Upper St. Clair edges North Allegheny, 2-1, in soccer
Garrett Blake strikes the ball for Upper St. Clair’s first goal during a 2-1 victory against North Allegheny.
Garrett Blake celebrates after scoring Upper St. Clair’s first goal during a 2-1 victory against North Allegheny.
Robbie Mertz goes flying into the air after striking the ball and colliding with a North Allegheny defender during Upper St. Clair’s 2-1 victory against the Tigers.
The premise of soccer is simple. The execution, on the other hand, can be quite difficult. Just ask Mike Blatz, the interim coach of the Upper St. Clair Panthers, who nearly saw their two-year reign as state champions, ended by North Allegheny in a WPIAL Class AAA boys’ quarterfinal playoff game at Baldwin Stadium.
“Statistically, a team can dominate a game but that doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “To win, you have to get the ball into a net that is eight feet wide and eight feet high.”
After bombarding the Tigers’ cage, only to be consistently repelled by Luke Nolan, USC finally struck paydirt for the game-winning goal with 7:29 to play. Doug Haperman, took a cross from Stefano Paolina, and deposited into the net, lifting the Panthers to victory, 2-1, against NA.
“You have to respect their resolve and their goaltender played well,” Blatz said of the Tigers. “They were brave in front of the net and they made it difficult for us.”
The Tigers attacked first, scoring quickly on a goal by Steve Benning, putting the Panthers in an unfamiliar, come-from-behind position. Garrett Blake, however, racked up the equalizer, knotting the contest by halftime, 1-1.
“At halftime we talked about over attacking and playing into their tactics,” said Blatz. “They made it tough and interesting.”
Because of USC’s experience, three straight trips to the district finals and the back-to-back state crowns, Blatz explained his players did not panic. “They are very resilient. They’ve been in similar situations. They believed they could win the game.”
Talent and the ability to move personnel around also benefited the Panthers. Though they scored the goals, Blake and Hapeman are best know for their defense. In fact, Hapeman made the play of the game with under 20 minutes to play when he cleared a potential goal out of the USC net.
“That’s just Doug,” said Blatz. “He’s a very intelligent and smart and not just on the soccer field. That was big play considering not too many things were going our way.”
While USC held an 18-5 advantage on shots on goal in the first half, both teams had chances to score before Hapeman’s game-winner. USC hit the cross bar as well as the post on two solid shots while Josh Luchini put a shot on goal against Kenny Rapko that just missed wide.
With the win, USC advanced to the semifinals, which are set for Oct. 27 at a site and time to be determined. The Panthers, who won the Section 5 title, improved to 18-0-1 overall while the Tigers ended their season at 10-8-2.
In first game of the doubleheader at Baldwin, Central Catholic (19-1) blanked Canon-McMillan, 2-0. After a scoreless first half, Jarrod McDowell and Michael DeSabato registered the goals for the Vikings.
In other quarterfinal action, Peters Township (16-2) blanked Bethel Park (9-10-1). Nicco Mastrangelo, Wes Ward, Ryan Ponchione and Mario Mastrangelo scored the goals for the Indians.
In Class AA, South Fayette (16-3-1) upset Ambridge (17-3), 2-1. Matt Cillo and Tom Iagnemma scored for the Lions.