High school soccer roundup: Pine-Richland boys upset Central Catholic in opening round

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, October 21, 2017 | 7:36 PM

Niko Marsh scored twice, including the golden goal in overtime, to lead No. 13 Pine-Richland to a 2-1 victory over No. 4 Central Catholic (11-5-2) in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A boys soccer playoffs Saturday at Plum.

The Rams will play Seneca Valley in the quarterfinals, set for Wednesday at a time and site to be determined.

North Allegheny 1, Connellsville 0 — The defending WPIAL Class 4A champion (16-2-1) Tigers were pushed to overtime by the Falcons (11-6-1), but persevered for a first-round win. Zac Marzula took the ball up the left sideline and passed to Josh Luchini in front of the net, and the Lehigh commit sent the ball into the right corner 9 minutes into overtime for the win.

Connellsville goalie Alex Shultz made 12 saves.

Seneca Valley 1, Allderdice 0 — Caleb Cekella scored on an assist from Jackson Wotus with 10 minutes to play to lift No. 5 Seneca Valley (11-3-2) to a first-round victory over No. 12 Allderdice (10-7-1). Will Gallagher made eight saves to secure the shutout.

Class 3A

Blackhawk 3, Mars 1 — In the Class 3A playoffs, Michael Day, Adam Rolston and Logan Corradi scored second-half goals as Blackhawk (10-4-3) beat Mars (10-6-2) for its first playoff win in school history.

Chartiers Valley 5, Trinity 0 — James Moore and Dave Verduci notched a shutout, and Jimmy Boyle had four assists to lead NO. 2 Chartiers Valley (15-3) to a first-round win at home. No. 15 Trinity finished the season 11-8.

Indiana 1, Ringgold 0 — Sergio Hernandez scored on a penalty kick in overtime as Indiana (12-7) shut out Ringgold (11-5-2) in a tight defensive first-round game at Belle Vernon.

Knoch 1, Ambridge 0 — Jeremiah Smith scored midway through the first half to lift No. 3 Knoch (13-4-2) past No. 14 Ambridge (9-10) in a first-round game at Mars.

Knoch will play Montour in the quarterfinals.

Montour 5, Thomas Jefferson 0 — Seth Schleicher and Nolan Hutter each had two goals and an assist, and Gunnar Graham added a goal as No. 6 Montour (13-3-1) won a first-round game over No. 11 Thomas Jefferson (8-9-2). Brian Duggan made one save for Montour.

South Fayette 5, Laurel Highlands 0 — Max Snodgrass scored twice and Chad Eldridge recorded four assists to lead South Fayette (13-4-2) over Laurel Highlands (11-6-1) in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.

West Allegheny 9, West Mifflin 0 — Fletcher Amos had three goals and Steven Abbott scored twice as No. 1 West Allegheny (17-1-1) picked up a first-round victory at home. The Indians will play Belle Vernon in the quarterfinals.

Class 2A

Beaver 5, Keystone Oaks 1 — Nick Gengarella, Mitchell Snowden, Jacob Miller (2) and Aidan Perez all scored as No. 12 Beaver (7-8-3) upset No. 5 Keystone Oaks (12-6-1) in a first-round game at West Allegheny.

Central Valley 6, Charleroi 0 — At Peters Township, Gabe Samangy had three goals, and Dom Samangy, Brendan Jugan and Marco Masciantonio added goals as No. 11 Central Valley (9-7-2) won a first-round game over No. 6 Charleroi (15-5). Caleb Carson had seven saves for Charleroi.

Quaker Valley 7, McGuffey 0 — Caleb Bender, Will Andrews, Bando Grant, Dom Reiter, Franky Fernandez all had goals as No. 1 Quaker Valley (17-1) won a first-round game at home.

The Quakers will play Riverside on Wednesday.

Shady Side Academy 5, South Park 2 — Wally Navid and Max Farner each scored twice to lift No. 15 Shady Side Academy (10-7-1) to a first-round victory at No. 2 South Park (15-4).

Kenny Shirgill also scored for the Indians.

Waynesburg 6, Obama Academy 5 (OT) — Gavin Benson scored four times, including the winner in overtime, to lead No. 7 Waynesburg (12-6) to a first-round victory at South Park. Dalton Woods also scored for the Raiders, who will play Shady Side Academy in the quarterfinals.

Class A

Bentworth 2, OLSH 0 — Jake Davis scored twice to lead Bentworth (12-5-1) to the WPIAL Class A first-round win against OLSH (10-6-3) at South Fayette. Austin Curry recorded seven saves in the shutout.

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic 10, Quigley 0 — Hat tricks by Ryan Rothermel, Joe Kearney and Nick Milas guided No. 1 Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (17-1) to a first-round win at Seneca Valley.

The Trojans will play Bentworth in the quarterfinals.

Freedom 8, Trinity Christian 2 — Freedom (18-1) scored at least eight goals for the eighth time this season as it defeated Trinity Christian (11-7) at Quaker Valley in the first round of the playoffs. Freedom led at halftime, 4-0.

Seton LaSalle 3, Avonworth 1 — Gabe Rosario scored twice and Kaleb Krebs added a goal as No. 3 Seton LaSalle (16-2-1) earned a first-round victory at Chartiers Valley. The Rebels will play Riverview in the quarterfinals.