Springdale girls soccer team seeks 3rd WPIAL title

By: Michael Love
Thursday, November 3, 2022 | 8:58 PM

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Springdale’s Molly Hurley has had a knack for scoring goals in her breakout sophomore season.

She has two of them in the playoffs: one against Sewickley Academy in a 3-2 first-round victory and another one to open the scoring in Monday’s 5-0 victory over No. 6 Waynesburg that sent the No. 2 Dynamos (16-3) girls soccer team to the WPIAL Class A championship game for the first time since 2011.

While Hurley hopes to help her team with more scoring Friday against No. 1 Freedom (16-4) at 6 p.m. at Highmark Stadium, she would be happy to see her team simply have more goals than the Bulldogs.

“The way we’ve been connecting and the teamwork we’ve shown throughout this season is a big reason why we are in this (title game),” said Hurley, third on the team with nine goals to go with 13 assists.

“We’ve worked so well together, and it’s been a team effort to get goals and also get wins. We’ve been working even harder and are more focused in practice since the playoffs started. We really want to bring home a WPIAL championship.”

Springdale seeks its fourth WPIAL title. It claimed gold in 1996, 1997 and 2009.

Freedom also is gunning for its third WPIAL title, having won it all in Class 2A in 2016 and Class A in 2018.

Senior Grace Gent tallied a hat trick Monday against Waynesburg to give her a team-best 24 goals on the season. Sophomore Carissa Walsh found the back of the net for the fifth time.

Sophomore Briana Ross, who has 19 goals over her team’s 19 games, recorded three assists Monday to give her a team-leading 15.

“I think it came down to finding feet with passes and not forcing anything,” senior Georgia Dale said of Monday’s win.

“It was tough to see (Waynesburg star forward Ashlyn Basinger) go out with an injury like that, but at the same time, everything was clicking for us. We were on top of our games, and it showed.”

Many on this year’s Springdale team haven’t forgotten last year’s postseason conclusion. The Dynamos had lost to eventual champion Steel Valley in the semifinals, but they still had a chance to make the PIAA playoffs. All they had to do was defeat Freedom.

But the Bulldogs were unrelenting in that third-place game, defeating the Dynamos, 6-0.

“This is another great chance to prove ourselves,” Dale said.

“Last year, we were a better team against Freedom than how we played. I don’t know if it was something about a consolation game where we didn’t have enough motivation even though (a trip to) states was on the line. We know we’re going to be motivated and focused (Friday).”

Freedom blitzed its Section 3 competition, finishing undefeated and winning the title by three games (nine points) over runner-up Mohawk.

The Bulldogs didn’t shy away from taking on bigger teams in the nonsection portion of their schedule.

Their four losses are to playoff qualifiers Beaver (Class 2A), Montour (Class 3A), West Allegheny (Class 3A), and Avonworth (Class 2A).

Avonworth will face Mt. Pleasant for the Class 2A crown Saturday at 11 a.m.

Like Springdale, the Bulldogs are potent offensively with 98 goals over 20 games. Seventeen of those goals have come in the playoffs.

They raced past Bishop Canevin, 8-0, in the first round before dispatching Seton LaSalle, 5-2, in the quarterfinals behind a hat trick from junior Shaye Bailey and scores from seniors Julz Mohrbacher and Finley Paxton.

Freedom gained a measure of revenge in the semifinals as it defeated No. 5 Greensburg Central Catholic, 4-3, in a wild two-overtime affair Monday at North Allegheny.

The result meant no rubber match at Highmark between GCC and Springdale.

The Centurions had knocked the Bulldogs out of the WPIAL playoffs four times in the past three years.

Bailey earned the winner with less than two minutes left in the second overtime. She is a lethal goal scoring leader for Freedom along with Mohrbacher, who owns more than 100 goals in her four-year varsity career.

“I’ve seen a little bit of film on them, and of course we remember what they had from last year and what kind of team we saw,” Bentley said.

“They are really fast. I know they are going to be strong. It’s going to be a tough, physical game. It’s a final between the top two teams, and anything can happen. It’s going to take some quality play and also maybe a little luck.”

Freshman Trinity Votjko has proven to be a stalwart in net for Freedom. She made 12 saves Monday in the semifinals.

Senior keeper Caity Stec and the Springdale defense also are hoping to be up to the task Friday.

The Dynamos’ shutout of Waynesburg was their second of the playoffs and ninth of the season.

While the PIAA playoffs are probably the furthest thing from the minds of the Freedom and Springdale players, the teams know Friday’s title match is not the end of the road, win or lose.

The state tournament begins Tuesday, and the WPIAL champion will take on District 5 runner-up Rockwood at a site in WPIAL territory at a time to be determined.

The WPIAL runner-up most likely will have a long bus ride north in the vicinity of Erie to face District 10 champion Mercyhurst Prep.

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.

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