Fox Trot: Foxes’ Late Goal Upsets Plum, Ends 29-Year WPIAL Title Drought

Photo courtesy WPIAL

PITTSBURGH — The last time Fox Chapel were champions of WPIAL boys’ soccer, MLS hadn’t yet played a regular-season game, the first known text message in history was three years old, and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC was three years away from its inception.

But in the home of the Hounds, time stood still for Carson Krushansky on Friday, when he scored a goal that should blow up his phone until next week’s PIAA tournament begins.

A 70th-minute strike from the senior All-WPIAL forward gave No. 3 seed Fox Chapel (13-4-2) a 1-0 win over previously unbeaten Plum (17-1-3), the top seed, in the WPIAL Boys’ Class 4A Final late into the chilly night at Highmark Stadium. The Foxes, a six-time champion, claimed their first title since 1995.

Krushansky settled down a ball at the top of the 18-yard box and put his whole momentum into a turning, right-footed shot. From the prone position, he watched it rocket past a diving Chase Eber inside the near post, then watched time run out on the Mustangs’ bid for their first championship since 2005.

“I told myself I wanted three, but I got one, and I’ll take it,” a smiling Krushansky said afterward. “I got a wide lane, and I cut in and had space to keep going, so I drove and hit it as hard as I could.”

 

Eber, a sophomore, played beyond his years for the Mustangs, finishing with seven saves.

In the 36th minute, he redeemed himself for a tactical mistake that led to a Fox Chapel corner kick with a dazzling one-timer save on Kellan Bleier, grandson of Steelers legend Rocky, from point blank. Moments before halftime, a long through ball from Bleier to Aidan Stein on his left yielded a grade-A chance thwarted by an oncoming Eber.

Nick Squeglia took advantage of a miscue at the back line and had Eber one-on-one at 63′, but he parried away Squeglia’s rising shot from within the 18.

Meanwhile, Fox Chapel kept a solid defensive shape, limiting Plum to just one shot on frame in the first half, courtesy of All-WPIAL defender Garrett Chandler, and none in the second half. This was despite Plum finishing with an overall 53%-47% edge in possession.

Chandler had been the most effective field player for the Mustangs, marking Stein and providing support to his keeper on set pieces, until Krushansky’s heroics.

“They’re a good team defensively, and they don’t make a ton of mistakes,” Krushansky said. “We knew we just had to keep going at it, and eventually, we got it.”

 

In defeat, @PlumAthletics Boys HC @RafalKolankows1 shares his thoughts on loss to Fox Chapel and his team’s remarkable WPIAL season and playing on @highmarkstadium stage pic.twitter.com/GspGIIgaZz

— Pittsburgh Soccer Now (@pghsoccernow) November 2, 2024

The Foxes are now in 4-0-1 form since a 3-1, non-section loss to Plum Oct. 12. They will face either Wilson or Mechanicsburg from District 3 in the first round of the PIAA playoffs next Tuesday.

The Mustangs will take on either State College, the District 6 champion, or McDowell, the District 10 champion, in PIAA playoff action that same night.