Peters Township advances to PIAA soccer semifinals
With victories against Erie McDowell, 3-1, and Cumberland Valley, 2-1, Peters Township (18-4) advanced to the Final Four in the PIAA Quad-A girls’ soccer tournament.
A win on Nov. 13 against Souderton (15-3-6) would vault the Indians into the state championship game set for 4 p.m. Nov. 17 in Hershey.
Just getting this far, and nearly winning the WPIAL championship – the team lost 2-1 in overtime to Seneca Valley – has been an accomplishment and a credit to the resilience of the Lady Indians. They have played five postseason games without Regan LaVigna. The team’s leading scorer suffered a season-ending leg injury during PT’s first-round district playoff win against Butler.
“With the injury we decided that we were going to win games in the midfield with two of the best players on the western side of the state,” PT coach Pat Vereb said. “We just thought we could manage the game better playing that way.”
Hannah Stuck and Natalie Daube have not disappointed. They have dominated the midfield action and controlled possession enabling PT’s youth to take over upfront. All seven goals in the past four games have been produced by freshmen and sophomores.
Ninth-graders Jillian Marvin and CeCe Scott accounted for the goals against Cumberland Valley (18-2-2).
Scott scored in the win against McDowell (17-3). Sophomore Sarah Heisinger contributed the other tallies.
“We knew that we had to fill a void with Regan (LaVigna) being out,” Scott said. “We needed to step up and that’s what we did.”
Meanwhile, Stuck and Daube, who both were recently named first-team all-conference along with LaVigna, have been their consistent selves. They proved their value in the win against Cumberland Valley.
“Hannah and Natalie are special players who just work really hard,” Vereb said. “They are able to see and control the game at a different level. I don’t think teams have had anywhere close to the midfielders that we do. The middle of the field dictated the play.”
The Indians have dictated play since their disappointing loss in the WPIAL championship match on Nov. 2. They led 1-0 until Seneca Valley scored the equalizer in the final three seconds of regulation and lost in the opening seconds of overtime when the Raiders converted the game-winner on a corner kick play.
“It’s good to get back quickly after a loss,” Vereb said.
Of the PIAA he added, “It’s a new tournament. There is still a hunger (in our players). We have a little bit of an empty stomach and are trying to fill it up a little bit.”
SLS ousted
In other PIAA soccer action, the Seton-La Salle boys ended their season at 19-5-0 after falling to Greensburg Central Catholic, 1-0, in the quarterfinals. The Rebels had lost to GCC, 2-1, in the WPIAL semifnals.
The Rebels beat Brockway, 1-0, in the state opener. Ethan Gardner scored the goal. Sam Reinhart earned the shutout in goal.
Observer-Reporter’s Luke Campbell contributed to this story.