Bentworth scores early and often in PIAA quarterfinal win
McMURRAY – Before Saturday’s match Bentworth boys soccer coach Nick Malarbi talked to his players about making a statement and leaving little doubt.
The Bearcats responded by burying Winchester Thurston before halftime.
Ryan Moessner, Billy Moyer and Adam Moessner scored once each to give the Bearcats a comfortable cushion 17 minutes into the match and they went on to defeat Winchester Thurston 5-0 in the PIAA quarterfinals at Peters Township’s Confluence Financial Partners Stadium.
The three-goal outburst happened in four minutes and wiped away any thoughts the Bears had of upsetting the WPIAL champion Bearcats.
“That’s exactly what our team can do. We can rally and score quickly,” Malarbi said. “We’ve scored so many goals this year and some people might look at it and say ‘we’ll you’ve played certain teams’, but that doesn’t matter. We’re scoring quality goals against huge teams. When you’re in the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs you’re playing against top 30 to top 40 teams in the state and putting up five goals is a statement.”
Bentworth (23-0) will play Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the state semifinals 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The match will be played at Peters Township’s Confluence Financial Partner’s Stadium. It’s the third straight state playoff game that Bentworth will play there.
It’s a rematch of the WPIAL championship, which Bentworth won 3-1 at Highmark Stadium. Winchester Thurston finished 15-6-1.
In their last two games the result was still in doubt at halftime, but that wasn’t the case for Bentworth Saturday.
Ryan Moessner’s opening goal came in the 13th minute. He used his speed to race past the Winchester Thurston back line to get on the end of a through ball by younger brother Adam and placed a shot into the net past Bears keeper Aiden Piemme.
“We knew they had a good defense with three All-WPIAL players and they didn’t give up a lot of goals this year, but we know our offense is one of the best in the state,” Ryan said. “We’re going to score goals no matter what.”
Two minutes later, Moyer got to a ball that caromed around the Winchester Thurston 18-yard box and ripped a shot into the net and doubled the lead.
“It was a bouncing goal and Ryan shielded a defender off,” Moyer said. “I settled it, looked to my left and just hit it. When I saw it go in, it was amazing. I’ve been hunting for a goal. It’s been a while since I scored, so it was great.”
Adam Moessner finished off the scoring barrage two minutes after Moyer’s goal with a wicked shot from the left side.
Winchester Thurston played a spirited second half and had a couple of glorious chances to score but couldn’t beat Bearcats keeper Issac Vipperman.
Adam scored his second on a header for the Bearcats off a corner kick with 12 and a half minutes remaining and Ryan finished off the scoring with another dazzling display of speed, dribbling past three Bears defenders before depositing the ball into the net.
Bentworth is aiming to return to the state finals for the second straight year.
It was going to be a rematch regardless of who the Bearcats played in the state semifinals.
OLSH won 2-1 over Lancaster Mennonite, the team that beat Bentworth in the state championship last season.
“When the bracket came out I truly believed that a WPIAL team could win it all this year,” Malarbi said. “Obviously now we’ll have a WPIAL team in the state final no matter what. It’s going to be tough, but the kids right now are playing some great soccer. We’re peaking and I hope we keep riding this peak. It’s the perfect time to peak right now.”