Peters Township Finally Golden in WPIAL Girls AAA Soccer

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, November 7, 2010 | 12:00 AM

The Peters Township Indians had always been a power as far as WPIAL Girls Soccer was concerned, yet a WPIAL Championship had always eluded them…until Saturday when they blanked the Norwin Knights 3-0 to win the 2010 WPIAL Girls Class AAA soccer championship.

They came into the Class AAA Finals having given up only 6 goals all season long and only 2 of those goals to WPIAL opponents. The Norwin Knights had only given up 10 goals on the season, and 3 of those were to Peters Township.

As expected, this AAA Finals matchup got off to a defensive battle as both teams tried to get an early sense of each other's strategies.

The Knights had the better of the chances in the first half, andthe opportunities were certainly there on the feet of both Elizabeth Debo and Rachel DelleFemine, but Indians' netminder Brittany Hoffman and her defense shut the door on Norwin each time.

Eventually, Peters Township's persistence in its own end would pay off at the other as in the 39th minute, freshman forward Veronica Latsko was able to drive down the left side of the field and cross a pass toward the middle where junior striker Taylor Daerr was waiting. Latsko put enough on it to catch Knights' keeper Dymphena Clark off guard.

Daerr was able to kick the ball iinto the net to take a 1-0 lead into the half. The pair of Latsko and Daerr collaborated on another opportunity in the 47th minute as Latsko put a shot on net.

Although Clark was able to make an initial save on the ball, shecould not handle the rebound, and Daerr was in the right place at the right time once again to shoot past Clark for 2-0 PT lead.

Less than 8 minutes later, the Indians put the game away for good as junior forward Olivia Roberson put a kick right inside the 18-yard box, and senior midfielder Danielle Hume executed a sliding kick on the ball past Clark and into the net, making the final score 3-0, Peters Township.

The Indians thus win their first-ever WPIAL Girls Soccer Title, taking the AAA crown. Both teams, however, await the announcing of their opponents for the first round of the PIAA State Playoffs.

Tags: Norwin, Peters Township