Kiski Area girls soccer team edges Connellsville with second-half goal

By: Jason Black
Monday, October 25, 2021 | 9:27 PM

The Connellsville girls soccer team came into Monday’s WPIAL Class 3A playoff home game against Kiski Area with the opportunity to make program history. It didn’t happen.

The fourth-seeded Falcons, seeking the program’s first WPIAL playoff win, were burnt by the speed of 13th-seeded Kiski Area as the Cavaliers scored a late goal and held on for a 2-1 win at Connellsville Stadium.

“They beat us to the ball, and they played a fair, physical game,” Connellsville coach Jeff Puskar said.

“We had spurts, mostly on direct kicks, but we didn’t capitalize. We were just out of sorts at times and weren’t playing together as a group. It’s disappointing.”

From the opening whistle, it was clear the game would be a nail-biter throughout as neither team could gain much of an edge.

Connellsville keeper Madison Kinneer was tested a couple of times through the first 25 minutes but made some big saves, including a diving stop on a hard liner ticketed for the back of the net.

However, with just under 13 minutes left in the first half, Kiski Area’s Riley Koziatek used her speed to get behind the Connellsville defense and rip a shot past Kinneer, giving the Cavaliers (10-9) a 1-0 edge.

The Falcons generated a bit of an attack in the closing portion of the half but failed to score.

In the second half, Connellsville was able to maintain some pressure in the offensive zone, and the Falcons were rewarded with several direct kicks from just outside the box. However, a shot by Jocelyn Gratchic went wide, and an attempt by Mary Kate Lape clanged off the crossbar.

But the Falcons (13-5) finally managed to break through on a direct kick from Lape.

Connellsville’s all-time leading goal-scorer with 111, Lape buried a high shot into the net past the outstretched arms of Cavaliers keeper Maxine Crosby to tie the score 1-1 with 26 minutes, 37 seconds left.

From that point on, the game stayed relatively even. But with 12:10 remaining, Koziatek hit a cross to the middle of the field, and the pass was converted by Payton Buffone, giving the Cavaliers a one-goal lead again.

“They made a nice cross and were able to finish,” Puskar said.

Now in desperation mode, the Falcons began to push the pace but couldn’t get a lot of quality looks. With 50 seconds left, Nevaeh Hamborsky was awarded a direct kick. Hamborsky’s shot was on target, but Crosby came up with a sliding save to prevent the tying goal and preserve the win for the Cavaliers, who will play in the quarterfinals Wednesday.

“We were worried about them,” Kiski coach Mike Spagnolo said. “We wanted to keep the ball away from (Lape) and play as fast as possible.”

Mission accomplished for the Cavaliers. Now, the objective will be to keep moving on.

“We just want to keep our momentum going, and, hopefully, we can take it into the quarterfinals,” Spagnolo said.

For the Falcons, it was another disappointing playoff loss. The defeat is punctuated by the fact that the Falcons will lose seniors Lape, Kinneer and Hamborsky to graduation.

“They are irreplaceable,” Puskar said. “But we have a lot of good players coming back.”

Tags: Connellsville, Kiski Area