Unfinished business: Charleroi, Canon-McMillan seek better playoff results
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Charleroi soccer coach Jon Ducoli
Canon-McMillan boys soccer coach Larry Fingers and the Big Macs are trying to get over the WPIAL semifinal hurdle this season.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
There are years when it’s simply not meant to be and days when you just don’t have winning stuff.
For the Charleroi High School boys soccer team, those kind of years have added up. And for Canon-McMillan, a program only two years removed from a WPIAL championship, the Big Macs simply weren’t up to the task one day last year and were sent home from the playoffs.
That is the fuel for both teams as they enter the upcoming WPIAL playoffs. The brackets were released Wednesday afternoon and the Cougars and Big Macs received top-four seeds in their respective classifications.
Maybe it was a blemished playoff history for undefeated Charleroi (16-0), the only team with a perfect record in Class AA after outscoring opponents 151-12, that forced the Cougars down to the No. 4 seed. Charleroi plays No. 13 seed Elizabeth Forward at 6 p.m. Monday at Ringgold High School.
Monessen, Waynesburg, Beth-Center, Belle Vernon, South Fayette, Ringgold and Peters Township each play first-round games Monday.
“We were pretty happy with the seed given our previous playoff experiences. We feel it’s fair,” said Charleroi coach Jon Ducoli. “We’ve had young teams throughout the years. We have always left a lot to be desired. There is a lot of unfinished business.”
Since its last playoff victory in 2002, Charleroi has missed the playoffs nine times and lost in the first round six times. The Cougars have been outscored in those games 24-3, and in two of the last three years the first-round losses have ended nine- and 10-game winning streaks.
“It’s been hard for the players. It’s been hard for the coaching staff,” said Ducoli, who is in his third season as head coach and sixth with the program. “You are playing great and then it’s instantly over.”
Ducoli is hopeful the high-scoring Cougars will end the playoff frustrations.
Five players have more than 10 goals, including Cullin Woytovich’s team-high 46. Nick Laskey has scored 32 goals. Jace Kepich, Eden McIntyre and Leo Iacovangelo have 15, 14 and 11, respectively. Kepich broke the season record for assists with 31.
“I think there is a lot more chemistry,” Ducoli said. “You can’t coach chemistry. They know where one another are going to be. They are all thinking with one mind and putting that together with soccer knowledge. It’s been a great combination.”
For Canon-McMillan (14-2), it was one game – a 9-0 loss to eventual WPIAL Class 4A champion North Allegheny in the semifinals – that propelled it into this season. Coach Larry Fingers pulled his starters and played a majority of the sophomores, who make up most of this year’s starting lineup.
The Big Macs, who earned the fourth seed in Class AAAA after winning their last six games, host Fox Chapel at 8 p.m. Monday.
“The next day of training (after the 9-0 loss) was not pretty, but I took it on my shoulders. Guys were upset,” Fingers recalled.
“(Our players) took their lumps. But I know it gave them some confidence going into this year. On paper, I don’t know where we stand. But the results and the type of kids we have, I know we are a very good group.”
Sophomore forward Joey Fonagy leads a balanced C-M attack with 20 goals. Starting junior goalkeeper Alex Hilbert has three shutouts and the Big Macs have five on the season.
Canon-McMillan defeated Fox Chapel in overtime, 2-1, to win the 2015 WPIAL Class AAA championship. The Big Macs were the fourth seed that season.
A first-round matchup that doesn’t require introductions is No. 7 Peters Township hosting North Allegheny at 8 p.m. Monday. The teams have met in the WPIAL or state playoffs four times in the past three years, including twice last season. North Allegheny defeated the Indians, 2-1, in the WPIAL Class AAAA championship. Peters Township ousted the Tigers in the PIAA quarterfinals, 3-1.