Oct 26, 2015 4 min read

McDONALD – There could be another dynasty developing at South Fayette.

After losing nine seniors from last season’s boys soccer team that reached the PIAA Class AA semifinals, the Lions entered the WPIAL playoffs as the fourth seed by winning the Section 5-AA title.

Despite the devastating overtime loss in Altoona last November and replacing several starters, South Fayette’s speed causes matchup issues for opponents and the Lions are not showing any signs of slowing down.

Behind senior forward Jordan Smith’s goal and two assists, fourth-seeded South Fayette ran past No. 13 Shady Side Academy 3-0 in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs Monday night.

The Lions (15-3), who reached at least the WPIAL semifinals the past three seasons, advanced to the quarterfinals and will face No. 12 McGuffey (12-6) Thursday at a site and time to be determined.

“This is our 10th playoff win in the last three years,” South Fayette head coach Rob Eldridge said. “There’s no substitute for experience. Some of our younger classes are engaged in the process and are seeing that we don’t get to these games without hard work 10 months out of the year.”

After controlling the midfield, South Fayette’s skill began to show early. Smith sprinted toward the net, crossed to the midfield and fired a shot from 30 yards past the keeper for a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute.

Less than three minutes later, a foul gave the Lions a free kick, but instead of taking a shot, Smith made a touch pass behind a defender to junior defender Jeremy Zura, who dribbled forward and took a shot that snuck inside the near post for the two-goal lead.

The Lions’ speed came through once again when Smith split two defenders to create a breakaway. His shot hit the post and a Shady Side defender knocked it out of bonds to prevent another scoring opportunity, but it gave South Fayette a corner kick.

Smith’s corner kick landed inside the box and a Shady Side defender slipped when trying to clear the loose ball. South Fayette senior midfielder Zach Lutz shot it past the keeper for the 3-0 lead with just over 31 minutes remaining.

“We believed that Shady Side was seeded low,” Eldridge said. “We have a ton of respect for them and it ended up being a good first-round draw because we prepared for it like it was a quarterfinal or semifinal match.”

Bentworth 2, Winchester Thurston 1: Chad Gurdish scored twice to send Bentworth to its first soccer playoff victory in school history, 2-1, over Winchester-Thurston Monday in a Class A first-round game at Upper St. Clair.

The Bearcats (14-3-2) will plays Greensburg Central Catholic, a 7-0 winner over Monessen in the first round, Thursday at a site and time to be determined. Winchester-Thurston finished at 9-7-1.

“We put in a lot of hard work to get to this,” said Bentworth head coach Gary Amos. “We got over the hump, and it’s a pretty special feeling.”

Gurdish scored off a free kick early to give Bentworth a 1-0 lead that stood as the halftime score. He scored again 22 minutes into the second half to make 2-0. Winchester-Thurston made it 2-1 but goalie Will Bashioum would not allow another goal and finished with nine stops.

“We had our chances (to win playoff matches) before,” Amos said. “We lost in overtime once and 1-0 on a fluke goal. That’s what makes this special.”

Allderdice 2, Peters Township 1: Noah SWaby scored with 19 seconds remaining in the second overtime to give Allderdice a 2-1 victory over Peters Township in a WPIAL Class AAA first-round match.

Mohammed Traurer gave Allderdice the lead with a goal in the first half but Bennett Faloni tied it for PT in the second.

In other matches: Ringgold defeated Belle vernon 2-0 in a Class AAA first-round match. No other information was made available to the Observer-Reporter.