Fonagy’s goal is golden for Canon-Mac
Joey Fonagy reacts after scoring the game-winning goal in Canon-McMillan’s 3-2 victory against Mt. Lebanon in the WPIAL Quad-A boys’ championship game.
Michael Hillebrand (16), Tommy Samosky, and Luke Gladden (14) celebrate after receiving their medals as Canon-McMilland defeated Mt. Lebanon, 3-2, in overtime.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Joey Fonagy heads the ball into the net for the game-winning goal in the WPIAL Class 4A championship soccer match Thursday night at Highmark Stadium. Canon-McMillan won, 3-2, in overtime against Mt. Lebanon.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Tommy Samosky celebrates after scoring the first Canon-McMillan goal with 29:45 left in the first half.
Eleanor Bailey
Joey Fonagy (7) gets a foot on the soccer ball in the first half of the WPIAL Class A boys soccer championship match. Canon-McMillan won, 3-2, in overtime.
Joey Fonagy kisses the gold medal he was awarded for helping Canon-McMillan capture the WPIAL Quad-A boys' soccer championship. He scored the game-winning goal in overtime at the Big Macs defeated Mt. Lebanon, 3-2.
PITTSBURGH – As Canon-McMillan boys soccer coach Larry Fingers walked off after a semifinal win against top-seeded Plum, all he was happy about was that his group of Big Macs would get to prepare for and experience a championship match.
Did they ever make the most of that experience Thursday night.
Just over two minutes into the first overtime, a cross from Luke Gladden found the forehead of Joey Fonagy and went into the back of the net as fourth-seeded Canon-McMillan stunned second-seeded Mt. Lebanon, 3-2, to win the WPIAL Class 4A boys soccer championship at Highmark Stadium.
“Joey has been a big component in the air for us,” Gladden said. “I played it across the box and big body Joey Fonagy was just there to finish and send us home with a WPIAL championship.”
It was the first time since 2015 that Canon-McMillan won the championship. The Big Macs also won it in 2012.
“It feels great,” Fonagy said. “There is nothing like it. I can’t compare this to anything else.”
Overtime wouldn’t have happened without Gladden. As Canon-McMillan (15-3-1) continued to bring more players on the attack while facing a 2-1 deficit, Gladden found himself alone in prime position, five yards outside the box. After a solid touch, he rocketed a shot that ricocheted off the bottom of the crossbar and into the net to tie the match at 2-2 with only 1:02 left in regulation.
It was the third goal the Big Macs scored in the final six minutes of their last two matches. Two late goals finished a comeback victory over Plum in the semifinals.
“I guess you can say it was the shot of my life,” Gladden said minutes after the game, still trying to catch his breath. “We won a nice tackle, they found me in the middle of the field. I placed it into the top left corner.”
Mt. Lebanon (15-5-1) was in search of its first title since 2009. The Blue Devils beat section foe Canon-McMillan both times in the regular season, 3-1 on Sept. 17 and 4-3 on Oct. 8.
Both will advance to the PIAA tournament, which begins Tuesday.
“There is an idea that we seem to play better as the game goes on,” said Fingers. “Certainly, it’s not intentional. I figured once we got that late goal then we would be OK.”
Mt. Lebanon looked destined for its first title in 10 years when Brady Napoleon scored on a rebound off a free kick from Giuseppe Croce with 17:29 left in the second gave the Blue Devils a 2-1 lead.
Tommy Samosky opened the scoring and gave Canon-McMillan a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute on a similar goal. Gladden opted to pass a free kick at midfield to Aiden Walsh, who sent it into the box with a high lob, and eventually found Samosky’s foot before going into the back of the net.
Fifteen minutes and two yellow cards for the Big Macs later, Mt. Lebanon answered with a goal.
Running left to right, adjacent to the top of the 18-yard penalty box, Mt. Lebanon’s Danny Simboro rolled a right-footed shot in to the bottom left-hand corner of the net past diving Big Macs goalkeeper Alex Hilbert to tie the match at 1-1 with 14:34 left in the first half.
Both teams had multiple chances to score as the first half concluded.
Hilbert made a diving save in the 45th minute, which then led to Walsh hammering a strike inside the box Blue Devils’ goalie Steven Vines and then off the right post, keeping the match tied at 1-1 entering halftime.
The Big Macs weren’t done getting handed yellow cards. Twelve minutes into the second half, C-M’s bench was given a yellow after arguing that Nino Civitate was brought down in the penalty box. Fonagy made it four yellows with just under 21 minutes left.
“We are a resilient team,” Gladden said. “We are going to fight. We knew after getting that tying goal that we were going to put another one away.”