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PIAA Boys Soccer Semifinal Round Scoreboard: Moon. Bentworth advance to Finals

Photo courtesy Randy Warner

The WPIAL was well-represented with three schools, Moon (3A), Avonworth (2A) and Bentworth (1A), remaining in three classifications, as the PIAA Boys Soccer playoffs reached the Semifinal Round — with Moon and Bentworth advancing, while Avonworth came up just short in a wild, back-and-forth match with Cathedral Prep.

PIAA Tournament History – All Classes – (1973 – present)

Results and match day updates can be found below.

PIAA Boys Soccer Tournament

Scores

Class 3A

FINAL: Moon 1, Conrad Weiser 0

Class 2A

FINAL: Cathedral Prep 4, Avonworth 3

Class 1A

FINAL: Bentworth 2, Conrad Weiser 0

 

Match Day Updates

Tuesday, November 12

 

55′ — MOON 1, Conrad Weiser 0

 Luis Silva scores near post on the left side of goal for the Tigers. #berksgameday

Here’s stream for Avonworth-Cathedral Prep match:  https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/piaa/gam58424f55e9

Semifinal Round Match Capsules

Class 3A

6 pm — Moon (23-0-0) vs Conrad Weiser (24-1-1) at Bald Eagle Area HS Bellefonte

Moon has been perfect this season — without a loss or without a draw — against a Class 3A field that appeared to be pretty strong in the WPIAL.

However, stepping foot outside the WPIAL for the first time, the Tigers were tested against District 3’s fourth place team, Lampeter-Strasburg in the PIAA first round.  Trailing in the match, Aedan Costa and Billy Sprott came up with the goals in a 2-1 win to shake off Lampeter-Strasburg.

And again, in a match that was a classic, covered by Pittsburgh Soccer Now‘s Mark Goodman, Moon scored early, but were pushed to the limit against a resilient Allderdice, out of the Pittsburgh City League, in a match that would eventually go to extra time.

Luis Silva scored on a header in the extra session, off a precise cross from Zech Balbach, for the game-winner.

Moon rises over Dice, 2-1 in OT

Tyler Blake’s unbeaten squad are a team on a mission to get to the PIAA Final, but standing in their way, they will be in for a tough challenge against Conrad Weiser.

The Scouts, who have lost just one match this season, shut out their first two opponents in the PIAA Class 3A soccer tournament. Conrad Weiser has outscored its opponents 20-2 between the District 3 and PIAA tournaments.

After losing to Muhlenberg 3-2 in the BCIAA semifinals, the Scouts have been on a tear.

They have shut out four opponents and allowed just one goal in two lopsided wins in the district tournament.  Into the PIAA tournament, the Scouts dispatched two other WPIAL teams — Mars (4-0) and Franklin Regional (2-0).  Abu Barrie scored two goals and was assisted on them by Silas Miller and Gavin Rapp. The trio, along with Armaan Malik, have been the backbone of the Scouts’ offense all season.  Goalie Tyler Yonavick made three saves on Saturday for his second clean sheet in the state tourney.

Class 2A

 7 pm — Avonworth (19-3-2) vs Cathedral Prep (17-6) at Franklin

The WPIAL runner-up have survived and advanced thanks to its ability to score and create chances — and on Saturday against District 10 Fairview — they found a way to persevere through a match that also saw tense periods of extra time and a penalty kick shootout.

Rowan Carmichael scored the only regulation goal for the Antelopes two minutes into the second half.

Avonworth is in the semifinals for the first time since 2018.

The ‘Lopes were the only Class 2A WPIAL team to survive the first round, as Carmichael and Cody Cwynar each scored twice in the first round 6-1 win vs Bedford.

Avonworth has proven the past few season they have lots of attacking firepower, to the tune of scoring over five goals per season.

In the first round of the WPIAL playoffs, the Lopes’ put it on full display, rolling to a 7-0 win against McGuffey, but Shady Side Academy slowed down them down a bit in the Quarterfinals, forcing the match to go to extra time. Still, patience paid off for Avonworth as Rowan Carmichael scored the winning goal off an assist from Abdul Basit Sleiman Kaije.   Basit ended the regular season as the ‘Lopes’ leading scorer, with 18 goals.

In the WPIAL final, South Park slowed them down, winning a tight affair, 1-0, as GK Cooper Hochendoner made four big saves to keep the Lopes off the board.

But in the win against Fairview, Avonworth showed that it can win a rock fight too.

Now, they’ll face an even bigger challenge, as Cathedral Prep, last season’s Class 3A PIAA champs, had their way with Trinity, in a 5-2 victory in the Quarterfinal round. Mike McDonald, Esteban Millet, James DiSanza, Brandon Lin and Carter Budacki each scored in the barrage.

With plenty of scoring ability on both sides, if the teams open things up, there could be tons of chances going either way, potentially making this a recipe for an exciting match with plenty of attacking chances for both sides.

Class 1A

 6 pm — Bentworth (23-0-0) vs McConnellsburg (19-3-1), Price Field, Westmont Elementary Johnstown

The Bearcats reached the state semifinal round for the second consecutive season with a pair of 1-0 victories against Westmont Hilltop and Mercyhurst Prep — as they’ve follow a similar formula.

Get an early first half goal from one of the Moessner brothers, then clamp down on their opponents the rest of the way.

In Saturday’s win vs Mercyhurst Prep, Andrew Vipperman set up Ryan Moessner for the only goal of the match in the first half.

Last Tuesday, Aiden McMurray set up Adam Moessner for the only goal of the match in the first half.

Bentworth, which has not allowed a goal in six postseason matches, has also posted 10 straight clean sheets.

Now, they’ll face McConnellsburg, who defeated WPIAL runner-up, OLSH, 2-0, on Saturday.  This is the second time in three seasons that McConnellsburg have reached the semifinal round, as they were also a 1-0 winner over Halifax in the first round.  McConnellsburg were the No. 3 seed in the District 5 playoffs, but pulled off the upset of No. 1 Conemaugh to earn its trip to this year’s PIAA tournament. Gavin DeShong scored two goals while teammate Reese Alexander was stellar in goal to in beating Conemaugh Township in the District 5-1A boys’ soccer championship.

Bentworth made good on its quest to repeat as WPIAL champions, beating Beaver County Christian, 3-0 in the District Semifinal, then taking down OLSH in the Final that went to a penalty kick shootout.

From looking at the sheer dominance exhibited by the Bobcats — carried a whopping +119 goal differential into the district final match-up but have been tested with each passing round.

Bentworth 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.

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PIAA Soccer Tournament Schedule / Results

Championship Games

Friday November 15

11 a.m.–  Girls Class 1A

1:30 p.m. — Boys Class 1A

4 p.m. — Girls Class 3A

6:30 p.m. — Boys Class 3A

Saturday November 16

11 a.m. — Girls Class 2A

1:30 p.m. — Boys Class 2A

4 p.m. — Girls Class 4A

6:30 p.m. — Boys Class 4A

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