Westmoreland County soccer playoff capsules for Nov. 5, 2021; GCC goes for title sweep

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, November 4, 2021 | 5:28 PM

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Girls

Class A

Championship

3-Steel Valley (17-3) vs. 1-Greensburg Central Catholic (15-1)

6 p.m. Friday, Highmark Stadium, Station Square, Pittsburgh

Coaches: Bill Abraham, Steel Valley; Olivia Kruger, GCC

How they got here: Steel Valley — Defeated 14-Riverview, 12-0; 6-Chartiers-Houston, 6-1; and 2-Springdale, 1-0; GCC — Defeated 16-Eden Christian, 9-0; 8-Riverside, 2-1; and 5-Freedom, 4-3.

WPIAL titles: Steel Valley 0; GCC 7 (2005, ‘11, ‘12, ‘14, ‘15, ‘17, ‘20)

Corner kicks: Steel Valley secured its first berth into the WPIAL finals with a tight win over Springdale, the team responsible for GCC’s only loss of the season. Senior midfielder Kelsey Salopek, a Kent State commit, scored the only goal in the semifinal, a 15-yard rip late in the first half. It was her 50th goal of the season. The Ironmen were the first team to shut out Springdale all season. It was their 10th clean sheet of the year. Salopek and fellow senior Soraya Gobbs were All-WPIAL selections. Steel Valley has won three WPIAL championships in boys soccer, but the girls have never won a title. The girls have outscored three playoff opponents, 19-1. Steel Valley took a 14-0-1 record into last year’s semifinal against OLSH but fell, 2-1. … Defending champion GCC has won narrow games in the quarterfinals (overtime) and in the semifinals, where it held off Freedom after taking leads of 3-0 and 4-1. Offensive firepower is nothing new for a program that has won six WPIAL titles, but defense could be what earns the Centurions a seventh trophy. Freshman Riley Kerr continued her upswing, scoring two goals against Freedom. She also scored the game-winner against Riverside in the quarterfinals. GCC won last year’s title at Gateway. GCC has four All-WPIAL players in seniors Tatum Gretz (MF), Lyndsey Szekeley (GK) and Natalie Ward (D), and junior Sara Felder (F). Gretz is a Villanova commit. GCC beat OLSH, 3-2, to win the championship last year. Both Steel Valley and GCC have qualified for the PIAA playoffs, which begin Nov. 9. The teams were supposed to play in 2019, when Steel Valley was in 2A, but the game was postponed. GCC coach Olivia Kruger is in the ninth month of her pregnancy.

Boys

Class A

Championship

2-Winchester Thurston (18-0-1) vs. 1-Greensburg Central Catholic (15-3)

8 p.m. Friday, Highmark Stadium, Station Square, Pittsburgh

Coaches: Adam Brownold, Winchester Thurston; Rob Fabean, GCC

How they got here: Winchester Thurston — Defeated 15-Jeannette, 5-0; 7-OLSH, 4-1; and 11-Riverside, 4-0; GCC — Defeated 16-Chartiers-Houston, 8-0; 8-Springdale, 4-0; and 5-Eden Christian, 6-5 (OT)

WPIAL titles: Winchester Thurston 1 (2014); GCC 5 (2003, ‘04, ‘09, ‘19, ‘20)

Corner kicks: Winchester Thurston and GCC were longtime section opponents who have developed a postseason rivalry over the last few years. Realignment sent them into different sections for the first time in 18 years. The teams have met in the last two WPIAL finals with GCC winning both times, 3-2 last year and 1-0 in 2019. GCC has won 28 of 38 meetings since the teams began playing in 2004. The teams are 2-2 against one another in the playoffs with the Bears winning a PIAA semifinal (2-1) in ‘19 and a WPIAL quarterfinal (2-1) in ‘17. The Bears take a 17-game winning streak into Highmark. They have allowed just six goals all season, a product of 15 shutouts. GCC has not been shut out all season. Junior midfielder Alex Hauskrecht, sophomore forward Tomar Tuti, senior midfielder Lance Nichols and freshman defender Michael Miller scored for the Bears in a 4-0 win over Riverside in the semifinals. Hauskrecht has 35 goals. Nichols will play Friday, then leave for Hershey to compete in the PIAA Class A cross country championships Saturday morning. … GCC needed overtime to overtake Eden Christian, which took a 3-0 lead before GCC came storming back. Junior forward Carlo Denis had three goals and senior Ryan Reitler added two, including a tying penalty kick. Freshman Jackson Vacanti dropped in the game winner with 5:17 to go in overtime on an assist from Denis, who has eight goals in the playoffs and 27 for the season. Senior midfielder Mason Fabean will return to the lineup after a one-game suspension for a red card in the quarterfinals. He also has 27 goals (and 14 assists). GCC has five players with double-digit goals. The others are junior Kyler Miller (16), Vacanti (13) and Reitler (12). Miller has 15 assists. No boys team has won three straight titles in WPIAL Class A. The last boys team to three-peat was Quaker Valley (1991-93) in Class AA.

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

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Steel Valley, Winchester Thurston