South Park blanks Avonworth to claim 5th WPIAL boys soccer championship

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, November 2, 2024 | 4:01 PM

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South Park boys soccer coach Jon Cantwell told his players they couldn’t live off their reputations. Not all of the Eagles playing in the WPIAL Class 2A championship game Saturday afternoon at Highmark Stadium had earned their championship wings yet.

When South Park beat Avonworth, 1-0, to claim a second consecutive title, six of the Eagles were making their debut.

“I just told these guys probably on the outside people think with South Park we have the ability to show up here every year,” Cantwell said. “It took a lot of hard work. … We played 12 guys tonight, six of them didn’t see a minute last year. That’s not a knock on them. That’s a credit to them for seizing the moment.”

Junior defender Caden Loveland did have experience from being on last season’s team. He hammered a shot over Avonworth keeper Alex Rowe in the 34th minute for what turned out to be the game-winning goal.

The top-seeded Eagles (20-1-1) won their fifth title in program history. This is the second time South Park won consecutive titles. The Eagles also won back-to-back in 2005-06.

“All 12 of us work hard during preseason and during practices” Loveland said. “We are doing it for each other. This is a family. This is a special group.”

The Eagles didn’t sweat this much during their three previous playoff matchups. South Park, which has shut out five straight opponents, won its first three playoffs games by a combined score of 12-0.

South Park had a goal waved off in the first half after Aiden Fehr was ruled offside after guiding a cross from Daniel Battista into the back of the net. The Eagles finished with seven shots on target.

“We expected this,” Cantwell said. “Aside from the exhibition game against Moon, I told the guys after we left North Allegheny the other night that we are going to play the most challenging game we played all year.”

No. 2 Avonworth (17-3-2) controlled most of the play after halftime. The Antelopes held a 15-10 advantage in total shots, but only four of those went on target. In the 59th minute, Adbul Wahab Shuiab nearly evened the match with a bicycle kick attempt off a cross from Noah Quinn.

Avonworth coach Tom Angel said he wanted to try and open up the field as much as possible.

“We worked to use the wings in the second half more than the first half,” Angel said. “We are definitely underutilizing our speed on the outside. South Park did a good job defensively.”

Cooper Hochendoor made four saves in goal for South Park.

The Eagles are now ready to continue checking items off their list of goals. South Park will open the state playoffs on Tuesday against District 10 runner-up Cathedral Prep at a time and site to be determined.

Avonworth will play the winner of the District 5, 8, 9 subregional.

“There’s no better feeling; this is so special,” Loveland said. “This is a stepping stone. Our goals were: section, home playoff game, WPIALs and now states.”

Tags: Avonworth, South Park