No. 2 West Allegheny pulls away from Kiski Area to reach boys soccer semifinals

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, October 26, 2018 | 12:06 PM

After a 13-goal barrage by West Allegheny in Monday’s WPIAL Class 3A playoff opener, Kiski Area knew it would have its hands full Thursday.

But the Cavaliers held the No 2 Indians to just one goal for a little over a half before West Allegheny got into gear, scoring three goals 1 minute, 34 seconds apart in the second half and rolled to a 5-0 quarterfinal victory at Mars Athletic Complex.

The Indians (18-1) will play Mars on Monday in the semifinals at a site and time to be determined.

Kiski Area, the 10th seed, concluded a strong season at 12-7-1.

“Our main focus was to try and contain them,” Cavaliers coach Sean Arnold said. “We know they have a lot of scorers and playmakers. We thought we would minimize their chances, it would benefit us.”

A goal by Fletcher Amos 3 minutes and 46 seconds into the match looked like another Indians barrage would take place. But Cavaliers goalkeeper Nick Smith made several quality saves to keep it close.

When Kiski Area was called for a hand ball in the goal box, Nate Dragisich lined up for a penalty shot, but Smith was there for the stop.

West Allegheny’s second goal didn’t come until Dragisich took a pass from Amos moments after a goal by Antonio Fiordilino was disallowed because of an offside call.

Amos scored his second goal of the game with 27:42 to go, then followed it with his hat trick goal 40 seconds later.

Dragisich’s second goal came 54 seconds later to give West Allegheny a 5-0 advantage.

“We had a lot of opportunities in the first half, their keeper played real well,” Indians coach Kevin Amos said. “It was the pressure we mounted, kept it going, (the ball) eventually’s going in, it has to.”

Kiski Area nearly got on the scoreboard when a direct kick Gregory Paes hit the top of the goal.

If West Allegheny defeats Mars, the Indians will play in the finals at Highmark Stadium next weekend. A Mars victory would put West Allegheny into a consolation match Thursday to decide the WPIAL’s third berth in the PIAA tournament.

George Guido is a freelance writer.

Tags: Kiski School, West Allegheny