the game. In addition to Buzzato’s three scores, Rocco Cecere hit Toby Green for a 44-yard TD pass and Alex Schultheis and Tyler Green had touchdown runs.

Western Beaver 26, Beaver Falls 6 – Jaivin Peel threw for 105 yards and a touchdown as Western Beaver (6-4, 5-2) beat Beaver Falls (5-5, 4-3) in a battle for third place in the Class 2A Midwestern Athletic Conference. Tyson Florence added 99 rushing yards and one touchdown for Western Beaver. Datalian Beauford ran for 93 yards and caught three passes for 28 yards and Beaver Falls’ lone touchdown.

Field hockey

Pine-Richland 3, North Allegheny 0 – Jessica Albertson had a pair of goals and Khushi Saini also scored for top-seeded Pine-Richland (18-0) in a Class 3A semifinal win over No. 4 North Allegheny (8-9-2). The Rams will have a shot at their fifth consecutive WPIAL title when they face No. 2 Peters Township in the finals next Saturday.

Peters Township 1, Mt. Lebanon 0 – Second-seeded Peters Township (13-4-2) got past No. 3 Mt. Lebanon (10-4-3) to earn a date with Pine-Richland in the Class 3A finals next Saturday.

Fox Chapel 3, Upper St. Clair 0 – Brooke Thiele had a pair of goals and Annalese Bartolacci also scored as No. 2 Fox Chapel (12-6) took care of No. 3 Upper St. Clair (5-10-1) in the Class 2A semifinals. The Foxes will meet No. 1 Penn-Trafford in the finals next Saturday.

Aquinas Academy 1, Winchester Thurston 0 – Alexa Queen scored the winning goal as second-seeded Aquinas Academy (7-3-1) shut out No. 3 Winchester Thurston (2-10) in a Class A semifinal. Aquinas will take on No. 1 Shady Side Academy in the finals next Saturday.

Shady Side Academy 8, Ellis School 0 – Top-seeded Shady Side Academy (9-5) rolled past No. 4 Ellis School (0-12) into a finals matchup with Aquinas Academy next Saturday.

Girls volleyball

Avonworth 3, Southmoreland 0 – At Thomas Jefferson, No. 5 Avonworth (14-6) defeated No. 4 Southmoreland (19-1), 25-22, 25-19, 25-12, in the Class 2A quarterfinals. Avonworth advances to play Freeport in the semifinals. Taylor Doppelheuer had nine kills, Amarah McCutcheon added eight kills and four blocks, and Makayla Etling contributed eight kills for the Scotties.

Beaver 3, Burrell 0 – Chloe List had 20 kills, 18 digs and two aces as No. 2 Beaver (18-0) defeated No. 10 Burrell (15-4), 25-17, 25-12, 25-19, in the Class 2A quarterfinals at Hampton. Beaver will face Quaker Valley in the semifinals.

Freeport 3, Shenango 0 – Alaina Whitlinger and Sydney Selker each had 13 kills as top-seeded Freeport (19-1) continued its march toward repeating as WPIAL champs with a 25-9, 25-22, 25-22 victory over No. 9 Shenango (10-6) in the Class 2A quarterfinals. Josie Russo had 11 kills and eight service points, Leah Schrecengost had six kills and 14 service points, and Whitlinger added 15 service points for the Yellowjackets, who will meet No. 5 Avonworth in the semifinals.

Hampton 3, Montour 0 – Top-seeded Hampton (20-0) rolled on with a Class 3A quarterfinal win over No. 9 Montour (10-9), 25-23, 25-14, 25-21. The Talbots will meet No. 4 Thomas Jefferson in the semifinals.

North Catholic 3, Trinity 1 – In the Class 3A quarterfinals, North Catholic (17-1) rallied from a first-set loss to defeat Trinity (10-7). Match scores were 24-26, 26-24, 25-23, 25-23. North Catholic will play Oakland Catholic in semifinal play.

Oakland Catholic 3, Armstrong 1 – Third-seeded Oakland Catholic (15-3) picked up a four-set win over No. 6 Armstrong (12-4), 25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 25-10, in the Class 3A quarterfinals. Oakland Catholic will meet No. 2 North Catholic in the semifinals.

Quaker Valley 3, Neshannock 1 – Third-seeded Quaker Valley (16-2) earned a four-set win over No. 6 Neshannock (13-4) in the Class 2A quarterfinals, 23-25, 28-26, 25-12, 25-19. The Quakers will meet No. 2 Beaver in the semifinals.

Thomas Jefferson 3, South Fayette 0 – The fourth-seeded Jaguars (17-1) swept No. 5 South Fayette (12-6), 28-26, 25-23, 25-20, to set up a semifinal matchup with top-seeded Hampton.