WPIAL Soccer Championships

WPIAL Soccer (click for brackets)
BOYS  4A   3A   2A   1A
GIRLS  4A   3A   2A   1A

Top-seeded Peters Township needed overtime, and then some, to win the WPIAL 4A girls soccer title. And Cailin Martin scored her second playoff goal of the week to deliver the championship in a 1-0 shootout win over Seneca Valley.  The teams went scoreless through regulation and 30 minutes of overtime, setting up the five-round penalty kick shootout.  Both teams’ first four shooters scored including Paige Malley, Marina Hajnosz, Camryn Gambill and Fallan Malley for Peters Township. The fifth Seneca Valley shooter hit the crossbar, setting the stage for Martin’s golden goal, a hard left shot along the ground. Martin scored the semifinal game-winner in overtime against North Allegheny on Monday, then brought home the Indians’ third WPIAL title Friday night, keeping PT unbeaten at 19-0-1.  Peters Township will host the District 3 fourth-place finisher, either Central Dauphin or Central York, in the opening round of the PIAA tournament on Tuesday.

Thursday evening, Bentworth senior Isaac Reynolds scored in the seventh round of shootout penalty kicks, and senior goalkeeper Andrew Vipperman blocked Isaac Tarbuk’s offering as the Bearcats won their second straight WPIAL 1A boys soccer championship, beating Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 1-0. Vipperman took over in net for the shootout, relieving DJ Hays for the Bearcats. Bentworth had not been held under three goals in any of its previous 18 games this season all wins. And the Bearcats won each of those games by two goals or more.  With the win, Bentworth will take on District 6 champion Westmont-Hilltop Tuesday in the opening round of the PIAA tournament. The match will be somewhere within the WPIAL.  OLSH will travel to face District 9 champion Brockway also on Tuesday.

Neither team scored in regulation or in the two overtime periods. Vipperman, Adam Moessner and Dillan Colbert scored in the first five rounds of the shootout for Bentworth against OLSH goalie Patrick Altmar. Aaron Callahan, Owen Minzer and Seth Therrien scored for the Chargers, forcing coaches to select different shooters for additional rounds. Billy Moyer scored for Bentworth and Andre Kolocouris matched it, setting the stage for Reynolds’ golden goal, his first of the season, and Vipperman’s championship save.