Oct 28, 2015 4 min read

Canon-McMillan’s girls soccer season came to a stunning end Wednesday night.

The Big Macs, who advanced to both the WPIAL and PIAA championship games last year and went undefeated during the recently completed regular season, were upset by Fox Chapel, 2-1, in the WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinals at Chartiers Valley High School.

Fox Chapel (18-2), the Section 3 champion, took a 1-0 lead at the 18:50 mark of the first half on a goal by Dixon Veltri and held the advantage into halftime. Fox Chapel made it 2-0 when Taylor Cowen scored.

The second-seeded Big Macs pulled to within 2-1 when Cheyenne Trest found the back of the net with 18 minutes remaining, but that was all the scoring.

“We had lots of chances,” C-M coach Dave Derrico said. “We didn’t have any luck going through their defense in the first half, but we had chances in the second half because we moved up two players.”

C-M ends the season with a 17-1-1 record.

Fox Chapel advances to Monday’s semifinals against Upper St. Clair. Only the top three finishers in the WPIAL advance to the state tournament.

South Fayette 1, Mt. Pleasant 0: South Fayette girls soccer coach Wayne Capra didn’t expect any surprises from Mt. Pleasant.

The Lions already had faced the Vikings three times in a little over a year, and each time Mt. Pleasant’s offense ran through junior midfielder Anna Billey. After she gave South Fayette problems in a scoreless draw earlier this month, Capra switched formations and relied on his team’s speed to the outside.

Despite playing on a slippery turf with a steady rain falling throughout the match, the third-seeded Lions used that speed to score early and held on for a 1-0 win over sixth-seeded Mt. Pleasant in a Class AA quarterfinal at Canon-McMillan.

South Fayette (14-4-2) advances to the semifinals for the first time in program history and will face second-seeded South Park Monday at a site and time to be determined. A loss would still give them a chance to qualify for the PIAA playoffs in a consolation game.

“This, to me, was the biggest win in the program’s history,” Capra said. “We’ve never been to the semifinals and to finally build the program after 10 or 11 years, I’m proud of them. Guaranteeing ourselves two more games is important for these girls.”

South Fayette struck early when midfielder Rachel Helbling dribbled up the sideline and lined a cross pass to midfielder Meghan Hoerger, who one-timed a shot from 20 yards past the keeper for a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute.

The Lions held the Vikings to no shots in the first half, but it did not last. Mt. Pleasant pushed additional players up the midfield in the second half, generating five shots, but South Fayette senior goalkeeper Natalie Caraway secure the shutout.

Charleroi 5, New Brighton 2: High-scoring forward Kayla Watkins scored three goals and Charleroi forged a big lead early en route to a 5-2 victory over New Brighton in a Class A quarterfinal match at Peters Township.

Charleroi (16-1-2) led 4-1 at halftime as much of the first half was played in a driving rain.

The Cougars advance to the semifinals Monday against Shady Side Academy.

Mars 4, Waynesburg 0: Tori Kopchak scored two goals – her 34th and 35th of the season – during the first half and top-seeded Mars defeated visiting Waynesburg 4-0 in a Class AA quarterfinal match.

Waynesburg, which won the program’s first WPIAL playoff match Saturday, had its season end with a 12-4-1 record.