Belle Vernon soccer to play for WPIAL title
High school
The Belle Vernon boys soccer team has proven through three matches in the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs that there could be some truth to the old sports adage that “seeds don’t matter.”
The Leopards, who were tabbed the No. 10 seed despite an overall record of 14-2-1, blanked No. 3 North Catholic, 2-0, Tuesday in the semifinals at Peters Township Middle School to advance to the WPIAL Class 2A final.
Belle Vernon (17-2-1) will play Quaker Valley (13-5-2) Saturday at F.N.B. Stadium for the district championship. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.
“I can’t take all the credit,” Belle Vernon coach Tyler Caterino said. “These guys work day-in and day-out, and there’s no quit in these guys. They knew what they were capable of from Day 1 of the summer and fall. These guys come every day ready to train, ready to practice, and most importantly, ready to play no matter who is on the other side.”
The Leopards opened the postseason with a 4-2 victory over No. 7 Beaver before a 2-1 triumph in extra time over No. 2 Deer Lakes to set up the showdown with the Trojans (17-2-2).
“There are a lot of good teams in Class 2A this year,” Caterino said. “I think we are in the most competitive conference and talent across the board, and every game is a dog fight, and I think you’ve seen that in the playoffs. There haven’t been many blowouts or high-scoring games.”
Belle Vernon faces a ninth-seeded Quakers team that also ran the gauntlet against teams with higher seeds, as they topped No. 8 Freeport, 2-0, in the first round prior to stunning No. 1 seed Avonworth, 1-0, after two periods of extra time to advance to the semifinals against Ambridge, who was the 13th seed. Quaker Valley earned a second-straight win in two 15-minute periods with a 3-2 triumph.
The Leopards are seeking their first WPIAL soccer championship, while the Quakers are looking for No. 11.
North Catholic controlled possession in the first 15 minutes of Tuesday’s match, as it had five of its 13 total shots, including two of three on target, and earned four of its 15 corner kicks in the first quarter hour of the match.
Belle Vernon’s backline and goalkeeper Morgan Bunch kept the Trojans off the scoreboard. Bunch made three saves.
North Catholic’s keeper had no chance on Landon Bell’s rocket from beyond 30 yards that sailed to the left with 17:32 remaining in the first half and a 1-0 lead. Tyler Perozzi had the assist.
Belle Vernon held the one-goal advantage at halftime.
North Catholic continued to earn corner kicks in the second half, but the Leopards kept the ball out of danger.
Belle Vernon put the Trojans in deep trouble with 21:14 left in the second half when junior Dominic Pireaux put a shot past high and to the right corner of the net for a 2-0 lead.
“We knew it was going to be hard fought, but we just had to keep that desire,” Pireaux said. “They had control of possession in the first part of the game, but we just continued to battle and take advantage when we had an opportunity.”
The teams traded yellow cards 24 seconds apart with 11 minutes remaining, and North Catholic was shown yellow a second time with 4:51 left in the match.
West Allegheny 6
Trinity 1
Trinity’s quest to make the PIAA playoffs fell one victory shy of the ste tournament.
The fourth-seeded Hillers lost to third-seeded West Allegheny 6-1 Wednesday night in the WPIAL Class 3A consolation match on the Indians’ home turf.
West Allegheny (17-3-1) gains the WPIAL’s final berth in the state tournament. Trinity ends the season with a 12-3-5 record.
West Allegheny took control of the match early and led 4-1 at halftime. Trinity’s lone goal was scored by Brady Anderson with 13:38 remaining and cut the Indians’ lead to 3-1.
Girls volleyball
Frazier 3, Fort Cherry 2
Frazier rallied from a 2-1 deficit to upend Fort Cherry, 3-2, in a Class 2A semifinal match at Peters Township High School Tuesday night to advance to Saturday’s final.
Scores were 26-24, 20-25, 18-25, 25-16 and 15-11.
The second-seeded Rangers (18-2) had beaten the third-seeded Commodores (17-3) during a regular-season, non-section match, 3-0.
Frazier will play top-seeded Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the championship match, also at AHN Arena.
The Chargers knocked off fourth-seeded Shenango, 3-0, in Tuesday’s earlier match on the same floor.
Fort Cherry and Shenango will play in the third-place match tonight at OLSH.
All four semifinalists have already clinched a spot in the PIAA tournament.
Frazier jumped out to a 10-4 advantage in the first set and led most of the way. The Rangers used a late 5-1 run to go up 24-23, but the Commodores reeled off the last three points.
Fort Cherry fired back by taking the first four points of the second set and never trailed to even the match with Madeline Groszkiewicz’ kill ending it.
The Rangers dominated the third set, leading by as many as eight points. Morgan Cornali’s emphatic kill was followed by a Commodores error to finish the set.
Frazier controlled the fourth set, never trailing in winning by nine points to send it to the deciding fifth set.
The Commodores used a four-point run to seize an 8-5 lead in the final set and never trailed again.