Southmoreland edges neighborhood rival Mt. Pleasant in WPIAL girls soccer quarterfinals

By: Jason Black
Saturday, October 30, 2021 | 3:51 PM

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There weren’t many surprises during Saturday’s WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal soccer match between crosstown rivals Mt. Pleasant and host Southmoreland.

The seventh-seeded Vikings and second-seeded Scotties split their regular-season series at a game apiece, and each team came into Saturday’s match expecting a tightly defended, physical match. Both teams delivered on those expectations.

With scoring chances few and far between for both teams, it was up to a big-time player to come up big in a big moment. Southmoreland’s Olivia Cernuto did exactly that.

Cernuto found a little bit of space and scored the match’s only goal as she drilled a shot into the back of the Mt. Pleasant net midway through the first half, and the Scotties made that goal stand up in a hard-fought 1-0 victory.

“We are both physical teams, and we didn’t play our best, but we did what we had to do,” Cernuto said.

Right from the start, it was clear the game would be physical as each team tried to muscle their way for rare open passes and offensive chances. There was a lot of back-and-forth play in the middle of the field as neither team conceded much.

But just a little over 14 minutes into the match, Cernuto and teammate Taylor Klingensmith found a bit of daylight and made their connection for the match’s only goal. Klingensmith broke down the right side and was able to slide the ball to the middle of the field, where Cernuto picked it up in stride. Cernuto then buried a low liner past Mt. Pleasant keeper Jenna Piper for the all-important first goal.

“We definitely wanted to get that first goal and then settle in,” Cernuto said.

But the Vikings (13-6) didn’t exactly let the Scotties (14-1-2) get comfortable with the one-goal lead.

Mt. Pleasant began to press the attack a bit but couldn’t generate many chances. In fact, Southmoreland keeper Kaylee Keys needed to make just one save in the first half.

At the other end, Mt. Pleasant’s Piper made a few big stops to keep her team one shot away from a tie.

The second half was more of the same, with each team struggling to find any offensive rhythm. Each team generated a couple of corner kicks, but Piper came out to make a big save on a Southmoreland attempt to keep it 1-0. Later in the half, Cernuto had a chance to give her team some breathing room, but her hard shot clanged off the crossbar, and the suspense continued.

Mt. Pleasant tried to make a few late runs, but Keys was there each time to thwart the attack. She made a save on a direct kick as time expired to preserve the shutout and help the Scotties advance to Tuesday’s semifinals against sixth-seeded Avonworth.

Following the match, Southmoreland coach Josh Pajak was happy with the win and acknowledged that reaching the semis is a first in program history after bowing out in the quarterfinals to Avonworth last year. However, he also believes his team didn’t play up to its potential.

“I thought both teams were afraid to make a mistake, and that doesn’t benefit us,” Pajak said. “We look to make connections and we didn’t do that, but that is a credit to Mt. Pleasant. Somebody had to step up and put the ball in and (Cernuto) did that.”

As for reaching the semifinals, Pajak is hoping it sends a clear message to future players that the program is thriving.

“Hopefully they are seeing the dedication and success we are having and want to be a part of it,” Pajak said. “Our goal at the beginning of the season was to go further than we did last year, and we did that. Now we’ll see if we can make it one game further.”

For Mt. Pleasant, it’s a tough way to end the season, but it was a season filled with bright spots.

“I thought we were overlooked this season,” Mt. Pleasant coach Rich Garland said. “There was a lot of talk about Southmoreland and Yough, but I thought we played well all season.”

In fact, the game could have easily gone Mt. Pleasant’s way, but it was the Scotties that took control by scoring first.

“Unfortunately, we gave up that goal, but we never stopped fighting,” Garland said. “We just couldn’t finish it. But we have a pretty young team and the future is bright for Mt. Pleasant.”

Tags: Mt. Pleasant, Southmoreland