Oct 20, 2018 3 min read

BELLE VERNON – When the WPIAL Soccer Committee released the playoff pairings Wednesday, Belle Vernon girls soccer coach Tom Cameron did not have a good feeling.

While happy with the Leopards earning the third seed in Class AAA, he also knew the test they would have with 14th-seeded South Fayette.

That test proved to be too much, as Belle Vernon fell at home to the visiting Lions, 2-1, in a WPIAL first-round playoff game.

South Fayette advances to play sixth-seeded West Allegheny in the quarterfinals Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

“We got beat by a better team today. They are not a 14th-seeded team,” Cameron said. “Our kids tried, but South Fayette was trapping us and when I told them what to do, they looked confused.

“I wish I had a timeout like football to tell them what we wanted to do, but these girls never quit and did what I asked them to do.”

Belle Vernon started more underclassmen, six, than they did upperclassmen, five.

“I will not make excuses but it has to be said that pressure for a 15-year old kid is enormous,” Cameron said. “I saw it in their faces and tried to keep it light. But when you get into the heart of the game, the pressure can get to them.”

South Fayette (10-6-1) thoroughly dominated play in the first half, as the majority of the action was played deep in the Leopards’ zone.

In the opening 40 minutes of play, the Lions held an 8-0 shot advantage over Belle Vernon (13-4).

Belle Vernon’s goalkeeper Grace Henderson kept the Leopards in the match with two huge stops in the first half. The 6-2 sophomore made a save on a header by Helina VanBibber with 18:18 left in the first half. Two minutes later, she made a diving stop on a shot by Rachel Weis.

“Grace is one heck of an athlete. She just smiles and goes about her business,” said Cameron. “She was stellar and is the best goalie in our section.”

The offensively focused strategy with only three defenders backfired for Belle Vernon.

“I know we have a good defense and we are only playing three in the back,” Cameron said. “We let other teams take shots but just didn’t generate enough offense today. This is a learning experience. I just feel bad for the girls after the season we had, that it is a one-and-done.”

Belle Vernon’s first attempt came with 6:06 left until the half, a harmless, deep shot from Jillian McCullough that sailed high and wide right.

South Fayette was finally able to find the back of the net with 34:41 to play in the second half as VanBibber drilled a shot past Henderson to take a 1-0 lead.

The Lions took a 2-0 lead when Sara Meindl found Weis, who buried the ball into the back of the net with 14:15 remaining.

Izzy Laurita was the lone goal scorer, converting on a penalty kick to narrow the deficit to one goal, 2-1, with 11:01 left in the match.