Springdale girls earn emphatic victory over Sewickley in WPIAL Class A 1st round

By: Michael Love
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 | 9:09 PM

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Springdale junior Briana Ross was denied three times by Sewickley Academy goalkeeper Marie Bigi in a 45-second span in the first half of Tuesday’s WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium.

But her fourth and fifth shots were not stopped.

Ross’s two goals in the 17th and 18th minutes, with assists coming from fellow juniors Molly Hurley and Brooke Taliani, got the No. 6 Dynamos started. They added four more in the first half and cruised to a 10-0 victory over the No. 11 Panthers.

“The first couple of shots were kind of putting me down a bit, but the next two lifted my spirits,” said Ross, who scored four goals in the game, giving her 40 on the season. “We played well as a team. We didn’t want this to be our last game.”

Springdale, a WPIAL Class A finalist last year, improved to 13-3 and moves into the quarterfinals Saturday against No. 3 Charleroi at a site and time to be determined.

“This feels really good,” said Hurley, who tallied her first hat trick of the season. “We know we can’t get complacent. We know we have to come back and work hard in practice and be 100% ready for Saturday.”

Sewickley Academy, the third-place team from Section 3, wrapped up its season at 7-8.

“I thought the girls played really well,” Panthers assistant Mary Double said.

“Just in the last game, we had a red card and a lot of injuries. We didn’t have many subs to start out with. We lost a few starters and had to have some girls step up. The effort was there the entire game. We played well with what we had, and a lot of people were in positions they never played before. But the girls made it work as best as possible.”

Tuesday’s game was a rematch of a first-round contest from last year won by Springdale, 3-2. Ross and Hurley also scored two of the three Dynamos goals in that matchup.

Sewickley Academy suffered additional adversity in the eighth minute as starting sophomore defender Marin Edmunds went down with a right knee injury. She didn’t return to the game.

Springdale added on in the first half with two goals from Hurley and tallies from senior Ariana Feizi and sophomore Hailey Marchlewski.

“We came out a little sloppy in the first 10 minutes,” Springdale coach Marc Bentley said. “There were some nerves with it being the first round of playoffs, but we were able to create some chances still, and that first goal was big. It really relaxed everyone.”

Ross scored two more times in the second half, and Hurley completed the hat trick. Sophomore Lacey Shondeck also recorded a goal.

Sewickley Academy pressured near the midway point of the second half and came close to scoring amidst four corner kicks, but the Springdale defense denied all Panthers opportunities.

The Dynamos finished with a 16-9 advantage in shots on goal. Junior keeper Baileigh Haas recorded the shutout for her first playoff victory. Six of Sewickley Academy’s nine shots came in the second half.

“I was happy with the way we played,” Bentley said. “We moved the ball around well, we did the right things and it was a complete performance all around the field.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Sewickley Academy, Springdale