WPIAL boys & girls soccer playoff game recaps
Written by: Westmoreland Sports Network
November 05, 2020
Tags: Lucas Toohey John Menefee Sydney Lindeman Aris Lamanna Sydney Kranick Anthony DiFalco Blake Cooper Zach Johnston Jessica Nemeth Sara Felder Tatum Gretz
WPIAL soccer semifinal results from Wednesday, November 4th:
Seneca Valley 5 Norwin 1 (Class 4A Boys)
>> Norwin held a 1-0 lead early but couldn't add to it or hold off Seneca Valley in a 5-1 loss in the WPIAL 4A semifinals at NexTier Stadium. Riley Zimmerman scored following a foul just 12 minutes into the contest but the Raiders scored a pair of goals less than 10 minutes later. It was only 2-1 at halftime but Seneca Valley tallied three goals in the second half to pull away. Norwin finishes the season with an 11-1-2 overall record.
Avonworth 3 Yough 0 (Class 2A Girls)
>> Avonworth scored two goals late in the first half to down Yough 3-0 in the WPIAL 2A semifinals. The Cougars finish the season with an 11-5-0 record.
Greensburg Central Catholic 2 Springdale 0 (Class 1A Boys)
>> Greensburg Central Catholic advances to the WPIAL 1A championship game following a 2-0 victory over Springdale in the semifinals at North Allegheny. The Centurions (14-1-0) will play Winchester Thurston (14-1-0) in the championship on Saturday at Gateway High School.
WPIAL soccer semifinal results from Monday, November 2nd:
Franklin Regional 2 West Allegheny 1 (Class 3A Boys)
>> Anthony DiFalco's goal with 11:20 left in overtime lifted Franklin Regional to a 2-1 victory over West Allegheny in the WPIAL 3A semifinals at Panther Stadium. After a scoreless first half, West Allegheny scored to take a 1-0 just 53 seconds into the second half. The Panthers responded with 32:47 left as Blake Cooper buried the game-tying goal. DiFalco got the assist. Franklin Regional (16-2-0) will meet Mars in the WPIAL championship on Wednesday at North Allegheny. The Fighting Planets (!6-2-0) scored a 2-1 win over West Allegheny in the semis.
Deer Lakes 7 Mt. Pleasant 1 (Class 2A Boys)
>> No. 6 Mt. Pleasant saw its season come to an end in the WPIAL 2A semifinals with a 7-1 loss to No. 2 Deer Lakes at Lancer Stadium. The Vikings trailed just 2-0 at halftime and Lucas Toohey got them on the board with a goal 12 minutes in to the second half to make the score 2-1. But Deer Lakes scored the next five goals to put the game away. Mt. Pleasant finishes with a record of 13-2-0.
Greensburg Central Catholic 8 South Side Beaver 4 (Class 1A Girls)
>> Greensburg Central Catholic recovered from a slow start to cruise to an 8-4 win against South Side Beaver in the WPIAL 1A semifinals at Norwin. The 12-seeded Rams scored the contests opening goal 10 minutes in and held a 2-1 lead but top-seeded GCC responded with six unanswered tallies to put the game on ice. Sara Felder and Bethany Winnor scored twice and Hannah Nelson also found the back of the goal to give the Centurions a 5-2 lead at halftime. Felder, Jessica Nemeth, Tatum Gretz each scored in the second half. Greensburg Central Catholic (15-0-0) will look for its seventh WPIAL title when it takes on OLSH in the championship on Thursday at Gateway High School. OLSH (12-2-0) edged Steel Valley 2-1 in the semifinals.
WPIAL soccer quarterfinal results from Saturday, October 31st:
Norwin 4 North Allegheny 1 (Class 4A Boys)
>> No. 3 Norwin scored four unanswered goals to take down No. 6 North Allegheny in the WPIAL quarterfinals at Knights Stadium and advance to the semifinals for the second time in three years. Norwin fell behind 1-0 just 14 minutes into the game but Caleb Yuricha's goal on a free kick tied the contest at 1-1. Riley Zimmerman scored what became the game-winning goal in the 29th minute which made it 2-1. Yuricha scored again to extend the advantage to 3-1 and Brendan Ash tallied an insurance goal. Zimmerman added two assists. The Knights (11-0-2) will face Seneca Valley in the semifinals on Wednesday. The Raiders (12-1-1) shut out Butler 1-0 in the quarterfinals.
Avonworth 3 Southmoreland 2 (Class 2A Girls)
>> Despite a furious rally in the second half, No. 4 Southmoreland fell to No. 5 Avonworth 3-2 in the WPIAL 2A quarterfinals at Russ Grimm Field. Down 3-0 at halftime, the Scotties got a goal early in the second half off of a header by Olivia Cernuto. She would score again on a penalty kick with two minutes left to keep hope alive but time ticked down and Southmoreland wasn't able to threaten again. The Section 3-2A champion Scotties finish the season with a 13-2-0 record.
Greensburg Central Catholic 1 Eden Christian 0 (Class 1A Boys)
>> Ricco Ciccarelli broke a scoreless tie late to send No. 1 Greensburg Central Catholic to a 1-0 victory over Eden Christian in the WPIAL 1A quarterfinals at North Allegheny. With 12 minutes left in the game, Ciccarelli took a throw in and quickly fired the ball towards the box looking for a teammate. The ball kept curling and went into the goal to give the Centurions a 1-0 lead. GCC (13-1-0) advances to the semifinals where it will play Springdale. The Dynamos (12-1-0) earned a 5-0 victory over Seton-La Salle in the quarterfinals.
WPIAL soccer quarterfinal results from Thursday, October 29th:
North Allegheny 3 Norwin 0 (Class 4A Girls)
>> North Allegheny found the back of the goal three times in the first half and went on to a 3-0 victory over Norwin in the WPIAL 4A quarterfinals at Knights Stadium. Norwin's best scoring chance came in the second half as Katelyn Kauffman buried a penalty kick but it was disallowed because a Knights player entered the box early. The Knights, who lost to North Allegheny in the WPIAL final last season 2-0, finish with a record of 9-3-1.
Montour 1 Franklin Regional 0 (Class 3A Girls)
>> Franklin Regional saw its season come to an end with in a 1-0 loss to Montour in the WPIAL 3A quarterfinals at Panther Stadium. Franklin Regional ends its terrific season with an 11-2-1 overall record.
Mt. Pleasant 2 North Catholic 1 (Class 2A Boys)
>> Mt. Pleasant edged North Catholic 2-1 to advance to the WPIAL 2A soccer semifinals. The Vikings (13-1-0), who havent tasted defeat since losing to Charleroi on September 28th, will meet Deer Lakes (13-1-0) in the semis. The Lancers topped South Park in the quarterfinals 1-0.
WPIAL soccer quarterfinal results from Wednesday, October 28th:
Franklin Regional 4 Indiana 0 (Class 3A Boys)
>> Anthony DiFalco scored two goals and assisted on another leading No. 2 Franklin Regional to a 4-0 shutout win over No. 10 Indiana in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals at Panther Stadium in Murrysville. Blake Cooper scored in the 26th minute to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. DiFalco's first tally made it 2-0. Zach Johnston netted the third goal shortly before halftime. DiFalco put the game on ice with a tally late in the game. Franklin Regional (15-2) will host West Allegheny on Monday in the WPIAL semifinals at 6:30 p.m. The third-seeded Indians topped Moon 2-1 in overtime Wednesday.
Greensburg Central Catholic 8 Springdale 1 (Class 1A Girls)
>> Top-seeded Greensburg Central Catholic advanced to the WPIAL Class 1A semifinals with an 8-1 victory over Springdale in a quarterfinal match up. Jessica Nemeth, Sara Felder and Tatum Gretz each notched two goals. The Centurions scored six of their eight goals in the first half to take a commanding lead at the break. GCC (14-0) will face No. 12 South Side Beaver (12-3) in the semifinals on Monday.
First round WPIAL soccer playoff results from Monday, October 27th:
Mt. Pleasant 3 Burrell 1 (Class 2A Boys)
>> Lucas Toohey tallied twice in a two-minute span lifting sixth-seeded Mt. Pleasant to a 3-1 victory over No. 11 Burrell in the first round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs. Toohey found the back of the goal following a foul with just under six minutes remaining in the first half. Only two minutes later, Toohey beat multiple defenders and blasted one in to make it 2-0. Vikings senior goalkeeper John Menefee earned the shutout. Mt. Pleasant (12-1-0) advances to the quarterfinals for the second time in three years and will face No. 3 North Catholic (13-1-1) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Mars Athletic Complex. The Trojans shut out Leechburg on Monday 2-0.
Deer Lakes 7 Southmoreland 0 (Class 2A Boys)
>> No. 15 Southmoreland saw its season come to an end with a 7-0 loss to Deer Lakes in a WPIAL 3A boys first round match up. The Scotties end the year with a 6-9-0 record.
Upper St. Clair 6 Latrobe 1 (Class 4A Girls)
>> No. 10 Latrobe didn't spend much time in the attacking third and couldn't stop Upper St. Clair's offense in a 6-1 loss to the Panthers in a WPIAL 4A girls first round match up. The Wildcats finish the season with a 4-5-1 record.
Seneca Valley 7 Penn-Trafford 1 (Class 4A Girls)
>> No. 9 Penn-Trafford couldn't handle eight-seeded Seneca Valley's depth as the Raiders had six different players score for them in a 7-1 defeat in the first round of the WPIAL 4A girls playoffs. The Warriors season ends with a 5-6-2 mark.
Franklin Regional 2 South Fayette 1 (Class 3A Girls)
>> Sydney Lindeman scored twice and freshman goalkeeper Aris Lamanna made key saves in fifth-seeded Franklin Regional's 2-1 victory over No. 12 South Fayette to open the WPIAL 3A girls soccer playoffs. Late in the game with the score knotted up at 1-1, Lindeman took a through ball from Sydney Kranick and scored on a breakaway with just over a minute left. Her first tally came with 22:04 left in the first half. The big story of the game was Lamanna, who was thrust into the starting role due to an injury to starter Sydney Caldwell. Lamanna turned away 19 shots in the contest. The Panthers (11-1-1) will play Montour in the quarterfinals after the 13th seeded Spartans upset No. 4 Connellsville 4-1 on Monday. The game will be at Panther Stadium on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.