Charleroi clinches share of section title
ELLSWORTH — Charleroi clinched a share of the Class A Section 2 boys soccer title Tuesday night with a 2-1 win at rival, and second place, Bentworth.
“We adjusted our game plan to better suit who we were playing and where we played,” said Charleroi coach Jon Ducoli. “It was an evenly matched game between two physical teams. For the final to be 2-1, it shows what kind of quality soccer was being played.”
The win gives Charleroi (8-0, 13-0) at least a share of a section crown in six of the last seven seasons.
“It was a close game,” Bentworth coach Nick Malarbi said. “We are playing good soccer and scoring goals. We played a lot of good soccer tonight and gave them a run. Both times (against Charleroi) were hard fought.”
Early action resembled a prize fight as both teams were looking to drop heavy blows early, and Bentworth almost landed the first one a little over a minute into the match.
With 38:54 to play in the first half, Bentworth’s Ryan Moessner hit the crossbar above Charleroi goalkeeper Nate Mazon.
The chance took place in the goal box on the opposite end of the field house, which is known to play differently when compared to the goal box in front of the locker rooms.
“It was huge and that goal (box), we will always talk about it forever because that goal is infamous for being a little bit shorter because of the slope of the grade of the field,” Malarbi said before pointing to the other goal box. “Ryan’s first shot, over here, who knows.”
The Cougars played the ball down field, and they took a 1-0 lead a short time later as Joel Chambers scored off a Landon Barcus corner kick with 36:40 to go in the half.
Bentworth (10-2, 6-2) countered a little less than two minutes later off a corner kick of its own, as Andrew Vipperman scored on a header off of a Moessner corner kick with 34:45 to go in the half.
The score remained deadlock for more than 20 minutes, and despite Bentworth dictating play most of that time frame, Charleroi took a 2-1 lead with 12:05 to play in the half when Dylan Klinger scored off an Elliot Lenhart helper.
In the second half, the match was the opposite of the early fireworks as Charleroi made some adjustments to limit Bentworth opportunities, including moving Arlo McIntyre back towards the defensive end.
“At halftime, we adjusted to two different formations,” Ducoli said. “It was making our back line (tougher) and our defending third a little bit stronger. We set out with a game plan at halftime, and they executed it beautifully.”
Neither team scored in the second half, and considering Charleroi came in with a 77-7 goal advantage and Bentworth had an 85-7 advantage, both teams showed it can play situational soccer at a high level.
Charleroi finished with nine shots to five for Bentworth, and Mazon made three saves while Bentworth’s DJ Hays made six saves.
The Cougars, who are one of only two undefeated and untied boys teams left in the WPIAL along with South Park, will look to clinch the outright section title Thursday when they host Ligonier Valley while the Bearcats head to California.
“The guys are totally focused,” Ducoli said.