High school roundup Oct. 23, 2019: Mt. Lebanon scores 3 goals in game’s final 70 seconds to win WPIAL playoff match

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, October 24, 2019 | 12:19 AM

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Second-seeded Mt. Lebanon netted three goals in the final 1 minute, 10 seconds of regulation to roar past upset-minded Butler 3-1 Wednesday night in a WPIAL boys soccer Class AAAA quarterfinal matchup.

Trailing since the 21:55 mark of the first half thanks to a Butler goal by Carson Knight, Mt. Lebanon found its needed luck late in the game.

With 1:10 left, Mt. Lebanon (14-4-1) was awarded a penalty kick and Guiseppe Croce buried the shot to tie the game 1-1.

Forty-seven seconds later, Croce made a move to free himself ever so slightly and tucked a shot inside the far post to give Mt. Lebanon the lead with 23 seconds remaining.

Butler (13-6-1) scrambled over the last 23 seconds, but with one second left, Danny Simboro buried the third goal from midfield on the open net with one second left.

The game was even throughout, with Mt. Lebanon holding the edge in shots 15-9 and shots on goal 9-5.

The Blue Devils clinched a spot in the semifinals for the first time since 2010 and will face third-seeded Seneca Valley on Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

Seneca Valley 3, Norwin 2 – After trailing 2-0, for less than a minute the third-seeded Raiders (13-3-1) scored three unanswered goals in front of their home crowd on Wednesday to pull off a WPIAL Class AAAA victory over the sixth-seeded Knights (16-3-1).

Norwin’s Ian Brown scored on a beautiful free kick 14 minutes into the game that put the Knights up. Then, four-minutes later, Brown made a run down the left sideline and sent in a cross that Matt Federovich finished off to extend their lead.

Then the Raiders started answering back. Luke Rupert scored his first of two 39-seconds later. The Raiders went into the half down a goal but Kyle Majeski scored six-minutes into the half and Rupert added his second with just under 11 minutes remaining to put his team ahead for good.

Plum 4, Upper St. Clair 0 — DD Flowers recorded a hat trick to lead top-seeded Plum past Upper St. Clair. Flowers gave Plum a 1-0 lead at the half, and A.J. Koma doubled the advantage early in the second. Flowers completed his three-goal game with a pair of insurance goals. Plum (16-0-2) will meet Canon-McMillan in Monday’s semifinals.

Canon-McMillan 2, Fox Chapel 1 (OT) — Tommy Samosky headed in a Luke Gladden corner kick in overtime to lift fourth-seeded Canon-McMillan past fifth-seeded Fox Chapel in a Class AAAA quarterfinal. Canon-McMillan (13-3-1) took a 1-0 lead in the first half on an Owen Maher goal. Fox Chapel (12-4-3) tied the score when a Canon McMillan defender, under heavy pressure, scored an own goal.

Class AAA

Franklin Regional 1, Trinity 0 — Top seed Franklin Regional (17-0-1) overcame a stagnant first half to get past No. 8 Trinity (14-5) in a quarterfinal game at Fox Chapel. Nathan Scholze got the Panthers on the board at the 26:11 mark of the second half as he scored in tight after Trinity failed to clear the ball. Isaac Gamwo kept the possession alive and knocked the ball Scholze’s direction.

Trinity goalkeeper Colby Thomas made nine saves as he and the defense kept the Panthers in check most of the night.

Franklin Regional moves on to play No. 12 Blackhawk (12-3-4) in Saturday’s semifinals. The Panthers, who have 15 shutouts this season, beat Laurel Highlands in the first round, 16-0.

Blackhawk 4, Belle Vernon 1 — Blackhawk, the 12th seed in Class AAA, has made an unlikely run to the WPIAL semifinals, scoring an upset victory over fourth-seeded Belle Vernon.

The Cougars (12-3-4) jumped out to a 2-0 first-half lead on a pair of goals by Nolan Finkbeiner, who scored the lone goal in Blackhawk’s 1-0 win over South Fayette in the first round of the playoffs Saturday.

Belle Vernon (17-2-0) cut into Blackhawk’s lead with a goal by leading scorer Daniel Sassak in the final four minutes of the first half.

Blackhawk made sure Belle Vernon’s comeback bid stopped there. Logan Gonzalez and Cougar Bourl scored second-half goals to ice the game.

West Allegheny 5, Mars 1 — Fletcher Amos scored twice and Trevor Day stopped a penalty kick as West Allegheny (13-5-1) knocked off second-seeded Mars (17-2-1) in a quarterfinal match. Caleb Miller and Logen Mackey also scored for West Allegheny, which will meet Moon in Monday’s semifinals. Steven Papik scored for Mars.

Hampton 1, Moon 0 (OT) — Sophomore Holden Pritts scored the game-winning goal in overtime as sixth-seeded Hampton (15-3-2) knocked off third-seeded Moon (16-3-0) in a quarterfinal match. Liam Nichols had the assist.

Class AA

Quaker Valley 7, Freeport 0 — Franky Fernandez scored five goals to lead top-seeded Quaker Valley (17-2-0) past Freeport (12-6-2) in a Class AA quarterfinal. Fritz Reiter and Rowan Kriebel also scored for Quaker Valley, which will meet Shady Side Academy in Monday’s semifinals.

Shady Side Academy 1, Charleroi 0 (OT) — Joey Anania scored the winning goal late in the second overtime to snap a scoreless tie and lead fourth-seeded Shady Side Academy (14-2-1) past fifth-seeded Charleroi (18-2-0).

South Park 1, Freedom 0 (OT) — South Park’s Dylan Weiss scored the game-winning goal with five minutes remaining in overtime, advancing the third-seeded Eagles (15-4-1) past No. 6 Freedom (11-8-0). Logan Thomas recorded the shutout. South Park will face Deer Lakes in Monday’s semifinals.

Class A

Winchester Thurston 4, Brentwood 0 — Beck Buchanan’s goal 5:29 into the first half was enough to lead No. 1 Winchester Thurston (15-1-0) past No. 8 Brentwood (13-4-2). Thomas Votruba-Drzal scored at 6:40 and Grant Robinson added another to make it 3-0 at the half. Diederik-Paul Schlingemann converted a penalty kick with 38 seconds left in the game.

The Bears dominated the quarterfinal contest, outshooting the Spartans 29-4 and taking a 14-3 edge in shots on frame and 12-0 advantage in corner kicks.

Winchester Thurston will meet Carlynton in Monday’s semifinals.

Carlynton 3, Seton LaSalle 1 — Carnel Kerr scored on a penalty kick to break a second-half tie and send fourth-seeded Carlynton (16-2-0) past fifth-seeded Seton LaSalle (9-6-3). Demetrius Howe and Timmy Smith also scored for the Cougars. Reno Butelli scored for Seton LaSalle.

Girls volleyball

Class AAAA

Shaler 3, Penn-Trafford 0 — Mia Schubert had 12 kills and Addie Kania added 10 kills as No. 6 Shaler rolled to a 3-0 win over No. 11 Penn-Trafford. The Titans (8-5) won 25-8, 25-18, 25-12 to advance to the quarterfinals for a second consecutive season. Shaler will meet No. 3 Canon-McMillan on Monday. Emily Peterson contributed seven kills and four blocks for the Titans. Bella Long had six kills for Penn-Trafford (9-4).

Seneca Valley 3, Norwin 0 — Seneca Valley (7-6) knocked off eighth-seeded Norwin (9-4) 25-18, 27-25, 25-14 to earn a Class AAAA quarterfinal match with top-seeded North Allegheny.

Baldwin 3, Connellsville 0 — Baldwin (12-3) swept Connellsville (8-5) to earn a quarterfinal matchup with fourth-seeded Moon on Monday.

Oakland Catholic 3, Hempfield 1 — No. 7 Oakland Catholic (9-6) knocked off No. 10 Hempfield (10-3) in a first-round Class AAAA match, 25-23, 25-16, 14-25, 28-26. Mekayla Dedo led the Spartans with 20 kills and nine digs. Olivia Persin had 30 assists and Peyton Lisenberger added 10 digs. Oakland Catholic will meet second-seeded Pine-Richland in Monday’s quarterfinals.

Class AAA

Knoch 3, Woodland Hills 1 — Skylar Burkett had 19 kills to lead top-seeded Knoch past Woodland Hills in a first-round Class AAA match. Missing several key players to due to injury, Knoch dropped the first set 29-27 before winning 25-21, 25-22, 25-6.

Rory McCune had 10 kills and Madison Raypush and Mykenzie Werner each added 13 service points for the Knights, who will meet West Allegheny in Monday’s quarterfinals.

Franklin Regional 3, Montour 0 — The fourth-seeded Franklin Regional Panthers needed three sets to dispatch Montour, 25-21, 25-15 and 26-24.

The Panthers got off to a very slow start in the first set, falling behind 5-1 while making some unforced errors. However, the Panthers were bolstered by DePaul recruit, middle hitter Aly Kindelberger, and middle hitter Hannah Flick in coming back to take the pivotal first set. Kindelberger registered four kills and Flick three kills in the first set comeback.

Montour got off to another quick start in the second set behind the strong play of middle hitter Alexandra Leise. Leise registered four kills in the early going of the set, but Montour was overpowered by the steady play of the Panthers. Leise had 12 kills on the night for the Spartans.

Montour looked poised to take the third set as it led most of the way and had four game points, leading the set 24-20. But Franklin Regional fired off six unanswered points to eliminate the Spartans from the playoff picture. In that 6-0 final run, Kindelberger recorded two of her game-high 13 kills. Flick, a senior, finished with 10 kills.

Franklin Regional (15-0) advances to the quarterfinals to meet 12th-seeded Armstrong, which defeated fifth-seeded Laurel Highlands 3-2. Franklin Regional defeated Armstrong twice in the regular season, 3-1 and 3-0.

Thomas Jefferson 3, Albert Gallatin 0 —Thomas Jefferson took a decisive home-court victory, winning 25-14, 25-10 and 25-12. It was the third time the conference foes played this year, and the third time that Thomas Jefferson won with a sweep.

Thomas Jefferson got off to a quick start in the first set taking an 8-1 lead on the backs of their outstanding hitters. They were never really challenged in the first set as Julia Palmer led the way with four kills. Catherine Galioto had three aces during a 7-0 run in the first set. Ashleigh Haines, Natasha Yanief and Tyler Turk chipped in with three kills apiece to give the Jaguars the 1-0 lead.

The Jaguars picked up where they left off in the second set although Albert Gallatin kept it close early. With the Jaguars holding a slim 6-5 lead, they rattled off eight straight points to take a commanding 14-5 lead. Natasha Yanief was the go-to hitter in the second set as setter Abigail Chalovich went to Yanief for several points in the 8-0 run. Yanief finished with five second-set kills and eight kills for the match.

Thomas Jefferson finished off Albert Gallatin in relatively easy fashion in the third set. Turk, the Jaguars’ outstanding middle hitter, had five kills in the final set and finished with a game-high 12 kills. The Jaguars as a team finished with 42 kills and 11 aces.

The second-seeded Jaguars will face 10th-seeded Chartiers Valley in Monday’s quarterfinals.

Chartiers Valley 3, Kiski Area 0 — Chartiers Valley won a closely contested first-round match in Class AAA, 29-27, 25-23, 25-23.

“We played tough but made too many little mistakes that ended up being big mistakes,” Kiski Area coach Jodie McCartney said. “Chartiers Valley did a great job tonight.”

Brooke Endress led Kiski Area (11-4) with 16 blocks. Kamdyn Serakowski had nine kills and 16 assists, and Rebekah Fowler added 17 digs. Violeta Kenzevich and Rachel Brooks had 13 digs apiece.

South Fayette 3, Ambridge 0 — Lauren Saulle tallied 16 kills while Izzy Franjioni pitched in with 20 assists as No. 3 South Fayette (15-0) defeated No. 14 Ambridge (8-7), 25-19, 25-22 and 25-20. Lilah Speca also added nine kills for the Lady Lions, who will meet No. 11 Elizabeth Forward (11-4) in the quarterfinals Monday.

Elizabeth Forward 3, Mars 1 — Leah Fournier had 16 kills, six aces and three blocks to lead No. 11 Elizabeth Forward past No. 6 Mars. The Warriors won 25-23, 25-20, 22-25, 26-24 to advance to the quarterfinals for the third straight season. Abby Bickerton and Kaitlin Fournier added eight kills each for Elizabeth Forward. Beth Long had 12 kills for Mars.

Field hockey

Class AAA

Peters Township 1, Mt. Lebanon 0 — Cassidy King scored the decisive goal as Peters Township edged Mt. Lebanon in a semifinal match. Peters Township will face Pine-Richland in a rematch of last year’s WPIAL finals at 6 p.m. Monday at Fox Chapel.

Pine-Richland 3, North Allegheny 0 — Riley King and Mary Wymard scored first-half goals and Ella Rottinghaus added an insurance goal in the second half as Pine-Richland won a semifinal match with North Allegheny.

Class A

Shady Side Academy 5, Sewickley Academy 0 — Shady Side recorded a semifinal shutout to earn a spot in the WPIAL finals against Ellis School at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Fox Chapel.

Tags: Beaver, Beaver County Christian, Bishop Canevin, Freeport, Geibel, Greensburg C.C., Hampton, Hopewell, North Allegheny, North Catholic, Norwin, Peters Township, Plum, South Park