Hitting their stride, Peters rolls past Upper St. Clair, 6-1

It is fall, the air is crisp and Peters Township girls soccer team are hitting their stride. 

On Saturday, they avenged their only loss of the season by rolling past section rivals Upper St. Clair, 6-1, on Saturday.  

Peters came out quick with great movement as Maddie Schweiger made a strong run on the end line and cut the ball back across the six-yard box to a crashing Bliss Plummer for the early 1-0 lead just a little more than three minutes into the game.

Peters kept the foot on the gas as they would strike for their second goal, this time by Isabelle Guna just eight minutes after their first goal.

Upper St Clair responded by bringing more energy and pressure to advance into the final third to earn back-to-back corner opportunities.

On the second corner, Carson Bogan, a UNC-Asheville commit, buried the ball into the net off of the delivery from Lexi Hall.

The Varsity Lady Panthers starting line up vs Peters Twp! pic.twitter.com/ysFcQ212oZ

— USCHS Soccer (@USCHSsoccer) October 17, 2020

Upper St. Clair continued to knock on the door looking for the equalizer.  They almost found the tying goal as Bogan sent a ball into the box and St Francis commit, Peters’ goalkeeper Emma Sawich got her hands to push it away.  USC could not put the follow up on frame. The following corner would not find pay dirt for the Panthers either.

Peters would get their two-goal lead back when Sarah Heisinger got behind the defense, drew the keeper out and slotted the ball into the far left corner, to give the Indians a 3-1 edge into the half.  

USC came out trying to get a goal to tighten things up.

The Panthers’ created some chances but nothing dangerous enough to find the back of the net.

Heading into the midway point of the second half, Sarah Heisinger’s second goal of the day came when she drove a ball from 25 yards out, going under the crossbar and over the outstretched keepers hands, giving Peters a comfortable 4-1 lead.

From there, Peters put things on cruise control. 

Peters added their second goal of the half off a corner and finish by Brooke Opferman to make the score 5-1. Then, following a loose ball in the box Maddie Schweiger would get the goal to make it a 6-1 game heading into the final minutes.

With the loss, Upper St. Clair now falls into a tie for the fourth and final playoff spot with Mt. Lebanon, as they hold identical section records (6-5-1) with one game remaining for each next week.

Meanwhile, Peters Twp (9-1-1) have clinched first place in Girls 4A, Section 2, as they appear to be in top form, peaking at the right time ahead of what looks to be a very interesting 4A Playoffs this year. Come Wednesday, we’ll find out if they can nab a top seed in the WPIAL playoff tournament.  

Final PT 6 USC 1

Goals by Sarah Heisinger (2), Bliss Plummer, Isabelle Guna, Brooke Opferman, Maddie Schweiger

Assists by Maddie Schweiger, Abby Neupaver, Isabelle Guna, Riley Lopus, Kara Ligouri #PTKA💪🏼⚽️

— PT GIRLS SOCCER (@PTGIRLSSOCCER) October 17, 2020