WPIAL Girls Soccer Class 1A Championship
FINAL: Freedom 3, Springdale 0
Update (7:30 p.m.)
Final moments as Freedom wins the WPIAL Girls 1A Championship, 3-0, over Springdale tonight. Their first WPIAL title since 2018 pic.twitter.com/Vo6LpXMmlr
— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 4, 2022
Update (7:23 p.m.)
'69 Bailey almost completes her hat-trick off the pass from Mohrbacher, but Stec stands tall and blocks it to keep it out.
Freedom leads Springdale 3-0#WPIALSoccer @pghsoccernow
— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 4, 2022
Update (7:18 p.m.)
'64 Springdale's Molly Hurely got a great chance, but a great save by Trinity Votjko with her feet keeps them scoreless.#WPIALSoccer @pghsoccernow
— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 4, 2022
Update (7:09 p.m.)
'55 Goal Freedom!
Bailey with her second goal of the second half off a good through ball from Tokar.
Freedom leads 3-0 over Springdale.#WPIALSoccer @pghsoccernow
— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 4, 2022
Update (7:04 p.m.)
'51 Bailey with another great chance right in front of goal, but she skies it.
2-0 Freedom#WPIALSoccer @pghsoccernow
— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 4, 2022
Update (7:03 p.m.)
'50 Julia Morbacher with a good chance but sends her shot way over the goal.#WPIALSoccer @pghsoccernow
— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 4, 2022
Update (6:57 p.m.)
'44 Shaye Bailey with another quick shot but Springdale GK. Caity Stec puts a fist out to push it out for a corner
— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 4, 2022
Update (6:55 p.m.)
'41 Goal Freedom!
Shaye Bailey scores the goal just a minute into the second half. Good chip for the goal off the pass for Riley Tokar. Freedom leads Springdale 2-0
— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 4, 2022
Update (6:52 p.m.)
Second half here starts at 6:52 p.m.
— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 4, 2022
Update (6:40 p.m.)
Half-time.
Freedom Area's Morbacher's penalty is decisive as they lead 1-0 over Springdale in the WPIAL 1A Girls Championship.
— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 4, 2022
Update (6:23 p.m.)
'25 Off the post!
Springdale M Carissa Walch shoots and her shot deflects and goes off the post, just missing the goal. #WPIALSoccer— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 4, 2022
Update (6:17 p.m.)
'19 Goal to Freedom!
F Julia Mohrbacher puts it to the goalkeepers right and gives Freedom the lead.
— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 4, 2022
Update (6:15 p.m.)
'18 Substitution for Springdale
D Lacey Shondeck comes in for D Addison Schussmann— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 4, 2022
Update (6:12 p.m.)
'15 Pretty back and forth game the first 15 minutes. Just waiting for that first real chance for either side.
— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 4, 2022
Here at Highmark covering the WOWIL 1A Girls Championship featuring Freedom vs. Springdale tonight at 6 p.m. for @pghsoccernow #WPIALSoccer pic.twitter.com/3xnIf60rU4
— Dominic Campbell (@DOMISMONEY) November 4, 2022
Preview
Freedom and Springdale advanced to the WPIAL Championship game with some challenges, but the top two seeds in the GIrls Class 1A tournament have been up to the task. Now, on Friday, they’ll be battling to see which will bring back a third district girls soccer title back to their school.
In fact, back in 1997, when the WPIAL expanded to a second girls classification, Springdale won their first ever district title. They followed that up with a title in 2009.
Meanwhile, Head Coach Colin Williams led Freedom to two titles in a three year span in 2016 and 2018.
Freedom have outscored playoff competition 17-5 thus far in the postseason, and their only losses this season came when playing up in class. They drew Greensburg Central Catholic in the semifinal round for the second straight year, a team that had elminated them from the postseason in three of the previous four years. This time around, the Bulldogs came out on top this time, 4-3, in the second period of extra time, in what was a pretty open-ended affair,
Shaye Bailey came up with the game-winner very late in extra time, when she outraced two defenders to a ball played over the top, before burying the game-winner on Monday night
Springdale clawed their way to early round playoff wins over Sewickely Academy (3-2) and Mohawk (2-0), but with two wins vs Greensburg Central Catholic this season, they’ve proven they can beat top teams in this classification. They exploded for a 5-0 win in the semifinal against Waynesburg Central, to make an emphatic statement that they belong in the Final at Highmark Stadium.
Julia Mohrbacher is a player to watch for Freedom. The Youngstown State commit scored twice in the semifinal win vs GCC, as she has 30 goals this season, and more than 100 in her high school career.
For Springdale, it was senior Grace Gent who delivered an impressive goal scoring performance on Monday, netting a hat trick against Waynesburg
Gent leads the Dynamo with 24 goals. Sophomore Briana Ross, who has 19 goals over her team’s 19 games, recorded three assists Monday to give her a team-leading 15.
The teams faced each other in the the PIAA play-in match in 2021, with Freedom rolling to a big 6-1 win that allowed them to advance to the State Playoffs, 6-0.
Team Profiles & How They Got To Highmark
Springdale (Section 1 Champions)
Nickname: Dynamo
Head Coach – Marc Bentley
- 1st Round – def Sewickly Academy 3-2
- Quarterfinal Rd. – def Mohawk, 2-0
- Semifinal Rd. – def Waynesburg, 5-0
Freedom (Section 3 Champion)
Nickname: Bulldogs
Head Coach – Colin Williams
- 1st Rd – BIshop Canevin, 8-0
- Quarterfinal Rd. – Seton LaSalle 5-2
- Semifinal Rd. – Greensburg Central Catholic, 4-3
PSN Recent Coverage of Girls Class 1A Soccer
Kids on the Pitch Podcast: WPIAL Boys and Girls Soccer Championships preview
WPIAL Girls Soccer Class 4A and 1A Semifinal Round (10/31/2022)
WPIAL Girls Soccer Class 1A Playoff Bracket (2022): Freedom, Springdale lead the way
Past Girls Class 1A Finals
Golden Steel: Doering’s OT winner lifts Steel Valley to its first-ever WPIAL girls soccer title
Greensburg Central Catholic wins seventh WPIAL girls soccer crown
Freedom rolls past Bentworth, 8-2, for second WPIAL crown in three years