High school roundup for Oct. 30, 2019: Haleigh Finale scores four to lead South Park girls soccer to states

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, October 30, 2019 | 11:03 PM

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Haleigh Finale scored four goals to propel No. 2 South Park to a 4-1 win over eighth-seeded Freeport in the WPIAL Class AA girls soccer consolation game at Mars.

The Eagles (14-4-1) advanced to play either the District 5 or District 6 champion in the PIAA playoffs. The Yellowjackets (16-6-0) were seeking their first PIAA berth since 2016.

Finale, who has more than 100 goals in her career, scored in the fifth and 11th minute to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead early on.

Freeport controlled possession for the final 10 minutes of the first half, but couldn’t get a goal. The Yellowjackets’ best opportunity came when Sidney Shemanski hit the right post with a shot and the ball trickled through the goal mouth before going out of bounds.

Shemanski got the Yellowjackets on the board in the 56th minute when she chipped the ball over the defense to herself for a breakaway and deposited a shot into the net. It was Shemanski’s 38th goal of the season.

Finale responded with a goal seven minutes later and added another in the 68th minute by scoring off her own rebound after a free kick from Grace Albitz.

Freeport graduates four seniors, including Shemanski, but returns nine starters next season.

West Allegheny 3, Belle Vernon 0 — Mackenzie Taranto scored a pair of goals as West Allegheny (16-3-0) defeated Belle Vernon (16-5-0) in the WPIAL Class AAA consolation final at Peters Township.

Taranto scored from long range to break a scoreless tie about seven minutes into the second half and added another goal on a shot in off the post about 12 minutes later. Mackenzie Evers also scored in the second half.

West Allegheny will be the third WPIAL representative in the PIAA playoffs, which start next week.

Freedom 7, Bentworth 2 — Renae Mohrbacher scored four goals as Freedom (21-1) rebounded from its first loss of the season to beat Bentworth (15-3-0) in the Class A consolation final and earn a state tournament berth.

Mohrbacher scored twice in the first 25 minutes to give Freedom the lead for good. Myah Hrinko, Karissa Mercier and Julia Mohrbacher also scored for Freedom, which lost 4-3 in overtime to Greensburg Central Catholic in the semifinals.

Paige Marshalek and Reagan Schreiber scored for Bentworth.

Boys soccer

Blackhawk 1, Hampton 0 — Blackhawk’s EJ Vide scored the only goal of the game in the 67th minute to defeat Hampton in the Class AAA WPIAL consolation game Wednesday night at Moon.

Vide took a pass and turned toward the middle of the pitch before blasting a right-footed shot past keeper Thomas Bradfield and just inside the near goalpost. The win propelled the Cougars to the first PIAA appearance in school history.

After a scoreless first half that saw the Talbots outshoot the Cougars 4-0 and carry much of the play in the offensive end, Blackhawk was able to gain traction and carry much of the play in the second half. After not registering a shot in the first 65 minutes of play, Blackhawk registered three in a two-minute span, including the Vide goal. The Talbots ended up outshooting Blackhawk, 6-4, and had three more corner kicks during the match.

Shady Side Academy 3, South Park 1 — Sam Farner scored twice to help No. 3 Shady Side Academy (15-3-1) earn a trip to the PIAA playoffs with a win over No. 4 South Park (15-6-1) in the Class AA consolation game at Mars.

The Indians will play the District 10 champion in the first round of the state tournament.

Jack Naughton scored in the 26th minute to open the scoring, but Jake Mattis responded with a goal for South Park.

Less than a minute later, South Park committed a foul in the 18-yard box resulting in a penalty and Farner converted to give Shady Side Academy a 2-1 lead. Farner scored again in the 52nd minute to provide an insurance marker.

Springdale 2, Carlynton 1 — Not only did the Springdale boys soccer team get a measure of revenge on its biggest nemesis from this season, it also clinched a spot in the PIAA playoffs.

Ephrain Duku scored the winning goal with less than six minutes left in regulation to lead sixth-seeded Springdale (16-4-0) past fourth-seeded Carlynton (17-4-0) in the WPIAL Class A consolation final at Moon. As the third-place team from the district, the Dynamos will advance to states for the second time in the last three years.

Springdale went 10-2 in Section 3-A play this season, with its only losses coming to Carlynton.

Mike Mitchell gave Springdale the lead midway through the first half when he scored from 15 yards out. Carlynton’s Carnel Kerr tied the score when he converted a penalty kick with less than 12 minutes to go in the game.

Girls volleyball

Class AAAA

North Allegheny 3, Moon 0 — Two-time defending WPIAL and PIAA champion North Allegheny (14-0) rolled to another Class AAAA championship match appearance with a sweep of Moon (12-4), winning 25-19, 25-17, 25-8.

North Allegheny was tested in the second set, falling behind 7-1, but came back to win with Hannah Phillips recording the final two kills. North Allegheny went on a 10-0 run in the third set with Caroline Curran serving. Phillips added four more kills in the set.

North Allegheny will meet Canon-McMillan in the championship match at 6 p.m. Saturday at Fox Chapel.

Canon-McMillan 3, Pine-Richland 2 — Morgan Galligan had four kills in the decisive fifth game to lead third-seeded Canon-McMillan (13-2) past second-seeded Pine-Richland (10-3) in a Class AAAA semifinal. Canon-McMillan won 23-25, 25-17, 25-17, 18-25, 15-8. Sam Parker had five kills in the second set for Canon McMillan. Abby Thornbury had five kills in the third.

Thomas Jefferson 3, South Fayette 1 — The Thomas Jefferson Jaguars used a balanced attack, with four players having at least eight kills, to upend South Fayette and head back to the Class AAA championship, winning a semifinal match at North Allegheny.

Thomas Jefferson (18-1) defeated South Fayette (16-2) for the second time this season. Both teams qualify for states.

South Fayette won the first set, 25-22. The set featured excellent hitting, only two service errors and clean play. After that, the Jaguars stormed back and won the next three sets to win the match. Thomas Jefferson didn’t allow the Lions to score consecutive points in the second set and won it, 25-10. TJ then took set three 25-21, before taking the final set 25-19.

Thomas Jefferson was led by 14 kills from senior middle hitter Tyler Turk. Natasha Yanief closely followed her with 13 kills of her own. Julia Palmer added 12, while Claire Whalen notched eight of her own. South Fayette’s Lauren Saulle led her team with 11 kills.

Thomas Jefferson heads to its third championship match in the last six years. The Jaguars will play two-time defending champion Knoch at 4 p.m. Saturday at Fox Chapel.