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Bentworth repeat as WPIAL Boys 1A Champions, beat OLSH on PKs, 5-4

Not all championships will be celebrated with pretty and prosaic moments of soccer brilliance. Sometimes, two teams sock it out like punch drunk warriors slugging till the bitter end until one finally submits. Such was the nature of the WPIAL 1a Boys Championship game Thursday night at Highmark Stadium between Bentworth and Our Lady of Sacred Heart (OLSH) alongside the calm waters of the Monongahela, as a choppy goalless match between two scrappy opponents stretched on into the night. But the legs kept churning, and neither team would relent, so on they played past regulation and into overtime, and then into a second overtime.

Defense was a bit ahead of offense in this match. Both teams had some good looks at goal, but overall, it was a match filled with an overabundance of headed clearances, stuck-in tackles, and well-timed blocks for both teams, but especially OLSH, who resisted a fast and physical Bentworth team time and time again on runs down the pitch.

Despite both team’s best efforts throughout the match, the scoreline refused to budge. After 110 minutes of soccer, the score remained as stubborn as the defense, knotted at 0-0. The game went to PKs.

In the end, the Bentworth Bearcats slipped past Our Lady of Sacred Heart on PKs, 5-4, to repeat as WPIAL Boys 1A champions for the second straight year.

Bentworth got the first in the PK shootout, as freshman Isaac Vipperman switched kits to start things off. The midfielder put on goalkeeper’s neon shirt, converted the first kick, and then took his place between the pipes for Bentworth, replacing the team’s starting GK, DJ Hays, for the shootout. OLSH’s Holland Cobourne blasted his kick high. Bentworth’s Adam Moessner converted his kick; then OLSH’s Aaron Callahan converted his. Adam’s big brother Ryan put his shot into the big mitts of OLSH keeper Patrick Altmar; Owen Minzer then scored for OLSH. McMurray’s shot was saved; but Zink’s was too. Colbert (BENT) scored; so did Butler (OLSH). Moyer scored… Kolocouris scored on a shot that rattled in off the underside of the bar… and then Bentworth’s Reynolds scored once more.

Finally, OLSH’s Isaac Tarbuk hit one low and hard to the center of the net, but Andrew Vipperman dove to his left and smothered it. Tarbuk collapsed, prone on the pitch, while Bentworth celebrated a hard fought and very close win to secure their second straight WPIAL trophy.

OLSH’s Tarbuk.

“It feels amazing,” said Bentworth midfielder/goalkeeper Isaac Vipperman, minutes after the game, as he gazed into the crowd with his champions medal around his neck and he passed the championship trophy off to a teammate. He added, “OLSH played phenomenal. Congrats to them.” Knowing that both teams, plus the winner of the 3rd place consolation match, qualify for the PIAA which begin in a week, the Freshman Vipperman added “I don’t want to have to play them again.” Considering this was the first match in 19 games in which Bentworth had been held scoreless by any team, you can’t blame him.

Fellow ninth grader Adam Moessner definitely recognized that OLSH gave them quite a challenge in this match. “We weren’t doing too well.” However, he still felt like this team was built for adverse situations like this. “We had practiced PKs a lot, so we knew we could finish. Adam connected well throughout the game with his brother, eleventh grader Ryan Moessner, both after long dribbles in which he fed him in the box, and on little 1-2 combos through the midfield, but the boys, who have played on club teams together for 10 years, couldn’t find the net on this night. “That’s a credit to the (OLSH) defense” said Ryan.

On the other side of the ball, OLSH midfielder Owen Minzer, an eleventh grader, was proud of his team’s effort. “Great game, even though it was tough because we played down a man for a while” he said, referring to a red given to OLSH in the 66th minute. Minzer praised the work of goalkeeper Patrick Altmar, who had 5 saves on the night and a number of claims on crosses and other big plays. He also made two big saves in the PK shootout that kept Sacred Heart alive.

Minzer was confident that this game was both a stepping stone and a learning opportunity for OLSH this year. “We’ll be back next year,” the young man said.

 

Minute-by-Minute Match Details

14′ – In the early going, OLSH and Bentworth have played a fairly even match. Sacred Heart had a pair of corners off a lovely attacking sequence. The first was cleared behind the touchline by the Bearcats, and the second was headed well over the bar.

19′ – Shot from OLSH #21 RW Isaac Tarbuk, but it’s easily handled by Bentworth GK DJ Hayes.

30′ – OLSH bend in a cross by Hayes punches to clear.

31′ – Bentworth’s back line are doing excellent work clearing everything into the box, but OLSH are doing an excellent job penetrating into enemy territory with regularity. Jonathan Mackin in particular has been hard to slow in the attack.

35′ – An empty coal train rumbles past. The 1A boys get the full Highmark experience.

37′ – Bentworth get an excellent shot on goal, but OLSH GK Patrick Altmar punches a great save! Bentworth rebounds but an OLSH defender stuffs the second chance with a fantastic block.

40′ – OLSH get a corner and a long shot to close out the half but cannot connect. They go into the half deadlocked at 0-0. Boy, this game is the opposite of the Girls 1A final, which ended 5-3.

50′ – Bentworth pressing the attack. OLSH LB Andre Kolocouris bodies up his man and heads it clear. Bentworth’s ensuing corner is palmed away by OLSH keeper Patrick Altmar. The Junior keeper is listed on the roster as 6’7″. Wow.

53′ – Bentworth’s midfielder tears though the center of the pitch on a fantastic weaving 30 yard dribble and dishes to the left wing who centers it near the penalty spot 12 yards out. The Bearcats striker collides with OLSH’s defender. The fans howl for a call, but none is issued. We play on, 0-0.

57′ – Big save from Patrick Altmar on a Bentworth rush, and the Chargers stay level. It feels like Bentworth are starting to gain the upper hand, though.

61′ – Bentworth draw a foul and get a free kick from 30 yards out. Senior Andrew Vipperman takes the kick, and it goes low and right, but out.

64′ – Yellow card issued to Bentworth on a foul at midfield on #14 Billy Moyer. The crowd does not react in a particularly appreciative manner.

66′ – OLSH get a good rush into the box to finally tip the scales in the other direction, but it’s cleared away. The referee issues a red card to an OLSH player on a play at the far end of the field. Apologies, but I didn’t have a clear view of what transpired.

67′ – After a fairly clean first 55 minutes, we’ve have about five hard fouls in the last ten minutes. Tired legs, desperate efforts to break through, sloppy tackles, swinging elbows…

69′ – #10 Ryan Moessner goes on a fierce dribble into the final third and passes to #1, his brother Adam Moessner. The shot is snuffed by an OLSH defender – I think Luke Wrabley.

70′ – Amazing long run for OLSH’s Holland Cobourne down the left wing. He feeds it into the middle but the ball is cleared away.Really hard to tell who might win this one right now!

75′ – Foul from 20 yards out and a big free kick for Bentworth!

76′ – Andrew Vipperman rips a scorcher of a shot, but it’s high, and OLSH survives a scare.

79′ – Dribble and cut-back pass to Aiden McMurray, who rips a shot for the Bearcats from a great spot 16 yards out. OLSH Keeper Patrick Altmar sprawls low and right to make a fantastic save. Game stays level.

FT: Still 0-0

80+6′ – OLSH get into the Bentworth box. Jonathan Mackin swings at it for  a 20 yard shot, but it carries wide.

80+10′ – Red brings out a yellow on Bentworth.

80+15′ – Nothin’ doin’. Second OT inbound.

80+21′ – A couple of corners, a couple of fouls, no shots on target in 2nd OT for either team.

80+22′ – Yellow card for OLSH’s Jonathan Mackin.

80+23′ – Corner to Bentworth, big punch from Patrick Altmar to save it. A minute later, the Bearcats get a big chance on a wide open shot and Aiden McMurray blasts it high.

80+25′- OLSH defends another corner, their GK Altmar sweeps it away with a high overhand. He’s been an oak tree tonight.

80+29′ – Andre Kolocouris makes a brilliant sliding tackle. Keeper makes a save. Kolocouris given a yellow a few seconds later on a slight push. OLSH just hanging on tenaciously.

80+30′ – With two bites at the apple in the box, Bentworth flubs one shot, then whiffs on a second. The chances, they were there.

PKs!

 

…

Preview

#1 seeded Bentworth have scored 17 goals and conceded zero in the WPIAL playoffs en route to tonight’s final against Our Lady of Sacred Heart. The Bearcats hammered their first round opponents, #16 California, 11 to 0. Bentworth won the WPIAL 1A title in 2023, so a win tonight would be the beginning of a dynasty.

OLSH, meanwhile, scored only 3 goals in the WPIAL District 7 tournament. They went to OT in their first match and PKs in their second match of the tourney. On Halloween night 2024, the Chargers are most definitely the underdogs in this match.

 

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Mark Asher Goodman is a writer for Pittsburgh Soccer Now, covering the Riverhounds, the Pitt Men's and Women's teams, and youth soccer. He also co-hosts a podcast on the Colorado Rapids called 'Holding the High Line with Rabbi and Red.' He has written in the past for the Washington Post, Denver Post, The Athletic, and American Soccer Analysis. When he's not reading, writing, watching, or coaching soccer, he is an actual rabbi. No, really. You can find him on twitter at @soccer_rabbi

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