Bentworth, PT soccer have WPIAL title within reach
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Head coach Tyler Hamstra has Bentworth a win away from a WPIAL title.
Peters Township's Hannah Stuck (15) has been a spark to the offense this season.
When the first round started two weeks ago, there were 18 local soccer teams vying for a spot at Highmark Stadium and a WPIAL title.
Now there are two, the Bentworth and Peters Township girls teams. Both will be trying to make history Saturday.
The No. 3-seed Bearcats (17-2) will take on top-seeded Freedom (19-1) at 11 a.m. in the Class A championship, and the No. 3-seed Indians (16-3) will face top-seeded Seneca Valley (15-2) at 3:30 p.m. in the Class 4A title game.
Bentworth opened the postseason with a hat trick from Jocelyn Timlin in a 3-1 triumph over Vincentian Academy, then Paige Marshalek netted a game-winning goal in overtime in a 3-2 win over Bishop Canevin in the quarterfinals.
Marshalek and Rori Schreiber registered early goals against No. 2 Greensburg Central Catholic, and those goals stood up in the second half, thanks to senior goalkeeper Candalaria Kossel and the Bearcats’ defense.
Kossel had 17 saves in the 2-1 upset of the Centurions, who were looking for their eighth straight trip to the Class A finals.
This is the first time a girls team from Bentworth has made a WPIAL championship and just the fifth overall. The Bearcats have only won two WPIAL team titles: the boys basketball team in 1967 and the wrestling squad in 1991.
“This week has been unreal,” Bearcats head coach Tyler Hamstra said. “We have gotten so much support from the school and the community. I have gotten so many text messages from people and other coaches. This doesn’t happen a lot in Bentworth. We are just taking this all in.”
Freedom comes into the finals with a 14-match winning streak. This is the third championship game in the last four years for the Bulldogs, who lost to Shady Side Academy in 2014, won the title in 2016 against Freeport and lost to Waynesburg last season.
The Bulldogs went undefeated in Section 3-A, then compiled playoff wins over Eden Christian (7-0) in the first round, Springdale (5-2) in the quarterfinals and Shady Side Academy (2-1 in overtime) in the semifinals.
Three key pieces to the Freedom attack are senior Myla Sharpless, a Florida Atlantic recruit; senior Michaela Watkins, a Youngstown State recruit; and freshman Jayden Sharless, who leads the WPIAL in goals this season with 50.
“They are very athletic up front,” Hamstra said. “They are well-coached and more technical than us. For us, we to be disciplined on defense. We know we are going to have to absorb a lot of pressure from Freedom. We have to take care of our scoring opportunities. Honestly, we have no pressure in the finals. We are playing with house money.”
This marks the fourth playoff meeting between Peters Township and Seneca Valley since 2008, as both teams have split those matches.
The Indians are looking for their third WPIAL title. They won championships in 2010 and 2012. Peters Township actually won the 2012 title with a victory over Seneca Valley in the finals.
Seneca Valley has won two of their four championships with wins over Peters Township in the finals in 2009 and 2013. Their other titles were won in 2007 and 2014.
Neither squad has been to the finals since 2014.
“This is going to be a brand new feeling for our kids,” Indians coach Pat Vereb said. “We embrace all of the tradition at Peters, but since Day 1, we told these kids that they can’t rely on that tradition. They have to make their own legacies and their own moments.”
Peters Township’s path to the title game includes a first round bye, followed by a 2-1 win over Butler in the quarterfinals and a 1-0 victory over Norwin in the semifinals.
The quarterfinal triumph came at a cost, however, as senior captain and leading goal scorer Regan LaVigna suffered a lower-body injury and was lost for the remainder of the season.
Hannah Stuck is a key catalyst for the offense, as she had the game-winning goal over Butler and has 16 on the season.
The Indians also received strong contributions from sophomore Sarah Heisinger, freshman Jillian Marvin, freshman CeCe Scott, freshman Casey Breier and freshman Abby Neupaver.
“Our youth has definitely stepped up for us this season,” Vereb said. “When Regan went down, it definitely stung. That’s almost 50 percent of our offense. But those underclassmen are really taken their roles on and they are performing very well under those bright lights in the playoffs.”
Defensively, Peters Township is led by sophomore keeper Emma Sawich, and get strong defense from senior Payton Fremer, junior Rachel Raber and junior Mia Gentile.
The Raiders received a first-round bye then collected playoffs wins over Mt. Lebanon (6-1) in the quarterfinals and Upper St. Clair (2-0) in the semifinals.