FINAL: South Fayette 3, Radnor 1 (South Fayette wins first-ever PIAA Girls Soccer title)

PIAA Girls Soccer Class 3A Final

FINAL: South Fayette 3, Radnor 1

Saturday, November 15 | 1 p.m. | Northeastern High School

Broadcast: PCN | Streaming: NHFS

 

Match Summary

South Fayette girls soccer team completed another come-from-behind win with a three-goal surge in the second half to win the school’s first-ever PIAA soccer title, beating Radnor, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon at Northeastern High School in Manchester.

Scoring goals in a 15-minute span in the second half for the Lions included Abby Spalla, Silvi Rossi and Harper Zapf.

Radnor jumped out to the early lead in the 4th minute of the match, following a cross from the left side sent to center and top of goal box where South Fayette keeper Caitlyn Thompson came off her line but Radnor’s Kiera Mucksavage was first to the ball to push it forward and into the open goal.

While South Fayette pushed for the equalizer and put Radnor under heavy pressure, they couldn’t find a breakthrough in the first half.

The second half they found another super scoring surge yet again — just as they did in previous rounds of the PIAA tournament.

The South Fayette assault began in the 55th minute when Gabby Beinecke drew contact and a generous call from the officials, to earn a penalty in the box.  Abby Spalla stepped up to convert the penalty to give the Lions the elusive equalizer.

Six minutes later, another underclassman, Silvi Rossi got loose on the right side, working her way into the edge of the box, then sent a low shot that found the inside of the left post to give the Lions a 2-1 lead.

In the 71st minute, the Lions earned a corner kick and made it count — winning a second ball following the initial service, with Harper Zapf in the right spot to deliver the clinical finish through some traffic.

South Fayette completed the 2025 season with 21-2-1 record.

Look for post-match reaction to follow.

Match Updates

FINAL — SOUTH FAYETTE 3, RADNOR 1

The Lions complete another come-from-behind win with a three-goal surge in the second half to win the school’s first-ever PIAA soccer title.

2nd half

71′ — GOAL!! SOUTH FAYETTE 3, RADNOR 1

Harper Zapf !!

This time — the Lions win second ball following corner kick and Zapf buries it home.

Lions now on doorstep of first-ever PIAA title

61′ — GOAL!! SOUTH FAYETTE 2, RADNOR 1

55′ — GOAL!!  SOUTH FAYETTE 1, RADNOR 1

 

55′ — PENALTY!!

END OF 1ST HALF — RADNOR 1, SOUTH FAYETTE 0

A look at some of South Fayette’s chances in the first half — but the Lions can’t breakthrough for the equalizer (Courtesy PCN)

1st half

3′ — GOAL — RADNOR 1, SOUTH FAYETTE 0

Cross to top of goal box — SF’s Caitlyn Thompson comes off her line but can’t get it — and Radnor attacker gets to it first.  Looked like Kiera Mucksavage got on the other end of a cross and tapped it in.

 

Match Preview

In the past four years, South Fayette girls’ soccer program has made major breakthroughs as a program, winning back-to-back WPIAL (PIAA District 7) championships in 2023 and 2024.

The current group of seniors led by captains Caitlyn Thompson, Mia Deramo and Quinn Miller, still have one elusive accomplishment they’ve yet to reach.

After losing in the WPIAL Championship match to WPIAL Class 3A rival Fox Chapel on October 30 at Highmark Stadium on a late, extra time strike, the Lions have been focused on this evasive holy grail.

“We had a new challenge in front of us,” Thompson shared on Kids on the Pitch Podcast this week.

“We’re going to win that State title.”

After losing to Fox Chapel, the Lions entered the PIAA playoff tournament with extra motivation — getting off to a good start in beating Holidaysburg, 3-0.

Then, the Lions found themselves facing more adversity, when trailing 3-0 in its Quarterfinal Round match vs District 3 champion Cocalico.

“Losing it. We wanted it so bad,” Thompson shared of the loss to Fox Chapel, then being in a big predicament in the State playoffs.

“It teaches you greater lesson and gives you a greater drive.”

Even when trailing by three goals, South Fayette had plenty of confidence and knew they were still capable of putting together goals in bunches.

Talented sophomore Gabby Beinecke gave the Lions a much-needed spark it desperately needed at the start of the 2nd half scoring twice in a three-minute flurry.

Riding momentum to the end of regulation, another senior, Emma Ferrari came through in the clutch, with the equalizer in the 71st minute.

Delivering the knockout punch to reeling Cocalico, sophomore Lily Chiappetta hit the game-winner moments into the first period of extra time.

Following the euphoria come-from-behind win, South Fayette carried over its goal-scoring surge into the semifinal, where they lit up the scoreboard from the start, pummeling District 9 champion DuBois, 6-1.

Did we mention that they could score goals in bunches?  That’s right — from start of second half of the quarterfinal through the final whistle of the semifinal — the Lions have scored 10 goals.

In the State Final, the match-up looks like the ultimate irresistible force vs immovable object collision, testing South Fayette’s scoring mettle against a team that has not allowed a goal in the tournament.

This will be the second state title appearance for Radnor — the District 1 champion — since 2021.

The Raptors are pitching shutouts, earning 1-0 victories against Susquehannock, Abington Heights and Lower Dauphin.

“We look forward to playing new teams and this challenge,” Deramo said.

The Lions, led by Head Coach, Nick Rosser, back the heart of its core talent including Deramo, Gabby Beinecke, goalkeeper Thompson.

The latter two, who are part of Riverhounds Development Academy, also trained and competed with Pittsburgh Riveters SC this past Summer — alongside their assistant coach, former Canon-McMillan and Hofstra University standout, Sabrina Bryan.

In fact, after the loss to Fox Chapel, the captains pointed out that Bryan reminded them that she was in the same predicament with her 2017 Canon-Mac squad, who lost the WPIAL title match, but went on to win the PIAA title that season.

Deramo, a Youngstown St commit, scored the game-winner for South Fayette in the 2023 WPIAL final to beat Moon.

The Lions are looking to join elite company from the WPIAL and joining the schools they worked so hard in recent years to overtake — as Moon was the last WPIAL 3A girls’ team to win a state title, doing so in both 2022 and 2023.

Mars won three in a row just before, taking gold in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

 

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