FINAL: Archbishop Wood 2, Burrell 1 (PIAA Girls Soccer Class 2A Final)

PIAA Girls Soccer Class 2A Final

FINAL Archbishop Wood 2, Burrell 1 (AET)

Class 2A Bracket

Friday, November 14 | 7 p.m. | Northeastern High School

Broadcast TV: PCN  Streaming: NHFS

 

Match Summary

Burrell girls soccer team came up just short, losing to Archbishop Wood, 2-1, in extra time, in the PIAA Girls Class 2A championship match on Friday night at Northeastern York High School.

The Bucs managed to find a dramatic, late-second half equalizer from Parker Moore that would force the match to go to extra time.

Archbishop Wood would find the game winner less than a minute into the first period of extra time, when Kylie Wiest hit the golden goal to lift the Vikings to the State title.

Burrell came out strong in the second half of the scoreless game with three shots in the first 10 minutes, the final one unleashed by freshman Kendall Coury from the right wing from 15 yards.

Archbishop Wood took the match’s first lead midway through the second half, when Paige Eckert converted on her chance.

Burrell didn’t give up and pushed hard to get the possession back in the Vikings’ end of the field.

The Bucs pushed hard for the equalizer, eventually finding an opportunity on a set piece. Junior Eva Wilson delivered a well-placed corner service into the box, with Moore redirecting it into goal.

Wiest then went to work in the overtime as she corralled the ball at the 30-yard line and dribbled past several defenders before unleashing a shot just inside the right post that set off a jubilant on-field celebration for the Vikings.

Burrell had not allowed more than one goal in each of its last seven contests dating back to Oct. 15

With the result, Burrell would finish the season with 14-7-0 overall record.

Match Preview

The Burrell Girls Soccer team can certainly turn to the adage — it’s not how hard your fall; it’s how you rise.

Despite some bumps along the way, a resilient squad that wouldn’t go away, will play in the school’s first-ever PIAA Soccer Championship game on Friday evening.

Burrell will face Archbishop Wood, the No. 1 seed from District 12, who defeated District 11 champion Northwestern Lehigh in penalty kicks (3-1) on a frigid Tuesday night at Upper Perkiomen.

The Bucs road to the State Final was anything but easy.

Three times this season the Bucs lost matches to Section rival Freeport, including the third coming in the WPIAL Championship match on November 1, at Highmark Stadium, in a tight, 1-0 defeat.

Each match vs Freeport, the Bucs felt they improved and kept building on that, with Head Coach Frank Nesko steering the ship.

In a regular season edition of PSN’s Coaches Corner, Nesko drew praise from other coaches as someone who has his teams ready to play and the Bucs are a tough group to beat.

Kids on the Pitch Podcast: South Fayette and Burrell girls captains are excited, focused on first-ever appearances in PIAA Soccer Finals

The Bucs proved themselves against tough field of WPIAL contenders.

In its first-round win (1-0 vs a defensively sound Belle Vernon squad), Burrell junior Makiah Buchak had the timely goal that was the difference late in the first half.  Maybe even more impressive, the Bucs held the Leopards to just two shots, none in the second half, in walking away with a 1-0 victory.

Burrell weren’t done yet.

For the second straight year, the Bucs knocked out top-seeded South Park — this time coming in Thursday’s Quarterfinal round.   In doing so they also knocked out the only remaining unbeaten girls’ team in the WPIAL.

Nesko described the game winner from McKenna Miller as a ‘dirty goal’ after Makiah Buchak sent the ball into the 18 from a set piece, with Miller getting in the right place as the right time for a very timely goal in what was a tight contest.

Leah Waldsmith made five saves, including a spectacular one with 25 seconds left to preserve the shutout.

Then in the semifinal round against a team they’ve beaten previously in the postseason — Mt. Pleasant — Burrell sophomore Allie McMahon scored less than a minute into the contest, and junior McKenna Miller tapped in a rebound goal in the second half to send the Bucs back to Highmark Stadium for the second consecutive season.

Burrell was last year’s WPIAL runner-up.

They’re this year’s WPIAL runner-up.

Yet after two rounds of tough matches in the PIAA tournament, they found themselves facing their section rival — Freeport for the fourth time on Tuesday night at Fox Chapel

This time they were determined not to go down

Goals from Katie Koehler and Makiah Buchak lifted Burrell past section rival Freeport, 2-1, at Fox Chapel High School on Tuesday night in the fourth meeting between the schools this season.

The first two goals of the match came in a flurry in the first half.

First, Koehler converted a header in a crowded box to put the Bucs up, 1-0.

But a quick response came from the WPIAL champs, when all-WPIAL selection and Riverhounds Academy standout Cam Woods fired one in from distance to level the match.

As things tightened up in the match, Burrell would find the game-winner in the second half when Kendall Coury sent a well-placed ball into the box that found Buchak there to hit it home — and send the Bucs past their section rival and into the State Championship game.

This will be Burrell’s first-ever PIAA Girls Soccer state title appearance as they will take on Archbishop Wood on Friday at 7 p.m. at Northeastern High School.

Archbishop Wood comes into this match ending Northwestern Lehigh’s 54-game winning streak in winning its PIAA Semifinal match in a penalty kick shootout.

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