Jerome’s golden goal gives Belle Vernon 1st WPIAL title
PITTSBURGH – Jordan Jerome was at a loss for words, but the permanent smile on his face said it all.
His mind was still racing 100 miles per hour after his moment of brilliance finished off a magical and historic run for Belle Vernon.
Jerome headed in a golden goal in the 103rd minute and the No. 10-seeded Leopards defeated No. 9 Quaker Valley, 1-0, in the WPIAL Class 2A boys soccer championship Saturday at F.N.B Stadium.
It is the first WPIAL boys soccer title in program history.
Jerome got his head on a long ball into the box by Chris Showman and it went past Quakers keeper Julien Tiesse and into the net in the 103rd minute.
“I don’t know…I’m just too excited,” Jerome said. “I really don’t know what’s going on right now, but this is great. This means so much to us and to be the one who scored…it’s just great.”
The win completed a run for Belle Vernon (18-1-2) in which it beat the No. 7 seed Beaver, No. 2 seed Deer Lakes, No. 3 seed North Catholic and Quaker Valley (13-6-2), which was seeking its 11th title.
“We’ve been talking all week about how this is more than a trophy for us,” said Belle Vernon coach Tyler Caterino, who is in his second year coaching the team. “This is finally some recognition that not only us at Belle Vernon, but the Mon Valley deserves as well. There are a lot of good soccer players and teams in that area. We usually get the lower seeds, but today I think today proved that they need to pay attention to us a little more.”
After not generating much in the first half, Belle Vernon started to create some chances as the second half went on.
The Leopards’ first real chance came in the 55th minute when Landon Bell took a chance from 25 yards that went over the crossbar.
In the 80th minute Jordan Jerome put a dangerous chance toward the goal, but Quakers keeper Julien Tiesse kept it out.
Morgan Bunch was busy in the first half with a half dozen saves and had one huge stop on Connor West in the 71st minute.
Belle Vernon spent nearly the entire first half defending while Quaker Valley was on the front foot.
The Quakers generated eight corner kicks and some led to dangerous chances.
In the 15th minute the Quakers put two shots on goal, the first was blocked by the Belle Vernon defense and the second one Bunch made a kick save like a hockey goalie to keep the ball out.
Another glorious opportunity came in the 27th minute, but Bunch again was there to make the save.
He had another stop on a quality attempt for the Quakers in the 30th minute and finished the day with six saves.
“I think Morgan Bunch is the best shot stopper in the WPIAL,” Caterino said. “Even last year when we were in 3A he was a wall for us back there. He doesn’t get the recognition he deserves, but he knows on our team he’s our guy.”
The Leopards, meanwhile, struggled to generate offense and did not have a shot on goal in the first half.
“The message at halftime was that we weren’t intense enough,” Caterino said. “They wanted it more and that needed to change. I think in the second half it was much more even and in the overtime we had the better of the opportunities.”
Belle Vernon will begin the state playoffs on Wednesday against District 5 champion Somerset.