South Fayette sweeps WPIAL 3A soccer
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
South Fayette players mob Mia Deramo immediately after the sophomore scored the game-winning goal with 1:55 remaining in the second overtime, giving the Lady Lions their first-ever WPIAL soccer championship with a 1-0 victory against rival Moon.
Photos: Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
South Fayette celebrated two WPIAL soccer team titles when the girls defeated Moon, 1-0, in their championship match and the boys dispatched Hampton, 4-2, in their contest during the Class 3A finals played Nov. 4 at Highmark Stadium.
Eleanor Bailey
Colin Dadey (9), James Casillo (12), Adam Thompson (6), Cole Johnson (11) share the WPIAL trophy with their South Fayette teammates as Hampton players look on in the background. The Lions defeated the Talbots, 4-2, in the Class 3A championship match.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
South Fayette midfielder Juliana Rossi blocks a shot by Adeline Jacoby (9) of Moon during WPIAL Class 3A girls’ championship action. The Lady Lions edged the Tigers, 1-0, to capture their first district soccer title.
Photos: Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Luke Gillen (8) fends off Hayden List (24) and Hudson Struble (8) as they chase down the soccer ball during the WPIAL Class 3A championship match.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Camdyn Johnson (6) prevents Madaleine McMahon (17) from moving forward as they battle for the ball during WPIAL Class 3A soccer championship action. South Fayette edged Moon, 1-0, in double overtime for the title.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Luke Gillen (8) gets a helping hand from Mike Plasko after scoring a goal for South Fayette in the WPIAL Class 3A championship match. Gillen registered a hat trick in a 4-2 victory over Hampton. It was the Lions’ first title since 2015
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
South Fayette forward Quinn Miller (33) dribbles through the teeth of the Moon defense during WPIAL Class 3A soccer championship action.
South Fayette dominated the Class 3A soccer competition, capturing WPIAL team titles in both the girls and boys categories on Nov. 4 at Highmark Stadium.
Lady Lions head coach Nicholas Rosser said, “It’s an epic situation.”
For the girls, their championship is truly legend. In fact, it’s the first in program history.
“I didn’t even know that,” said Rosser. He has only been a coach for seven seasons, the last three at the helm.
“This is amazing. Outstanding, especially since the boys are in it. It’s exciting for everybody. That brought everybody up to try to get that win, too.”
The boys rode the girls’ coattails, scoring two goals in the first eight minutes before taking a 3-0 halftime lead on their way to a 4-2 victory against Hampton.
“The girls’ win definitely helped us,” said Luke Gillen, who scored a hat trick. “When we came out with energy, I knew it was going to be a game.”
Unlike the initial title on the girls side, South Fayette owns 19 boys soccer banners. The Lions last won a boys championship in 2015. Before that, their titles came in 1958 or earlier.
“We talked to our kids about honoring that (championship) legacy,” Eldridge said. “We talked about that before the game, about, ‘How are we going to test our will?’ I wouldn’t say we’re connected to those (previous) championships, but we try to pay tribute to the history and be aware of the sacrifices those teams made during a much different time.”
Eldridge also noted how thrilling it was for the boys to duplicate the girls success.
“It was super exciting to watch them win a championship,” he said. “We tried not to take their energy away and just focus on what we had in front of us, the task at hand. We did not necessarily ride off their energy. We tired to create our own but it certainly affected us.”
While the Lady Lions needed double overtime to dispatch defending champion Moon, 1-0, the boys make quick work of the Talbots (17-3-1).
James Casillo opened the scoring with a goal less than six minutes into the game. Adam Thompson assisted.
Gillen converted the second score shortly afterward then tacked on another tally for the 3-0 halftime advantage. Nate Belcufine assisted on both goals.
“It was definitely unexpected,” Gillen said of the early lead. “Honestly, I believed in myself, and with my teammates there never was a doubt.
“On the first goal, Nate put a perfect cross right at my foot and I was there to tap it in. The second was another great shot by Nate that the goalkeeper made a great save and I was there to make a rebound and score.”
Gillen’s third goal came with 18:42 remaining in the game. It was another tap-in on a rebound after a goalie save.
“Luke was fantastic. He had the day of his life,” Eldridge said.
“We teach kids to get themselves in front of the goal because they will be rewarded. Luke was opportunistic. He was in the right place at the right time. He’s a good kid and he happened to be on the good end of it.” Eldridge said.
A happy ending did not appear in store for the South Fayette boys, especially when they learned that Dylan Janoski had injured his MCL over the summer. While Tyler Nicholson did the job of leading the Lions to a playoff berth, they entered tournament play seeded No. 8.
“It was certainly alarming for us when Dylan was injured because he is one of the best goalies in Western Pennsylvania, but we were really proud of what Tyler did for us,” Eldridge said. “Defensively, we did not lose a game in regulation this year. The only losses were in overtime. So I was super proud of where our defense is and that we were able to ride Dylan’s energy and skill in the playoffs.”
En route to their boys championship, the Lions upset No. 1 seed Plum, 1-0, in the quarterfinals then dispatched No. 5 Montour, 2-1, in the semifinals. So the four-goal explosion against the No. 2 Talbots was unexpected.
“We are not typically a team that scores that many goals in a game. In these circumstances, they gave us that. We had opportunities in front of us and took advantage. They delayed the pressure and that gave us the freedom to scan the field and allowed us to do our thing. Everything worked out in our favor.”
Thanks to Mia Deramo, a championship worked out in the Lady Lions’ favor. With 1:55 to play in the second 15-minute overtime period, the sophomore gathered in a loose ball, after several missed SF shots, took a touch then fired the game-winning goal past Serayah Leech for the 1-0 victory against Moon (15-2-2).
“I got the ball and shot it like a normal game. Everything just froze,” Deramo said.
“Our forwards they were taking the shots and it was kind of just rebounding back and forth but I just took a touch and just ripped it,” she explained further. “Everything felt amazing.”
The Lions were thrilled the contest did not extend into penalty kicks as it did during a semifinal triumph against top-ranked Mars. In that 1-0 triumph, Deramo also had the decisive goal.
“Mia’s an exceptional player,” Rosser noted. “She’s really stepped up and grown a lot but she has a lot more growth.
“I told the girls that regulation is how we had to beat them,” Rosser added. “They have some talented players and great shooters to go into PKs with them. To have resolved this in regulation makes the win better.”
Moon, which has won four WPIAL titles since 2016, had its 48-game winning streak ended this fall by South Fayette, 1-0, The Tigers and Lions also battled to 1-1 tie on Oct. 9.
“Moon is a competitive team and they have an excellent goalie,” Rosser said. “For us to get by her, we had to find a way.
“We needed to get more of the possession game and they threw us off that. We do well moving forward and changing field but the girls were a little nervous. In the end, we did find that possession game and held the ball down in their end.
“We’ve worked all season on trying to find the back of the net and that’s been a big change from last year. Our shooting and attacking,” Rosser continued. “I think our pace and speed of the game at which we play, gives a lot of teams trouble.”
With the victories, South Fayette advanced to the state playoffs. The Lions embarked on PIAA tournament action playing a boy/girl doubleheader at home on Nov. 7.
The boys blanked Kennard-Dale, 2-0, on goals by James Casillo and Mike Plasko and advanced to play
Cathedral Prep (16-3-1) in the quarterfinals on Nov. 11. The Ramblers edged Montour, 2-1, in overtime in their first-round state playoff game.
The Lady Lions were not so fortunate. They lost their PIAA opener, 2-1, to section rival Montour.
Mia Deramo scored the lone goal for South Fayette, which finished this season at 15-5-2 overall. Mia and Marlo Cyanovich scored first-half goals for the Spartans, who improved to 15-4-3 overall. The Spartans and Lions split their regular season matches, 1-1.