Charleroi continues dominance in section with win over Waynesburg
Charleroi’s Cullin Woytovich (10) and Waynesburg’s Caleb Blair fight for control of the ball in a match Tuesday at Charleroi.
Waynesburg’s Joe Benco (10) congratulates Scott Benco on a goal against Charleroi
Charleroi’s Joe Caruso (9) works the ball away from Waynesburg’s Scott Benco (9) and Daniel Layton (18)
CHARLEROI — Coming into Tuesday night’s Section 3-AA contest against Waynesburg, Charleroi had an 85-4 scoring advantage.
That’s right, 85-4.
When asked if he was more impressive with the scoring or the defending, Charleroi coach John Ducoli couldn’t pick just one.
“That’s a hard question to answer,” he said with a chuckle. “You’ve got to look at both sides of the coin and they work hand-in-hand. I think our (midfielders) and defenders are doing a really nice job of cleaning things up in front of our keeper. But we also just have a lot of offensive weapons.”
Well, it’s a good problem to have. Last night, Nick Laskey sparked the offense with a four-goal effort.
The Cougars continued their dominance in the section and picked up a 9-2 victory to remain unbeaten this season.
“We just attack and attack on offense,” Ducoli said. “We have a lot of unselfish talent and on any given night someone could go off on the offensive end. We have 11 lethal weapons on the field. We pass the ball really well in open space and we take quality shots.”
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Charleroi’s Nick Laskey scores a goal against Waynesburg.
Charleroi struck early and took a 1-0 lead 24 seconds into the match after a goal by Cullin Woytovich. The score was assisted by Laskey.
Woytovich had another solid scoring chance six minutes later, but his shot bounced off the Waynesburg goalkeeper, and Sam Iacovangelo collected the rebound and blasted it in from 28 yards out for the Cougars (8-0, 10-0).
The Raiders (6-2, 8-3) got their offense going in the late stages of the first half and trimmed the deficit to 2-1 after Jack Church launched a free kick from 30 yards out and Scott Benco alertly headed the ball into the back of the net.
“We made it a little tight at 2-1, but we just couldn’t sustain that momentum,” Waynesburg coach Matt Blair said. “Charleroi is a deep team and their talent is off the charts. I think we played them better than at the beginning of the season. They just take a lot of stuff away from you.”
Charleroi pushed its lead to 3-1 with 4:11 left in the first half after a goal by Joe Caruso. The goal was assisted by Woytovich. The Cougars held a 12-5 advantage in shots and carried a 3-1 lead into intermission.
Laskey tacked on the next three goals of the game at 37:14, 31:50 and 30:34 of the second half for the natural hat trick.
Church added a goal for the visitors, with the assist going to Jared Hogue, at the 18:37 mark, but Laskey netted his fourth of the game just two minutes later for a 7-2 edge.
Woytovich garnered a penalty kick goal at 9:53 and Jace Kepich tallied the final one of the night seven minutes later.
“I think Nick and Cullin have really led this team,” Ducoli said. “Not only are they scoring, they are really playing fundamental games. I think the other kids feed off of that. We have a really fastbreak style and we just push the ball one-third at a time. We have a good counter attack.”
NIck Goodwin made two saves in net for Charleroi. Chase Henkins and Dalton Watson saw time between the pipes for Waynesburg and combined for eight stops.
Waynesburg, which has lost the last three matches to Charleroi, including a 9-0 defeat on Sept. 6, was without the team’s leading scorer Gavin Benson with an injury.
“Gavin tweaked his ankle the last game,” Blair said. “We just wanted him to rest it so that it won’t hinder him for the rest of the season. We just wanted to be safe. Our numbers aren’t huge, but I think the kids we have our quality. It’s a loss, but the kids showed a lot of heart tonight.”