Plum blanks Trinity in WPIAL semifinals
JEFFERSON HILLS – Considering Plum had yielded eight goals all season and Trinity had only conceded 10, the first goal was going to be meaningful when they met Monday night.
It didn’t take Plum long to find that first goal and it held up the rest of the way.
Gavin Yurisinec scored in the second minute and top-seeded Plum added an insurance marker late in a 2-0 win over No. 4 Trinity in the WPIAL Class 3A boys soccer semifinals at Thomas Jefferson Stadium.
“That early goal definitely helped,” Plum coach Raf Kolankowski said. “You tend to relax a bit, because we’re playing from ahead. I thought we played well, moved the ball and had them chase us most of the first half.”
The Mustangs (19-0-1) advanced to the WPIAL championships against the winner of Monday’s late game between West Allegheny and Franklin Regional.
Trinity (12-2-5) plays the loser of that game in a third-place game on Wednesday. The winner of that game advances to the state tournament.
The Hillers were seeking a trip to the WPIAL championship for the first time since 1984, but Plum’s early goal put a damper on those efforts.
The play started with a long throw into the box by Mackenzie Maxwell. The ball bounced around before Yurisinec got a foot on it and slammed it into the net from close range.
“That goal puts you down a little bit, but the boys kept fighting,” Trinity coach Alex Nikolopoulos said. “We gave one up early, but the whole rest of that half the boys kept pushing and were trying to do the right things and what we had asked of them.”
Trinity was without one of its top forwards, Sam Johnson, because he broke his collarbone during the Hillers’ quarterfinal win against Chartiers Valley.
His absence forced tactical changes and the Hillers struggled to muster much offensively.
“You have to change, because you’re putting a good player out there, but not one that has the same quality that Sam has put in day in and day out this season,” Nikolopoulos said. “Sam is left-footed down the left flank. We missed his cross and his speed down the left.”
The Hillers had only one shot on goal, which was a headed effort by Evan Slagle from 18 yards in the 16th minute.
Their best chance to score came five minutes into the second half when off a corner kick two Hillers got shots off in the 18-yard box, but both were blocked by Plum defenders before the ball was eventually cleared out of danger.
Plum appeared to have a second goal in the 48th minute, but after a long discussion by the referees the goal was waived off because it was deemed a Mustangs player had touched the ball with his hand.
After that Trinity keeper Joel Young made several outstanding saves to keep the Hillers within a goal, but Plum eventually broke through.
The second goal came in the 77th minute when Kent Homes slotted a ball into the net, which sealed Mustangs’ second trip to F.N.B Stadium for a WPIAL championship in three years.
“I knew it would be a defensive struggle, because they are very well organized,” Kolankowski said. “They sit in a low block and frustrate the heck out of you. We just kept plugging away until things opened up. It was definitely nice to get that second one.”
Trinity will now regroup for a short turnaround Wednesday with a berth in the state playoffs for the first time in over 40 years on the line. After winning a section title for the first time since 2020, the Hillers hope to keep their strong season going.
“I didn’t see any tears from our guys or any heads hanging, because they know they have another game to get into the states, which is our next goal,” Nikolopoulos said. “After we won our first playoff game, we said ‘We’re going to states’.”