Peters Twp. beats Canon-Mac in quarterfinals for 2nd straight year
McMURRAY – In a playoff game between two rivals and co-section champions, any shot was a good shot and the one Rylie Busch put on goal from 39 yards away was as beautiful as they come.
Her long attempt at goal just made it over the outstretched arms of Canon-McMillan goalkeeper Skyler Smith to open the scoring in the 39th minute.
Her sister, Brynn Busch, and Adrianna Rigatti added insurance markers in the second half and the No. 2 Indians defeated No. 7 Canon-McMillan, 3-0, in the WPIAL Class 4A girls soccer quarterfinals Wednesday night.
It’s the second year in a row the Indians have eliminated the Big Macs in the playoffs. They won 2-0 last year.
Rylie’s goal gave the Indians a major boost heading into halftime.
“I was just trying to get it somewhere on frame,” Rylie said. “It was a one-time shot at the goal and it worked out in our favor.
“I thought she was going to catch it, but it went over her head, and I was shocked that it went in.”
The Indians (13-1-2) advance to Monday’s semifinals where they’ll face third-seeded North Allegheny, which edged Norwin in a penalty-kick shootout. Canon-McMillan finishes the season 8-5-4.
Peters Township, Canon-McMillan and Mt. Lebanon were tri-champions in Class 4A Section 2 at 7-1-2.
Canon-McMillan and Peters Township tied 1-1 on the final night of section play. Peters Township beat Canon-McMillan 3-0 in the first meeting.
Mt. Lebanon and Peters Township were seeded first and second and Canon-McMillan was seeded seventh, which set up the rematch.
The game was scoreless until Rylie put her long attempt at goal that fell in and then saw her celebrate almost 45 yards away from the goal.
“To hit that one-time across your body is not easy,” Peters Township coach Rob Heuler said. “Kudos to her. It was an unbelievable strike and something this team needed to flip the switch and turn things around.”
In the 60th minute Peters Township had a goal taken off the board because the play was offsides, but it wasn’t long after that Brynn cashed in.
Her shot came from just outside the 18-yard box and slipped inside the right post.
“I was really mad about that goal getting taken away, so I just wanted to get another one to get us back up again,” Brynn said. “Once we scored that goal I felt like we were in the game a little more and took it from there.”
Rigatti’s goal was similar to Brynn’s and came with just over eight minutes remaining, which effectively put the game to bed.
Peters Township had more of the possession in the first half, but before the goal, Canon-McMillan had a couple great chances to get on the board first.
A high, heavy shot by Ella Shields was denied by a leaping Kaylin Hoffman in goal. Hoffman punched the ball over the bar to keep it out.
Sarah Coffman made a nice run down the left side in the 33rd minute, but Hoffman was there to stop her attempt at goal.
The Big Macs nearly tied the game five minutes into the second half when Coffman drilled a shot on net that hit off Hoffman, the crossbar and the post before spinning behind the net out of bounds.
That was their last excellent scoring chance.
“We had our chances, but we didn’t finish and we didn’t capitalize,” Canon-McMillan coach Matt Fonagy said. “That’s the way the game goes sometimes. Credit to them. They finished their chances and they are moving on.”
Though Canon-McMillan’s season ended Wednesday, it was a memorable one that saw the team win a section title for the first time since 2016.