Rare call helps South Fayette boys upset Plum in boys soccer playoffs

By: Jerin Steele
Wednesday, October 25, 2023 | 9:57 PM

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It was one of the rarer calls rarely seen in a soccer match.

In the 56th minute, Plum keeper Owen Zalewski was punting the ball away when the whistle blew and officials deemed he handled the ball outside the 18-yard box before he kicked it and awarded South Fayette a free kick.

Adam Thompson converted the free kick from just outside the Plum box, and that was enough for No. 8 South Fayette to knock out top-seeded Plum, 1-0, in the Class 3A boys soccer quarterfinals Wednesday night.

“The referee said (Zalewski’s) fingers were just over the line before he let go of the ball,” Plum coach Raf Kolankowski said. “I haven’t seen that called in high school in eight years, and (South Fayette coach) Rob (Eldridge) hasn’t seen it in six years. It’s a shame. It’s a big game to make a call like that, but hey (Thompson) made a great shot. They didn’t test us too much before that was an ESPN (SportsCenter) top-10 finish. Kudos to him.”

After some initial confusion over the call, the ball was placed down, and Thompson ripped a perfect shot into the top right corner.

“It was a well-struck ball,” Eldridge said. “He’s been working hard all year on those and spends a decent amount of time after each practice to do that. It paid off, and I’m happy for him.”

South Fayette (12-4-3) advanced to play section rival Montour in the semifinals Monday. Plum had an 18-game winning streak snapped and finished the year 18-2.

The Lions avenged last year’s quarterfinal loss to Plum in penalties.

“It’s different teams, but a lot of these boys that got the win tonight were part of that loss last year, so they probably did have that feeling of redemption, but we didn’t want that to cloud up what we were supposed to do as a team,” Eldridge said.

After the go-ahead goal, Plum had a couple of opportunities but couldn’t equalize.

In the 65th minute, Gage Aninolfi had a strong cross through the box that just missed two Plum players. Four minutes later, Zach Mauro received a good through ball and was clear of the defenders, but his shot went high over the crossbar.

“We had our chances, but we just couldn’t put it away,” Kolankowski said. “It could’ve went the other way, but sometimes the ball doesn’t go in and tonight was one of those nights.”

Frequent stoppages for foul calls made for a first half with very little flow.

There were 16 fouls called in the first 40 minutes, including one booking. Plum’s Garrett Chandler was shown the yellow card for a foul on South Fayette’s Mike Plasko in the 39th minute.

Mauro had a good chance for Plum in the 30th minute, but his shot was stopped by Dylan Janoski.

Plasko had a clean look in the 29th minute, but Zalewski was there to smother the shot.

Zalewski was booked in the second half for shoving a player after a foul was called on South Fayette.

Regardless of Wednesday’s result, the Mustangs won another section title and carried an impressive 18-game winning streak through the regular season.

“We played as a team all year, and all the kids bought into it,” Kolankowski said. “The whole season was a team effort and not an ‘I’ effort. Somebody’s got to win, and somebody’s got to lose. Last year it was us, and tonight it was them. We gave it a good effort but just couldn’t finish.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Plum, South Fayette