WPIAL Boys Soccer Class 1A Final Preview: No. 1 Bentworth vs No. 3 Our Lady of Sacred Heart

File photo courtesy Ed Thompson

WPIAL Boys Soccer Class 1A Championship Match

No. 1 Bentworth (18-0-0)

vs

No. 3 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (15-2-0)

Thursday, October 31, 2024  |  8 p.m.  |   Highmark Stadium | Pittsburgh, PA

PSN Coverage Team:  Mark Goodman (reporting) and Ed Thompson (photography)

Updated Boys Class 1A Bracket 

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Head Coaches:

Bentworth: Nick Malarbi

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart: Nick Romano

Rosters

Bentworth

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart

History

This is Bentworth’s second-ever appearance in WPIAL Final (2023, 2024).  The Bearcats have one WPIAL title (2023).

This is OLSH’s second-ever appearance in the WPIAL Final (2011, 2024).  OLSH were runner-up in 2011.

Last Five WPIAL Boys Class 1A Champions

• 2023 – Bentworth
• 2022 – Winchester Thurston
• 2021 – Winchester Thurston
• 2020 – Greensburg Central Catholic
• 2019 – Greensburg Central Catholic

Match Preview

There’s no rest for the weary.

Less than 48 hours after completing semifinal victories, these two side will take the pitch at Highmark Stadium to do battle for WPIAL title.

Bentworth continues its quest for a repeat, beating Beaver County Christian, 3-0, on Tuesday night at Canon-McMillan.  The Bobcats will face Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, who came away with a narrow, 1-0, win over Eden Christian in the nightcap.

The big question heading into the Boys Class 1A tournament this year was — can anyone knock off Bentworth?

From looking at the sheer dominance exhibited by the Bobcats — who carry a whopping +119 goal differential into the district final match-up against a team that has found various ways to pull out narrow victories through their first three playoff matches.

Bentworth (18-0) steamrolled through the regular season, looking for back-to-back WPIAL titles with a roster that’s filled with postseason experience from last year, when they defeated fellow Mon Valley/Washington County side, Charleroi, in the WPIAL Final and also made it to the PIAA Semifinal Round. Among the upperclassman leading the way for Bentworth include brothers Adam Moessner and Ryan Moessner (who combined for 60 goals and counting) along with Andrew Vipperman.  The Bearcats have outscored their opponents by a whopping 117-4 margin this season. Ryan Moessner was recently named as the Player of the Year in Class 1A by WPIAL coaches for his accomplishments this regular season.

The Bearcats started off the playoffs without much of a challenge, beating California, 11-0,  then taking a 3-0 win vs Trinity Christian.

In the semifinals, they hit some early resistence, but pulled away from Beaver County Christian for a 3-0 win.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart have been living dangerously through the postseason thus far, needing a penalty kick shootout to get past No. 6 Springdale in the quarterfinal, won in extra time against Freedom in the first round.  And, in the semifinal, were aided by an own goal  that came from a ball into the box from  Jonathan Mackinthat proved to be the difference in beating Eden Christian.

Leading OLSH, Holland Cobourne and Owen Minzer each earned All-WPIAL honors.

PSN’s Recent Class 1A Boys Soccer Coverage

WPIAL Boys Soccer Class 1A Quarterfinal Round Final Scoreboard

WPIAL Boys Soccer Class 1A First Round Final Scoreboard

All-WPIAL Boys Soccer Selections (2024)

 

WPIAL Boys Soccer Class 1A Results

Semifinal Round

FINAL: Bentworth 3, Beaver County Christian 0

FINAL:  Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 1, Eden Christian 0

Quarterfinal Round (10/26/2024)

FINAL: Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 1, Springdale 1 (OLSH wins in PK shootout)

FINAL:  Beaver County Christian 2, Greensburg Central Catholic 0

FINAL: Eden Christian 1, Winchester Thurston 0

FINAL: Bentworth 3, Trinity Christian 0

First Round  (10/19/2024)

FINAL:   Springdale 2, Sewickley Academy 1

FINAL: Winchester Thurston 9,  Serra Catholic 0

FINAL:  Beaver County Christian 2, Riverview 0

FINAL: Bentworth 11, California 0

FINAL:  Trinity Christian 3, Bethlehem-Center 0

FINAL:  Greensburg Central Catholic 2, Aquinas Academy 0  ET (2)

FINAL:  Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 1, Freedom 0  ET

FINAL:  Carlynton vs Eden Christian Academy 2, Carlynton 1   ET

 

Class 1A Boys Leading Scorers

Ryan Moessner, Bentworth — 36

Zayden Herb, Neshannock — 33

Hamza Alezzo, Carlynton — 32

Carlos Duran, Brentwood — 24

Luke Kost, Trinity Christian — 24

Adam Moessner, Bentworth — 24

Parker Amos, Beth-Center — 22

Nekoda Bundy, Beth-Center — 22

Luke Schellhase, Trinity Christian — 21

Jackson Vacanti, Greensburg C.C. — 21

Michael Miller, Winchester Thurston — 20

Marco Anselmino, Aquinas Academy — 15

Mateo Carrasco, Carlynton — 15

Nathan Dubas, Springdale — 15

Nick Fessler, Freedom — 14

Chris O’Toole, Riverview — 14

Grant Brewer, Greensburg C.C. — 13

Brayden Graham, Serra Catholic — 13

Luca Peluso, Sewickley Academy — 11

Zach Stephens, Beaver County Christian — 11

Finn Wentz, Sewickley Academy — 11

Malik White, Winchester Thurston — 11

Patrick Wylly, Springdale — 11

Brendan Cole, Waynesburg — 10

Colton Gent, Springdale — 10

Gabe Gess, Derry — 10

Robert McMahan, Beaver County Christian — 10

Evan Mingle, Brentwood — 10