Peters Township, Upper St. Clair meet again in WPIAL soccer final
Zack Cherup (No. 10) heads the ball away from a Butler midfielder during Upper St. Clair’s 5-2 semifinal victory. The Panthers used goals from five different players to advance to their fourth straight district final. USC will play defending champion, Peters Township, in the WPIAL Class AAA final at Highmark Stadium this weekend.
Peters Township’s Matt Massucci maintains control of the ball and passes to a teammate during the first half of the game against Central Catholic on Monday, Oct. 27.
If the WPIAL Class AAA boys’ soccer championship match appears a bit familiar, it is. For the second year in a row, Upper St. Clair and Peters Township will battle for the title.
Last year, the Indians shutout the Panthers, who went on to win a second straight state championship after the defeat, 1-0, at Highmark Stadium, site of this season’s District 7 finale. In 2014, the two teams also met twice in Section 5 competition, with the Panthers pulling off a pair of one-goal victories, 2-1 and 1-0.
“It will be a battle,” predicted USC’s interim coach Mike Blatz. “You hope to see a different opponent, but it is what it is and we have to deal with them. Obviously, we have to be prepared.”
The Indians, who blanked Central Catholic, 2-0, Oct. 27 at West Allegheny to reach the finals, are ready for the Panthers, who improved to 19-0-1 with a 5-2 victory against Butler in the other semifinal game played at Moon. Their only defeats in 19 games this season have come against USC.
“Another chance is what we wanted and I think we can make something special out of it,” said Rylen Faloni, who scored one of the goals against the Vikings. “This is what we play for,” he added. “This is what we’ve been practicing for since we were little kids.”
Practice seems to make perfect for the Panthers, too, as this is their fourth trip to the finals in four years. They won a WPIAL title in 2011, but finished runner-up in the state.
“That’s a testament to these players and this program,” said Blatz. “After our game against North Allegheny, Steve Benning, who scored the goal against us, said that what makes USC so good is that we have at least nine good players on the field at one time. Not many high schools have the personnel USC has.”
Indeed, five different players scored for the Panthers against Butler. Stefano Paolina, Doug Hapeman, Robbie Mertz, Tommy Davidson and Shayne Sibley tallied goals, giving USC a 5-0 advantage in the first 40 minutes of play. Mertz picked up several assists.
“The ball bounced our way,” said Blatz, noting the Panthers got better bounces than when they bombarded North Allegheny, only to score twice in that semifinal. “We found the target, too,” he added.
USC enjoyed its edge enough to sub freely in the semifinal. In fact, the Golden Tornado did not notch a goal until the 54th minute of action and the second tally came after starter Kenny Rapko had vacated the nets.
“I wouldn’t say it was easy,” said Blatz. “The same amount of preparation went into this game. There just was no drama. It was nice to be able to rest some players and avoid injuries or cards.”
USC played without senior starters Joe Bell and Hayden Bernhardt. A captain, Bernhardt was nursing a calf contusion from the NA game.
“To play without two key starters is a tribute to the collection of players we have on this team,” said Blatz. “They understand the system and the roles they play in the system.”
In Peters Township’s system, the Mastrangelo twins are the offensive catalyst. Mario helped set up Nicco’s first tally in the 25th minute. Matt Massucci earned possession of the ball and passed to Ryan Ponchione, who took a shot at goal that hit the outside post. Mario rebounded and passed to Nicco, who deposited the ball into the net.
“Getting that early goal gave us the drive to keep pressing,” Nicco said. “We kept pressing and that forces them into mistakes. It paid off.”
Nicco’s dribbling skills paid off in the way of goal No. 2 for the Indians in the 61st minute. He dished to Faloni, who shot the ball past the Viking keeper for the two-goal advantage. Central (19-2) had only surrendered five goals entering the semifinal match.
Meanwhile, the Peters defense of Sean Harrison, Jake Valley and Kelson Marissa contained leading scorer Ryan Sproule, while Josh Deyarmin recorded yet another shutout, the team’s 16th of the season.
The Indians, who are led in the midfield by Dylan Weyers, Brady Pike, Wes Ward and Ponchione, have outscored the opposition, 66-4, this season. In addition to the Mastrangelos, Bryce Gabelhart, Bennett Faloni and Jon Sion have contributed to the offensive output.
C-M in finals
The WPIAL Class AAA girls’ championship match will also have a certain similarity as Seneca Valley attempts to defend its title. While the Raiders will play a Section 4-AAA opponent, the foe will be Canon-McMillan, not Peters Township, last year’s adversary.
The Lady Macs advanced to their first district final with a 1-0 victory against Moon. The victory came on the heels of another one-goal triumph, this time in a shootout, against the Lady Indians. Canon-Mac and Moon finished runner-up to Peters Township in Section 4 play. The Tigers (19-3) were seeded third in the tournament and had split section decisions with the Lady Macs.
“We basically had to beat our section all over again to get to this moment,” Kyra Murphy said. “It’s so exciting.”
While Murphy turned back the Tigers, making several critical saves, including three on corner kicks, Aideen O’Donoghue provided the offensive drama In the 18th minute, the sophomore took a centering pass from Sabrina Bryan and scored the game-winning goal.
“It was insane. It happened so fast, but I definitely wanted to score in this game,” O’Donoghue said.
“We wanted to beat Peters and then beat Moon,” she added. “It’s great we are going to the championship game. None of us thought this was going to happen.”
Indeed, the Lady Macs were seeded 10th in the tournament. They improved to 16-3-1 overall with the victory.
SF falls
In WPIAL Class AA boys’ there will be no return visit to Highmark Stadium for South Fayette. That’s because the Lions dropped a 2-0 decision to South Park in a semifinal contest played at Peters Township.
Editor’s Note: Lance Lysowski contributed to this article.