Sewickley Herald notebook: DiSantis hits milestone for Sewickley Academy soccer

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, November 6, 2022 | 11:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Sewickley Academy senior forward Michael DiSantis eclipsed the 50-goal mark in career scoring earlier this season and was pushing 60 career goals prior to the start of the playoffs.

The third-seeded Panthers advanced to the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals with a 4-2 win over No. 14 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on Oct. 25. DiSantis and Adin Zorn, another senior forward, scored two goals apiece.

Zorn scored two more goals in a 4-3 victory over Springdale in the quarterfinals. DiSantis and Lucas Mendonça also scored as the Panthers ousted the Dyanmos.

Zorn 1 goal, Mendonça and Hudson Colletti scored as Sewickley Academy saw its WPIAL title hopes end with a 4-3 overtime loss to defending champion Winchester Thurston in the semifinals.

DiSantis, a four-year starter, scored 18 times in the regular season for the Panthers, who started out 11-0, and tied Eden Christian for the Section 1-A title with an 11-1 record.

Sewickley outscored the opposition by a 51-19 overall margin this season, posted five shutouts and held six other teams to one goal.

QV gridders hit milestones

Here are a few Quaker Valley individual football highlights from the second half of the regular season:

• Gavin Eshinbaugh rushed for an even 100 yards in a Week 8 loss to Beaver. Eshinbaugh is a 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior running back.

• Troy Kozar hit the century mark in the passing department against West Mifflin in Week 7. Kozar, a 6-foot, 180-pound senior quarterback, completed 11 of 26 passes.

• Kozar’s favorite target this year was 6-2, 190-pound senior WR Jakub Pickett, who actually rushed for 111 yards against South Park in Week 6.

Close calls for SA tennis star

Just a little trivia: When Sewickley Academy’s Ashley Close won the WPIAL Class 2A championship as a junior last year, she did so with three different rackets.

Close broke a string in her racket before the WPIAL 2A finals and had only one racket for the championship round. In warmups on the first day of WPIALs, she broke a string on her only racket and borrowed Mila Dobrovolska-Ivanova’s spare racket and played with it until the finals.

Close decided that she liked Dobrovolska-Ivanova’s racket better than hers, so her parents re-strung her old racket and grabbed a second racket similar to Dobrovolska-Ivanova’s.

For the finals, she broke a string on her teammate’s racket and finished with the new racket strung like Dobrovolska-Ivanova’s.

It was a close call, but a winning effort.

Vasbinder cashes in twice

Jace Vasbinder, a freshman forward, scored twice and senior forward Ben Carlson collected a goal and an assist as Quaker Valley won 4-1 on Oct. 31 to hand Montour (4-1) its first PHL loss.

The Quakers improved to 3-1-1 behind sophomore goaltender Landon Buterbaugh, who stopped 23 of 24 shots. On the year, Buterbaugh was 2-2 with a 2.75 goals-against average.

Senior defenseman Riley Moore netted QV’s first goal against the Spartans. Jacob Keisel, a freshman defender, and senior forward Braenden Steffey were credited with assists along with Carlson.

Repeat not in cards

Quaker Valley was the defending WPIAL Class 2A champion entering the postseason

The Quakers allowed just eight goals during the regular season and blanked 11 opponents.

But No. 6 Beaver shocked the second-seeded Quakers with a 1-0 shootout victory in the semifinal round of the WPIAL playoffs. After the teams battled to a scoreless tie through regulation and overtime, Beaver knocked off the second-seeded Quakers, 5-4, in a penalty kick shootout.

Robert Cestra made the game-winning save in the shootout for the second straight game. The Bobcats defeated third-seeded Shady Side Academy, 2-1 in a shootout, in the quarterfinal round.

QV defeated No. 1 South Park, 2-1, on Nov. 2 in the third-place match.

QV volleyball falls

Freeport advanced to the WPIAL Class 2A championship game in girls volleyball with a 3-0 win over No. 5 Quaker Valley. The top-seeded Yellowjackets won by scores of 25-10, 25-23, 25-17 in the semifinal match Nov. 1 at North Allegheny.

Quaker Valley’s season will continue in the PIAA tournament.

Tags: Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy