Bitter taste of defeat: Decades later, memories of some losses are hard to shake
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
By John Sacco
For The Observer-Reporter
newsroom@observer-reporter.com
Some victories are remembered for decades by fans. The exploits of championship teams and individuals are recalled fondly for generations. Yet it’s the wounds from agonizing defeats that stick with players and coaches for decades. This is the last in a series that documents some of those unshakable and unlikely losses for local athletes and coaches.
“Every loss sticks with you in some way. As a coach, wins come and go, you quickly forget about them. Often, you’re moving on to the next game and thinking about what needs done to prepare for it,” says Monessen boys basketball coach Dan Bosnic.
“In basketball, you realize that you can play poorly but still win games, so after a win or a loss, you try to find areas to get better. Losses impact you much differently, though. You become more conscientious about what needs corrected. … I would say the playoff losses are the toughest. There is a finality that comes with them.”
Russ Moore, former Waynesburg HS football coach, current Waynesburg University assistant – “It must be our (Waynesburg High School), 17-13, loss to Tyrone in state semifinals in 1999.
“They were good and well-coached, but I still believe we were the best in the state that year.”
Waynesburg defeated Washington 30-3, in the WPIAL finals before playing Tyrone.
“Nothing went right that night. It started from the opening kickoff when the official flagged me for sideline interference and told me that he ‘heard about me’ and was keeping his eye on me all night. He did because he didn’t see what was happening on the field.
“Lanfer Simpson was playing with two broken feet. The surface at Three Rivers Stadium was so hard the week before that both of his feet fractured on the bottom. But he played. I made one terrible call down at the goal line. We turned the ball over four times inside the 20, which is something we never did. And a play that we ran at least 100 times that year was called to win the game but had a major breakdown and we would have scored but didn’t. I still remember Greg Carson after the game sitting in the middle of the field in tears and he kept repeating ‘It’s not supposed to end like this.’
“I’m not sure what happened that week. I believe it was the WPIAL hangover. So many celebrations that week for winning the WPIAL might have distracted all of us, including myself. That game still shows up in my nightmares quite often.”
Jim Morris, former Avella football coach – “The football game that has stayed in my mind for 50 years is the game against Monaca for the WPIAL championship in 1975.
“We scored late and had a choice. We could’ve kicked the extra point and tied the game or went for the win with a two-point conversion. We decided to go for the win. I had two plays in mind — power run right or wiggle left. I chose power off tackle right. They defended it and we lost by one point. To this day. I think about that game and that play.”
Jeff Mountain, Washington & Jefferson baseball coach – “For me this is a no-brainer. It wouldn’t be one loss, but two losses. The day we dropped two in the national championship round (of the Division III World Series) to Cal Lutheran in 2017.
“It was W&J’s first appearance in the World Series and the perfect storm. The series that year was filled with tons of other first-timers, which was to our advantage. We absolutely cruised through our bracket, despite being there for the first time.
“Once we advanced to the championship round, we cruised in Game 1. I remember sitting in downtown Appleton, Wis., at a park that night, telling my wife (Gretchen) that we were going to be national champions.
“Fifteen years prior we were 6-26. To get into that position at a school like W&J, where it’s difficult with size and resources to have a legitimate shot at a national championship, was amazing.
“Generally, if one or two guys have a career year, you’re in good shape. We had five or six guys have career years in 2017. Had we had to play Game 2 after we won the first one, or had Game 3 been the next day, I think we could have won.
“I also wish I would have thrown our No. 1 pitcher (Riley Groves) in Game 2 rather than the final game. It was two days rest either way, but it was a huge mistake. It left out one of our hottest and best pitchers (Santino Platt) because I didn’t want to use him in Game 1. A lot of things eat away at me from that day.”
Laura Montecalvo, Chartiers-Houston girls basketball coach – Sometimes the toughest loss is not a game, but rather the connection to a school or time.
Montecalvo has experienced her share of tough, heart-breaking defeats in her tenure as the Chartiers-Houston High School girls basketball coach. She and the Bucs also have celebrated significant victories, including section titles and a WPIAL championship.
As an athlete, Montecalvo was the anchor for a WPIAL championship 4×4 relay team at Washington High School and earned a handful of PIAA medals in the long jump. As a freshman, she played on a state semifinal basketball team.
Her most difficult loss doesn’t have anything to do with what happened in a gym or on a track.
“I never told anyone how hard it was for me when my dad left Washington. Try being in ninth grade and being his kid,” she said.
Guy Montecalvo left Wash High after 23 seasons to become Canon-McMillan’s athletic director and football coach in July of 2003.
“More than 20 years have passed, yet the sound of a drumline can still bring me to tears,” said Laura Montecalvo, who served as a ball girl for the Prexies’ football program. “A lifetime of memories floods my brain and in an instant, I am on the sideline at Wash High Stadium wearing my brother’s oversized No. 42 jersey. I can smell the hot dogs from the concession stand as we finish our duties. (The late) Coach Moses Bailey comes over and gives me some last-minute instructions. … This was every Friday night for what seemed like an eternity. It was all I knew. It was all that any of us knew, until it was over.”
“I can say that some of the greatest and most impactful childhood memories that I have were made at Wash High Stadium. But future memories would be no more. For me, the shift in my father’s career meant no longer being there, unless it was without him. At the time, a freshman in high school, I had no way to imagine how difficult that would be. As an adult, I can reflect on the great loss that came with change. It was a loss of tradition, it was … not feeling quite at home.”
Rick Puskar, former basketball player, Waynesburg University – “My most gut-wrenching loss was the last game of my career at Waynesburg against West Virginia State, a 73-67 loss in the 1986-87 season. They had Ron Moore, a seven-footer, who played in the NBA and was drafted by the New York Knicks. We led a large percent of the game in the NAIA quarterfinals at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. The loss still stings because we should have won the game.”
Joe Ravasio, former girls basketball coach Mon Valley Catholic, former Ringgold football coach – “Mine was a basketball game that was an extremely painful loss. It occurred during the 1987-88 season at Mon Valley Catholic. We went undefeated in section play that year. We were 23-1 going into the playoffs, losing by one point at powerful Geibel Catholic.
“Our WPIAL semifinal game was at Wash High. We played Monaca that evening. In the first quarter we lost one of our starters (Dawn Ghilani) with a knee injury.
“We led most of the game and with five seconds left in regulation, we had the ball out of bounds at midcourt. As we inbounded the ball, the pass was deflected and rolled into the backcourt and one of the Monaca players picked it up and threw a baseball pass to their basket and the ball hit off the backboard and went into the hoop. We went to overtime and lost by a point.”
“We had five seniors, who were three-year starters. We also had five other starters, who played for years and gave us great minutes off the bench. The girls worked relentlessly toward our goal of winning the WPIAL championship. I always felt bad as their leader and coach of not getting them to the Pitt Field House for that championship game.
“Our state playoff game ended on a one-point loss to Clarion-Limestone. We had a basketball made by Jen Nicolas with 1.5 seconds left that was waved off as the lead official said the horn had gone off, which had not occurred. It was a heartbreaking end for the players, coaches and parents.”
Bill Simms, softball coach at West Greene – Simms couldn’t pick just one. He cited five losses, but two of them were in the state finals.
“Our 2016 state championship loss to Williams Valley, 3-2,” he recalled. “The game seemed tied forever. We had chances to score in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. In the bottom of the seventh, we got an out on a great play from right field to throw a girl out at first base. Then we walked a girl. She stole second and a hit beat us in walk-off fashion.
“In the 2021 state championship, we lost 2-1 to Tri-Valley. We led 1-0 for most of the game and played great defense. We had a brutal out call at the plate that ended a scoring threat. In the bottom of the seventh, they had batters six through eight coming up. We got an out, their batter reached base, stole second, they bunted and we bumbled it a little and the runner at second scored. The next girl gets a hit, we lose another in walk-off fashion.”
Mike Sirianni, W&J football coach – “I have two. As a player in college at at Mount Union, in the 1992 NCAA Division III semifinals, we lost, 29-24, to Wisconsin-LaCrosse. We outgained them (approximately) by 500 yards to 200. We dominated the game. They had a 100-yard pick six and we turned the ball over three or four times. We also didn’t score twice on first-and-goal. If we would have won, it would have set up a Mount Union-W&J Stagg Bowl.
“Then, in 2007, as W&J’s coach, we lost, 35-34, in overtime to North Carolina Wesleyan in the first round of the playoffs. We went for two to win in OT and faked an extra-point and failed. I still would have gone for two but having our first-team All-American quarterback Bobby Swallow run or pass for it.”
George Lammay, former coach Elizabeth Forward and Bentworth – “In the 1990 WPIAL semifinals it was EF against Seton LaSalle. We beat them earlier that year in the third week of the season.
“Seton LaSalle had been a run team. Coach Greg Gattuso liked to slug it out. What was upsetting was we gave up three deep passes in the semifinal game. That was abnormal for us. They picked on one kid.
“I normally did not like to pull kids out of games and I did not. I could’ve moved our free safety to corner and put our quarterback, Rob Glus, in at free safety. I didn’t and we lost and didn’t make it to Three Rivers Stadium. Then, to add insult to injury, we went 3-27 over the next three years.”
Frank Sworden, former McGuffey football coach – “In the 1980s the rivalry between McGuffey and Wash High in football grew to great heights,” Sworden said. “In 1985, McGuffey was 6-0 and our defense had only given up 21 points. Wash High was also 6-0 and the Century Conference championship was at stake.
“We fumbled on the first play of the game. It was a long night as Wash High defeated us, 40-8.
“We finished with an 8-2 season, tying Washington for the conference title, the first conference in McGuffey football history.
“We had reached a threshold in that game and just didn’t know how to handle it. It was also the first time McGuffey qualified for the playoffs. “Wash High had been there before. We had not. We never let that happen again when playing for a conference title.”
John Sacco writes a column about local sports history for the Observer-Reporter.