WPIAL Soccer Watch (9/14/2023): South Fayette ends Moon girls’ impressive unbeaten streak

File Photo courtesy Matt Ralph

WPIAL SOCCER WATCH

Thursday, September 14, 2023 

If you have any updates to provide, please share on Twitter using #WPIALSoccer and/or include Pittsburgh Soccer Now’s Twitter handle @pghsoccernow.

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For the 2023 High School soccer season, we will be using this forum to preview upcoming matches, share news and information and also share more from coaches and players, followed by a final WPIAL Scoreboard to post later that evening or early the following morning.

Coming off back-to-back WPIAL and PIAA titles, Bill Pfeifer’s Moon girls squad have suddenly come back to earth a bit in week four of this new season.

The Tigers won the Class 3A state title in 2021 and the 4A crown in 2022 bringing their total of PIAA championships to six overall, posting a remarkable 44-1-1 record in the previous two seasons, including a pair of wins in much anticipated showdowns against an equally talented Mars squad in the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs last season.

“I think people want to beat Moon,” Pfeifer told Pittsburgh Union Progress earlier this year. “It’s just like people want to beat Mars. There’s always somebody, and right now that cycles through [Moon].”

Moon entered the 2023 campaign with continued hype but also with a big target on its backs, even as they graduated many key players from the repeat championship squad, namely Hailey Longwell, the 2022 Moe Rosensteel Award winner.  The program earned a No. 2-ranking in the nation as part of the United Soccer Coaches girls high school preseason rankings.

After starting this season with five straight wins, to extend its unbeaten streak to 47 matches, Moon ran into a pair of determined section opponents this week in Montour and South Fayette.

On Monday, the Spartans and Tigers played to a scoreless draw.

And on Wednesday, the Lions were the first team since September 2021 to defeat the Tigers, by a 1-0 score line. South Fayette’s Alex Delaney scored the match’s lone goal, with Julianna Rossi picking up the assist, while goalkeeper Caitlyn Thompson picked up the clean sheet.

“It was a well-played game on both sides. The game could have gone either way,” South Fayette’s Head Coach, Nick Rosser told Pittsburgh Soccer Now.

“I was very happy with the win, and so proud of the girls.”

🤯 https://t.co/jvOqlN5K5U

— Pittsburgh Soccer Now (@pghsoccernow) September 14, 2023

Moon’s last loss came when they competed in Class 4A,  losing 1-0, to Mt. Lebanon.

With this week’s result, the standings in Girls 3A have shifted considerably, as Montour (3-0-1 in section) stands in first place, while Moon (3-1-0 in section) drops to second.   South Fayette improve to 2-2 in section and 3-4-1 overall.

Meanwhile, the other traditional powerhouse program in Girls 3A, Mars remains unbeaten with a 6-0 record, as the Planets biggest test came earlier in the week when neighboring Class 2A North Catholic battled them in a 1-0 contest.  North Catholic will likely be a contender in Class 2A once again this season, as they’re only other loss this season came to section rival  and two-time defending WPIAL Class 2A champs, Avonworth, 3-2 in Extra Time.

On Thursday night, the attention shifts to the boys side, with a full schedule on tap.

We have the full schedule below.

WPIAL BOYS SOCCER SCHEDULE (9/14/2023)

Class 4A
Section 1 (4A)
7:00pm	Central Catholic at North Allegheny
8:00pm	Fox Chapel at Butler
7:30pm	North Hills at Pine-Richland
7:30pm	Shaler at Seneca Valley
Section 2 (4A)
3:30pm	Canon-McMillan at Allderdice
7:30pm	Hempfield at Baldwin
7:30pm	Mt. Lebanon at Norwin
7:45pm	Upper St. Clair at Peters Township
Class 3A
Section 1 (3A)
7:00pm	Armstrong at Hampton
7:00pm	Mars at Kiski Area
3:30pm	North Catholic at Highlands
Section 2 (3A)
7:30pm	Central Valley at Blackhawk
7:30pm	Chartiers Valley at Ambridge
7:30pm	Montour at Moon
Section 3 (3A)
7:30pm	Connellsville at Bethel Park
7:30pm	Laurel Highlands at Albert Gallatin
7:30pm	Ringgold at Thomas Jefferson
7:30pm	Uniontown at Trinity
Section 4 (3A)
7:30pm	Latrobe at Gateway
7:30pm	McKeesport at Franklin Regional
7:30pm	Obama Academy at Penn Hills
7:30pm	Plum at Penn-Trafford
Class 2A
Section 1 (2A)
7:30pm	Keystone Oaks at East Allegheny
7:00pm	South Allegheny at South Park
6:00pm	West Mifflin at Steel Valley
7:30pm	Woodland Hills at Elizabeth Forward
Section 2 (2A)
6:00pm	Freeport at Derry Area
7:30pm	Greensburg Salem at Deer Lakes
6:30pm	Jeannette at Shady Side Academy
7:00pm	Knoch at Leechburg
Section 3 (2A)
7:00pm	McGuffey at Brownsville
7:30pm	Mount Pleasant at Belle Vernon
7:00pm	Southmoreland at Washington
7:30pm	Yough at Waynesburg Central
Section 4 (2A)
7:30pm	Avonworth at Beaver Area
7:30pm	Hopewell at Quaker Valley
6:30pm	Riverside at Ellwood City
Class 1A
Section 1 (1A)
4:00pm	Beaver County Christian at Eden Christian
4:00pm	Sewickley Academy at Neshannock
7:00pm	South Side Beaver at Freedom
Section 2 (1A)
7:00pm	Bentworth at Beth-Center
7:00pm	Greensburg Central Catholic at Charleroi
6:00pm	Ligonier Valley at California
Section 3 (1A)
7:00pm	Aquinas Academy at Burrell
4:00pm	Trinity Christian at St. Joseph
4:00pm	Winchester Thurston at Riverview
Section 4 (1A)
4:00pm	Brentwood at Bishop Canevin
7:00pm	Serra Catholic at Chartiers-Houston
7:00pm	Seton LaSalle at Carlynton
Non Section
7:30pm	Springdale (1A) at Indiana (2A)