WPIAL Boys and Girls Soccer Semifinals Recaps

By: Bruce Markey
Tuesday, October 29, 2013 | 12:48 AM

On the night when the WPIAL announced the high school football playoff brackets, the district European football playoffs hit the Semifinals Round. Here are recaps from all twelve WPIAL Boys and Girls Soccer Semifinals, matches that can be heard archived only here on the MSA Sports Network.

Thanks to Steve Nagler, Lee Mohn, Adam Hoerner, Pete Blais, Rick Smith, Chris Lackner, Sean Meyers, Matt Vandriak, Lou Rood and Paul Paterra for their help on these recaps.

WPIAL BOYS CLASS AAAA Semifinals:

Upper St. Clair Panthers 6 – Bethel Park Black Hawks 1 
The top seeded Upper St. Clair Panthers showed why they were #1 as they dominated #5 seed Bethel Park in the WPIAL AAA semi-finals.  Upper St. Clair controlled the action throughout the game putting tremendous pressure on Bethel Park keeper Quentin Kiebler.  Kiebler turned in an outstanding performance for the Black Hawks turning back numerous scoring chances for the Panthers, but eventually USC was able to break through at the 29:31 mark when Adam Heil put a rebound into the net for a 1-0 lead.  Two minutes later Troye Kiernan converted on a penalty kick at the 27:12 mark and USC had a 2-0 lead.  Not quite two minutes later Kiernan was able to put a header past Kiebler and the score was 3-0 USC.  Despite continued pressure by the Panthers Kiebler was able to turn them away and keep it 3-0 t the half.  It remained that score until the 9:03 mark whey Bethel Park’s William Ruschel was able to put a kick in out of a scrum in front of the USC goal to make it 3-1.  Instead of igniting a Black Hawk rally, it seemed to have the opposite effect as the Panthers became energized and scored 3 quick goals in a one minute twenty-three second time period.  Joel Hart was the catalyst sandwiching goals at the 4:38 and 3:15 mark around a goal by Joseph Bell at the 3:29 mark to make the final 6-1.  USC will take on section 5 rival Peters Twp. who they defeated twice during the regular season by scores of 4-3 and 6-1.  It will be a return to the championship game for the Panthers who were upset last year by Canon Macmillan.  For Bethel Park they will now take on the Big Macs in a play in game to qualify for the PIAA playoffs.

Peters Township Indians 4 – Canon-McMillan Big Macs 0 
Nicco Mastrangelo netted a hat trick to lead the Peters Township boys soccer team to a convincing 4-0 victory over Canon-McMillan at Chartiers Valley High School on Monday. With the win, the Indians advance to the WPIAL Class AAA finals to be played at Highmark Field in Station Square on Saturday. Matthew Massucci opened the scoring for the No. 7 seed Indians just over nine minutes into the match, and Mastrangelo extended the Peters Township lead less than five minutes later. The Indians stayed on the offensive, firing a barrage of shots towards Big Macs goalkeeper Christian Snatchko. In the second half, Mastrangelo sealed the victory for the Indians by adding two more tallies. John "Max" O'Hare recorded the shutout in net for Peters Township. The loss dashes the hopes of the 11th-seeded Big Macs to repeat as WPIAL champions.

WPIAL GIRLS CLASS AAA Semifinals:

Seneca Valley Raiders 3 – Upper St. Clair Panthers 0 
Seneca Valley will return to the WPIAL Class AAA championship on the strength of a 3-0 victory. The Raiders started the scoring at the 11:04 mark of the first half when Kelsey O'Connor emerged from a scrum to poke home a goal. Two more goals came ion the second half. Caroline Miller notched a goal at 30:47 of the second half and Sarah Anderson rounded out the scoring with 6:39 to play in the contest. Upper St. Clair who had knocked off the #4 & #5 seeds to reach the semi-finals will now face a play in game vs. Bethel Park to determine the third seed from the WPIAL in the PIAA playoffs.  In addition to setting up a rematch with Peters Twp. in the championship game, Seneca Valley also automatically qualified for the state playoffs with the victory.

Peters Township Indians 2 – Bethel Park Blackhawks 1
The Peters Township girls' soccer team defeated Bethel Park 2-1 at Chartiers Valley High School on Monday, as the Indians prevailed in a shootout to advance to the WPIAL Class AAA championship match. Second-seeded Peters Township triumphed 3-1 in the shootout, as Laurel Carpenter, Carly Johns and Riley Partyka all tallied goals on their penalty kicks. Indians goalkeeper Megan Parker made saves on attempts from Halle Hammer and Lauren Toth, while Molly Gorges missed the net on her attempt for the Black Hawks. Marisa Johnson netted the lone goal in the shootout for Bethel Park. Bethel Park, the No. 6 seed, had a golden opportunity when Peters Township forward Emily Franty was ejected for a red card in the first overtime period, but the Indians tightened up defensively to force the shootout. Peters Township gained the lead in the first half of regulation when Black Hawks senior Jessica Horgan scored an own goal when trying to pass back to her netminder. Hammer tied the contest for Bethel Park just over 10 minutes into the second half, but the Black Hawks could never gain the lead despite a bevy of offensive chances in the contest. The Indians will appear in their sixth straight WPIAL title game on Saturday.

WPIAL BOYS CLASS AA Semifinals:

West Allegheny Indians 1 – Shady Side Academy Indians 0 
The #1 seed in the WPIAL Class AA Boys Soccer Playoffs remained perfect at Moon Stadium on Monday night. West Allegheny (17-0-3) waited until the fourth quarter to get on the scoreboard, but a goal from Collin Wurst in the 68th minute propelled the Indians to a 1-0 victory over Shady Side Academy (14-4-0). The first half was fairly even with West A taking a narrow 3-2 edge in shots, but they took a 6-3 margin in the second half before finally breaking through. Wurst was sent in behind the defense on a nice through pass into the box, launching a bouncing ball from left to right over the shoulder of Shady Side keeper Philip King, who was otherwise brilliant and really had no chance on the 12-yard shot. West Allegheny advances to face South Fayette in the championship game at Highmark Stadium this weekend.

South Fayette Lions 1 – South Park Eagles 0
Nick McKee’s header off a corner kick by Jake Thomas in the game’s 65th minute was the only score of the match as #3-seeded South Fayette defeated #2 South Park Monday night at North Allegheny High School’s Newman Stadium in a WPIAL Class AA boys soccer semifinal. Featuring a defense that has allowed only six goals in 21 games, South Fayette (17-2-2) shut down South Park junior forward Justin Minda, the WPIAL’s leading scorer with 40 regular season goals. Dominating possession for most of the night, South Park had plenty of opportunities to get on the scoreboard, but could not convert on any of its twelve scoring chances and seven shots on goal during the contest. The Eagles (19-2-0) also failed to capitalize on seven corner kicks during the contest. The game marked the eighteenth time this season South Fayette has held its opponent scoreless. Two saves during the game, in particular, stood out for the Lions. South Fayette defender Evan Yee stopped a blistering header by South Park’s Matt Lizik in the game’s 35th minute that seemed certain to land in the upper right corner of the net. Later, Lions’ goaltender Alex Gedrys thwarted a beautiful give-and-go from Eagles’ midfielder Brandon Walbert to a wide open Minda 65 minutes into the match. South Fayette advances to the finals for only the second time in school history. The Lions’ last trip to the championship game resulted in a 1-0 overtime loss to Seton-LaSalle back in 2002. South Park settles for a spot in the third place consolation game and an opportunity to earn a spot in the state playoffs.

WPIAL GIRLS CLASS AA Semifinals:

Hopewell Vikings 3 – South Park Eagles 2 
Cinderella is heading to the ball as #8 seeded Hopewell continued their magical run through the 2013 playoffs. After ending the title reign of three-time defending Class-AA champion Mars in the Quarterfinals, the Vikings are heading to the WPIAL title game for the first time ever after beating #5 seed South Park in double-overtime at Newman Stadium at North Allegheny. Things didn't start the Vikings way, as South Park's Kat Hartner opened the scoring with a 45-yard kick that got over Hopewell GK Emilie Hovanec in the 6th minute.  But it didn't take the Vikings long to answer, as Shannon Shawgo put a rebound home :34 seconds later to tie the game 1-1. In the 2nd half it looked like Hopewell was on their way to the win when Abby Losco put the Vikings ahead in the 74th minute.  Losco took a pass from Stephanie Lias and split two defenders to put Hopewell up 2-1.  But despite outplaying the Eagles for most of the game, with just :38 seconds remaining in regulation, South Park's Kylie Tranter found a bouncing ball in the goal box and netted the equalizer. Neither team found the net in the opening 15-minute overtime, but with 3:04 left in the 2nd extra period, Lasco would strike again, this time from 12-yards out, to send the Vikings to the title game.  The loss spoiled a great effort from South Park GK Krista Mosi, who made 14 saves, including several big stops in both halfs to keep the Eagles in the game. Hopewell (15-4-0), will now take on #2 seed and Section-3 rival Central Valley(18-0-0) at Highmark Stadium at Station Square for the Class-AA championship.  Central Valley defeated Hopewell 4-3 and 2-1 in their two regular season meetings.  South Park (15-4-2) will battle #3 seed Moon in the Class-AA consolation game for a chance to advance to the PIAA tournament.

Central Valley Warriors 3 – Moon Tigers 2 
The 2013 WPIAL Girls Soccer Class AA playoffs continue on Monday night. The bracket continued to thin as just 4 teams remained. 2 of those teams were featured in tonight's semifinal match at West Allegheny High School in Imperial. The Central Valley Warriors and Moon Tigers battled on a cold night in late October. The Warriors opened the scoring 61 seconds after the opening whistle rang. Sophomore forward Hannah O'Connor put away a ball that was loose from a scrum in front of the net and quickly Central Valley had a 1-0 lead. At 20:04 mark Moon struck back. From 30 yards out, junior midfielder Megan Schoeneweis got the Tigers first tally on a pretty loft shot that went top shelf on CV goalie Lauren Hamilton to tie the game. The powerful Moon squad wasn't done there. Nearly 9 minutes later, Sydney Schipani gave Moon the lead on a beautifully executed corner kick. The second half was very tightly contested all of the way throughout. Central Valley was able to break the silence 12 minutes into the 2nd half on a marker by Warriors sophomore midfielder Olivia Pritt. This tied the game and we proceeded to a sudden death overtime. There is nothing more nerve-racking for fans, players, and parents than soccer overtime in the WPIAL and that is exactly what we got on Monday night. A game that was so closely played by both teams all night was sure to deliver an intriguing finish and it did just that. 1:47 into the overtime Central Valley's Cassie Pritt was sprung on breakaway with just Moon junior goaltender Kylie Downs standing between her and a trip to the WPIAL Class AA championship. Pritt took her time and actually was not able to unleash a shot on Downs as Downs dove out in front of Pritt, putting her body on the line, to make a save. Downs collided with Pritt as she was able to gather the ball. The collision was a big one and Downs stayed on the turf appearing to be very much injured on the incident. The referees of the match did not blow the play dead and the ball (still alive in the field of play) was regathered by Cassie Pritt of Central Valley and booted to the back of the net for the game winning goal. Very much to the dismay of the Moon fans, the referees gathered in conference to decide a ruling on the play. After a few minute delay, the ruling on the field was upheld and the goal was deemed good. An extremely bizarre sequence, especially for the magnitude of the game. The Moon Tigers season ends with a great 19-2 overall record. The Central Valley Warriors now proceed to the Class AA championship game against the Hopewell Vikings at Highmark Stadium next week.

WPIAL BOYS CLASS A Semifinals:

Sewickley Academy Panthers 6 – Serra Catholic Eagles 0 
The nightcap in a WPIAL playoff semifinal soccer double header at West Allegheny High School pit the #1 seed Sewickley Academy Panthers against the #4 seed Serra Catholic Eagles. The #1 seed in single A flexed its muscles against a very good Serra Catholic team on Monday night. Sewickley's senior forward JP Bowell started the scoring in the 21st minute putting the Panthers up 1-0. He wasted no time getting his second goal of the game just a little over one minute later. In the 25th minute, Sewickley Academy's senior midfielder Steve Munn, who was all over the field on Monday night, put the Panthers up 3-0 on an absolute laser of a shot from the left side of the field. The 2 teams fought for 7 more minutes before Sewickley was able to strike for a fourth goal in the 1st half. This time it was senior Anthony Stinson getting into the act to extend the SA lead to 4-0. The second half brought more of the same for the Panthers. They added goals in the 8th minute from Steve Munn (his 2nd) and also Tom Mulholland in the 27th minute. The very good Serra Catholic team was completely stymied for the entire 80 minutes of play. Sewickley Academy was able to silence Eagles star and senior leader forward Tyler Grebur. Serra Catholic's season ends with a very impressive 14-4-1 mark. The #1 Sewickley Academy Pathers roll onto the A championship game against a surprising, but very good Beaver County Christian team Friday or Saturday at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh.

Beaver County Christian Eagles 4 – Seton-LaSalle Rebels 2 
In Class A action, the Beaver County Christian Eagles defeated the Seton LaSalle Rebels 4-2 in a thrilling semifinal game Monday night at Hampton High School. It was 80 minutes of back and forth, intense play between the two teams. While the Eagles won, the Rebels had a number of second half chances, including numerous corners and close-range throw-ins that were met by strong resistance by Eagle goalkeeper Jon Knab and his fellow defenders more often than not. Though most of the first half went scoreless, Abel Carleton finally found the back of the net off a corner kick from Quinn McCraken in the 34th minute. That 1-0 score would hold until early in the second half when BCC’s Scott Carson tacked on another goal in the 45th minute, finding his way to a loose ball in the box, once again from a corner, and scoring a right footed shot. At that point though, the Rebels kicked it into high gear and began mounting chance after chance. Just one minute after Carson’s goal, Levi Masua netted the Rebel’s first goal and cut their deficit in half, 2-1. The intensity and chances for each team continued throughout the second half but the one goal difference would stand until the 71th minute. This time Abel Carleton dribbled his way into the right side of the box, slipped a pass to Hamin Cho who turned and nailed a close range shot into the far corner of the goal. Now with a 3-1 lead, the Eagles kept their late attack going. Moments later the Eagles forced a turnover off a Seton LaSalle goal kick and Quinn McCracken led an open Daniel Townsend down the right side of the field who buried a 20-yard shot. Seton LaSalle would find a late goal once again from Levi Masua who headed in goal off a free kick. At that point though, it was too little too late and the Eagles would hold on to the 4-2 lead for the final 2 minutes. Beaver County Christian advances to the Class A championship game to take on the Sewickley Academy Panthers this weekend at Highmark Stadium in Station Square. Be sure to check back with MSA Sports later this week for a specific date and time.

WPIAL GIRLS CLASS A Semifinals:

Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions 10 – New Brighton Lions 2
The #1 seeded Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions continued their offensive show this season scoring ten more goals on Monday night defeating New Brighton 10-2 and claiming a spot in the championship game this weekend.  This is the seventh time the Centurions have scored in double figures this year and again it was the one two punch of Fran Crouse and Malea Fabean doing the damage.  Crouse scored 5 goals and Fabean three while freshman Bailey Cartwright scored the other two.  Maya Watkins scored the two goals for the Lions.  Grennsburg Central scored in the 8th minute to take the early lead bit Watkins scored a minute later to tie the score at one a piece then the Centurions took control and scored at will.  Unofficially they registered 26 shots on goal to New Brighton's 4.  Greensburg Central will now face Shady Side Academy for the WPIAL A championship this weekend a game you can hear right here on the MSA Sports Network.

Shady Side Academy Indians 2 – Sewickley Academy Panthers 0
The legend of senior forward Maggie Scott continues to grow as she performed magic at Moon High School to catapult the Shady Side Academy Indians into the Girls Class A WPIAL championship game.  Draped by two, sometimes three, Panthers all game, Scott finally found a way to get her Indians on the scoreboard in the 62nd minute.  Scott, who has now scored eight postseason goals and 44 goals on the year, made an improbable move around a couple of Panthers defenders and scored over the outstretched arms of Sewickley Academy keeper Maggie Dewitt to give the Indians a hard-fought 1-0 lead.  She wasn’t done.  She also scored in the 71st minute on a rebound off of her own penalty kick after a brilliant save by Dewitt.  Dewitt guessed correctly, diving to her left to keep the initial shot out of the net, but she couldn’t secure the rebound and Scott scored easily into the empty net on the rebound, all but cementing the finals berth.  That’s the good news…the bad news is that they now advance to face defending champion Greensburg Central Catholic at Highmark Stadium this weekend.  The Indians are 0-2 vs. their section foe this year, having been outscored by a total of 15-5 in those two loses.  The Indians also fell to the Centurians by a score of 3-1 in last year’s semifinal round.