Southmoreland, Yough girls soccer teams battle to draw

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Monday, October 3, 2022 | 10:48 PM

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With such a light bench, Yough is often content playing more defense than offense.

The idea is to defend like crazy and conserve energy for the stretch run.

Southmoreland, on the other hand, wants to crank up the scoring.

The strategies canceled each other out Monday night as the teams played to a 0-0 tie at Cougar Mountain Stadium.

Yough (5-4-1, 4-2-1), which was looking for its third straight win, has six shutouts. The short-rostered Cougars had two players on the bench.

“A tie is almost as good as a win sometimes,” Yough goalkeeper Carly Fitzgibbons said. “It’s disappointing that we didn’t win, though. We has some opportunities.”

Eight of Yough’s games have had at least one team go scoreless.

“We’re content with low-scoring games,” Yough coach Mike Veychek said.

Southmoreland (7-2-1, 4-2-1) — still getting used to life without star Olivia Cernuto, who suffered a knee injury in the first matchup against Yough — has gone three straight games without a win.

The Scotties, who have not lost three in a row since 2019, are now tied with the Scotties for second place in Section 3-2A. They beat the Cougars, 2-1, earlier on the schedule.

“This was good for our younger girls because they are adjusting to new roles,” Scotties coach Josh Pajak said. “With the way (Yough) plays, you have to balance the idea of being patient and not let one of their two outstanding players (McKenzie Pritts and Kendalyn Umbel) hit a home run.”

Yough had 13 shots to Southmoreland’s nine in an equally played 100 minutes.

The game featured stellar play from Fitzgibbons and fellow keeper Lily Wasmund, who had eight saves.

Fitzgibbons made seven stops.

“We played the game we wanted to, except for the end result,” Veychek said. “We were more offensive in the second half. Both goalkeepers were exceptional.”

The teams played a scoreless first half, with each attempting four shots.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Southmoreland, Yough