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FINAL SCOREBOARD: WPIAL soccer boys semifinals

WPIAL boys soccer semifinals

All games final.

PSN COVERAGE

  • John Krysinsky – at North Allegheny (SSA vs Deer Lakes / USC vs Norwin)
  • Ed Thompson – at Norwin (GCC vs Seton-LaSalle / TJ vs Franklin Regional)
  • Jon Hanna – at Moon (Avonworth vs Springdale / Mars vs West Allegheny)

GAMEDAY UPDATES

So there you have it. The WPIAL Boys Soccer finals are set. All games to be played at Highmark Stadium. Dates and times won’t be announced until Tuesday, but here are the match-ups:

  • 4A – Seneca Valley vs Norwin
  • 3A – West Allegheny vs Franklin Regional
  • 2A – Shady Side Academy vs Quaker Valley
  • 1A – Avonworth vs Greensburg Central Catholic

Should be fun!

Here’s the final scoreboard

4A

Seneca Valley 3, Canon-McMillan 2

Norwin 2, Upper St. Clair 1

3A

West Allegheny 3, Mars 3 (West Allegheny wins on PKs)

Franklin Regional 5, Thomas Jefferson 1

2A

Quaker Valley 5, Charleroi 0

Shady Side Academy 1, Deer Lakes 0

1A

Greensburg Central Catholic 2, Seton-LaSalle 1

Avonworth 1, Springdale 0

 

Another post-game interview. This one with Norwin’s Scott Schuchert, as Norwin advances to the WPIAL final.

ED THOMPSON PHOTO GALLERY (Greensburg Central Catholic vs Seton-LaSalle

 

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Here’s my recap of Shady Side’s 1-0 win over Deer Lakes…

Farner pokes Shady Side past Deer Lakes, and back into WPIAL final

10:45 – FINAL – West A beats Mars on PKs.

Outstanding job by Jon Hanna to keep us posted!

Looks like Braydon Wurst had a couple of PK saves AND the game winning goal in the shootout!

10:30 – Incredible game between West A and Mars ends 3-3 after 2 OT’s. They’re going to PKs!

 

9:55 –

 

9:50 – FINAL – Franklin Regional beat Thomas Jefferson, 5-0

As Ed Thompson said to me earlier: FR is a machine. Will face winner of tonight’s epic WA-Mars battle.

9:40 – FINAL – Norwin hangs on, beats Upper St. Clair 2-1.

Also Seneca Valley holds off Canon-Mac, 3-2 and will be facing Norwin in the final.

9:32 – Goal Seneca Valley:

Raiders take a 3-2 advantage with just 7:51 remaining in the match on a goal by AJ Miltz.

9:25 – It’s a back and forth affair at Moon…

Jon Hanna keeping up with all of it.

 

This in from Jon Hanna — Mars tied the game!! Caden Ferguson off a cross by Zane Mundy! 2-2 here at Tiger Stadium!

9:24 – GOAL – Upper St. Clair

Jack Myers
cut lead in half — after winning ball in scrum in front of goal.
65′
2-1 Norwin still lead

9:05 – Meanwhile, at Mars — Seneca Valley takes lead over Canon-Mac in 4A semifinal…

 

8:55 – Nate Dragisich nails the PK to give West A the lead before the half…

8:44 – HALFTIME SCORES:

4A

Canon-Mac 1 Seneca Valley 1

Norwin 2, Upper St. Clair 0

3A

Franklin Regional 3, Thomas Jefferson 0

West Allegheny 2, Mars 1

 

8:39 – GOAL NORWIN, 2-0 Max Federovich, 33′

Federovich with an absolute laser from 30 yds out — right under the crossbar and Knights now lead by two.

 

8:16 – another early game goal to report from Moon…

8:09 – GOAL – Norwin leads Upper St. Clair 1-0.

Norwin wastes no time. Carter Breen gets loose on left side, hits right post on first shot, but then wins scramble for loose ball to put it in to give the Knights the early lead.

 

7:45 – all of the early game finals in:

1A

Avonworth 1, Springdale 0

Greensburg CC 2, Seton-LaSalle 1

2A

Shady Side 1, Deer Lakes 0

Quaker Valley 4, Charleroi 0

7:35 – FINAL – Shady Side hangs on — beats Deer Lakes. 1-0.  Post-game reaction to follow. I’ll catch up with both coaches and Max Farner.

7:31 – Things getting downright messy here between SSA and Deer Lakes. Fourth yellow card issued in second half. This time it’s Max Farner of Shady Side who has to go to sideline to sit for five mins. Deer Lakes running out of time though.73′

7:27 – Second yellow comes out for Ryan Rodgers — who is now sent off. Deer Lakes will have to get equalizer in final 10 mins down a man. 1-0 SSA 71′

7:15 – update from Moon — Jon Hanna reporting Quaker Valley now up 4-0 on Charleroi.

6:58 – GOAL Shady Side – Max Farner.

The Indians takes 1-0 lead on Deer Lakes. After ball takes wicked bounce in box after shot from Wally Navid is blocked, Farner gets enough on it — and ball spirals past everyone and goalkeeper Jesse Greyshock into the right side of goal.

2-0 Quaker Valley at half — report Jon Hanna.

Goals by
Franky Fernandez (pk)
Nick Goodwin

Greensburg Central Catholic 1 Seton LaSalle 1. WPIAL Boys Soccer 1A

6:45 – some other halftime scores:

Here at North Allegheny, it’s Shady Side 0, Deer Lakes 0

Avonworth 0, Springdale 0

After games kickoff at 6 p.m. — we will post updates here.

6:36 – pretty good one going at Norwin.

GCC ties it in 34th minute. Nate Ward takes free-kick tap pass from Sean Gargan and buries it from 20 yards out. GCC 1, Seton La Salle 1

6:15 – Quaker Valley jumps out to the early lead as our newest contributor providing some video!   Keeper guessed correctly. Franky Fernandez slots it home though.

 

GAME PREVIEW CAPSULES

4A

8 pm –  Canon-McMillan (16-2) vs Seneca Valley (15-2-1) at Mars

  • Two years ago, Seneca Valley had its first-ever WPIAL title within its grasp, but lost a heart breaker to North Allegheny. Canon-McMillan haven’t been to the WPIAL finals since 2015, when they beat Fox Chapel in OT.
  • These two sides have some history. Big Macs won 1-0 in the WPIAL semis en route to its second WPIAL Championship in 2015. Seneca returned the favor, winning 1-0 over CM in the PIAA quarters before losing in state championship.
  • Canon-Mac are playing well, having won six in a row, including beating eventual Section 2 champions Upper St. Clair in their last meeting.
  • Seneca Valley won a very competitive Section 1, and have handled business thus far in the playoffs without a difficult challenge, earning a first-round bye, then beat Mt. Lebanon 7-0 in last week’s quarterfinal.
  • Canon-Mac has advanced by beating Fox Chapel 4-1, and an experienced Pine-Richland squad, 2-1 in the quarterfinal.

8 pm – Upper St. Clair (12-2-3) vs Norwin (16-2-1) at North Allegheny

  • For seven years, Norwin made the playoffs, and for seven years, they couldn’t win a playoff game. They finally broke the streak this year, and now find themselves on the verge of a berth in the finals after a 2-1 win over No. 7 Peters Township in the quarterfinals after a first-round bye.
  • Norwin’s go-to player is Carter Breen who has scored 32 goals this season.
  • Upper St. Clair is back in the semifinals for the second time in three years with a line-up that includes eight seniors. Zach Ioli, Ben Burlovic, Connor Ryan and Abelardo Sobarzo all scored in a 4-1 win over No. 6 Butler in the second round.

3A

8 pm – Kiski Area (12-7) vs West Allegheny (18-1) at Moon

  • Much like in 2015, Kiski Area have advanced to the semifinals as a lower seed, and now have a chance to knock off one of the prohibitive favorites – West Allegheny.
  • West Allegheny is led by a Nate Dragisich, a Duquesne University recruit, who became the All-Time Goal and Assists leader in West Allegheny Soccer history last week.  Heading into last week’s quarterfinals, Dragisich was up to career totals of 77 goals and 47 assists. Nathan is a member of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2001 team and was selected as an ECNL All-American during the summer. The Indians have depth though, with experience and leadership coming from Braden Wurst a senior goalkeeper and Evan Blunkosky who scored the lone goal in PSN’s Featured Game of the Week when West Allegheny beat South Fayette, 1-0.

 

8 pm – Thomas Jefferson (15-4-1) vs Franklin Regional (16-0-1) at Norwin

  • This will be the third match of the year between the section foes. Franklin Regional won both meetings, but in the last encounter, TJ was playing without its top scorer, Preston Lutz in that game.
  • Franklin Regional have reached a WPIAL semifinal for the first time in program history after a 2-1 win over Hampton. After dropping down from Class 4A to 3A this season, they’ve put together an impressive campaign, rolling though without a loss.
  • The Panthers success starts in defending — as coach Rand Hudson‘s team has not allowed more than one goal in a game all season: four total. They have 13 shutouts. They’ve had a lot of contributions offensively, but possibly FR’s most dangerous offensive threat is a freshman, Anthony DiFalco.  DiFalco and his fellow Beadling teammate, Jake Sciorili, a sophomore defender, have been instrumental in Franklin Regional’s rise this season.
  • Jeremy Marshall and A.J. Meshanko, an All-WPIAL pick last year, had goals for Thomas Jefferson in a 2-1 quarterfinal win over No. 4 Ringgold. The Jaguars are in the semifinals for the third time in four seasons.
  • Both Meshanko and DiFalco also kick for their respective football teams.

2A

6 pm – Shady Side Academy (10-6-1) vs Deer Lakes (18-0-1) at North Allegheny)

  • These are two teams that know each other pretty well, having played twice in section, with Shady Side providing Deer Lakes with its only blemish this season, a 2-2 draw at Shady Side.
  • Don’t count out Shady Side, last year’s 2A champs. Again this year, they finished in the middle of the pack and received a lower seed, but again are one game away from the WPIAL final. The Indians return a number of players that were instrumental on the 2017 WPIAL title run, including Wally Navid. Coach Ed Ellsworth has brought back eleven seniors from that squad including some of the heroes from WPIAL winning team Max FarnerGunnar Pipitone and Adrian Beckford.
  • Led by head coach Jordan Wiegand, Deer Lakes is seeking its first trip to the WPIAL championship game in school history.  We saw how much attacking firepower the Lancers have in our PSN Featured Game a few weeks ago when they blitzed rival Freeport for a 7-0 win. Deer Lakes are led by a talented trio of sophomore midfielders, The trio of Deer Lakes’ sophomore midfielders Devin MurrayMichael Sullivan and Colton Spence — who set the tone for extended possession and are play makers in the attack. Seniors Nick Caro, a defender, and goalkeeper Jesse Greyshock have provided leadership and solid core defending that help make the Lancers a legitimate threat to win the 2A WPIAL title.

6 pm – Charleroi vs Quaker Valley (17-3) at Moon

  • Since losing in the WPIAL final last season against Shady Side, Quaker Valley has not lost to another 2A team. The Quakers rolled to a PIAA title in 2017, then after starting the 2018 season 0-3 against non-conference opponents in higher classifications, they have not lost in its past 17 games, surrendering only five goals in this span.
  • The Quakers, coached by former Riverhounds defender, Andrew Marshall, have five double-digit goal scorers, three players with double-digit assists and goalkeeper Dom Lagnese has been strong all season in between the posts.
  • Quaker Valley have to respect its opponents though, as Charleroi are unbeaten and will be hungry to reach its first-ever WPIAL final in boys program history. In previous seasons, Charleroi was another program victim to regular first-round playoff exits, but this year, they’ve come out strong – beating Elizabeth Forward easily in the first round, 6-1, then knocked off perennial 2A power South Park, 4-0, in the quarterfinals.
  • Quaker Valley will have to shut down the WPIAL’s top goal scorer in the regular season, Cullin Woytovich, who scored 46 goals in the regular season.

 

1A

6 pm – Seton-LaSalle vs Greensburg Central Catholic (at Norwin)

  • Greensburg Central Catholic is another team that got the first-round monkey off its backs this year, outscoring its opponents 11-0 in the first two rounds of the playoffs thus far.
  • GCC is led by Luke Mort, a Pitt recruit, who had a hat trick in a 5-0, second-round win over No. 7 Brentwood to put the Centurions back in the final four. Mort has 34 goals this season. Gmade the semifinals in 2015 but has not been to the finals since 2012. The Centurions’ last WPIAL title came in 2009.
  • Seton LaSalle continues to be a perennial WPIAL 1A boys contender, winning section titles seven times in the past eight years, enters the semifinals for the fourth straight time. Seton-LaSalle last won the WPIAL title in Class A in 2015 — on a golden goal in overtime.
  • Kellen Krebs was an All-WPIAL selection last season and was the Section 4-A player of the year. Ethan Gardner, Tyler Stack and Gabe Rosario scored for the Rebels in a 3-0 win over Winchester Thurston, GCC’s section rival, in the second round.

6 pm – Springdale (15-2-1) vs Avonworth (17-0-1) at Moon

  • It looks like not much will give when these two teams meet up for the third time this season. This is yet another semifinal match to pit section rivals. Avonworth beat out Springdale for the Section 3-A title, playing the Dynamos to a scoreless draw in the first game and beating them, 1-0, in the rematch.
  • Springdale are hoping to return to the WPIAL final for the second consecutive year, after losing to North Catholic a year ago. They’ve won eight straight games, not giving up a goal since losing back-to-back games vs Avonworth and 2A Highlands. In fact, Springdale’s only given up five goals all season.
  • The Dynamos lost seven senior starters from last season’s team, but the four returning starters have really helped keep Springdale in the mix – senior goalkeeper Mike Zolnierczyk and juniors Michael Krason, Michael Mitchell and Matt Taliani.
  • Undefeated this season, Avonworth have led by seniors Lucas Schriefer, Jason Novosel and Joseph Brandt been solid in defense, with Timmy Stewart in net, who’s only allowed six goals this season along with 13 clean sheets.

TWEETS OF THE DAY 

#RoadToHighmark #WPIALsoccer

 

 

 

 

John Krysinsky has covered soccer and other sports for many years for various publications and media outlets. He is also author of 'Miracle on the Mon' -- a book about the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, which chronicles the club, particularly the early years of Highmark Stadium with the narrative leading up to and centered around a remarkable match that helped provide a spark for the franchise. John has covered sports for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, DK Pittsburgh Sports, Pittsburgh Sports Report, has served as color commentator on Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC broadcasts, and worked with OPTA Stats and broadcast teams for US Open Cup and International Champions Cup matches held in the US. Krysinsky also served as the Head Men’s Soccer Coach at his alma mater, Point Park University, where he led the Pioneers to the first-ever winning seasons and playoff berths (1996-98); head coach of North Catholic boys (2007-08), associate head coach of Shady Side Academy boys (2009-2014).

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