Greensburg Central Catholic blanks Springdale but loses top scorer to red card in quarterfinals

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, October 30, 2021 | 6:45 PM

When Greensburg Central Catholic and Springdale meet in the boys soccer playoffs, the teams see red.

GCC is headed back to the WPIAL Class A boys soccer semifinals for the fourth straight year, but it came at a price after another chippy match.

The top-seeded Centurions shut out No. 8 Springdale, 4-0, in a quarterfinal game Saturday at Norwin, but their senior standout, Mason Fabean, received a red card with just under three minutes remaining.

He will be suspended for the semifinal Tuesday when two-time defending champion GCC (14-3) tries to avenge an earlier loss to No. 5 Eden Christian (17-2-1). Fabean, who has a team-leading 27 goals, appeared to bump Springdale’s Chris Mitchell to the turf near the sideline, causing some late commotion.

Words were exchanged. Mitchell got up and pushed Fabean, but he was not carded.

With the red, Fabean was ejected.

By rule, Fabean could face a one- or two-game suspension, pending a decision by the PIAA on Monday. A WPIAL official said the referees will file a report with the PIAA.

The semifinal will be played at a time and site to be determined.

GCC coach Rob Fabean, Mason’s father, said referees told him the contact was a forearm to Mitchell’s head. He disagreed.

“From what I saw, it was shoulder-to-shoulder,” Rob Fabean said. “If it was late, still, the referees have to understand, in that kind of a game, with a minute left … that’s nonsense. You want to give him a yellow card, fine. But to give a red card in that spot, going into the semifinal? I have no respect for that at all.”

Springdale coach Cesareo Sanchez, whose Dynamos end the season at 11-5-1, said the red card was warranted because the “shove” was blatant.

“It’s sad to see that,” Sanchez said. “An elbow is not acceptable. I think the red card was justified there.”

The teams’ fourth playoff meeting in three years carried some of the bad blood of the previous games.

In 2019, Springdale’s Sammy Rzeszotarski was red-carded in the semifinals for a dangerous tackle and the Dynamos played a man down for most of the match.

Last year, the Dynamos’ Roman Liberati received a red card and was ejected for saying something derogatory to a referee.

“It’s unfortunate; every time we play against this team, it’s the same thing,” Rob Fabean said. “It’s nonsense.”

There were some goals scored before the disturbance.

Sanchez said the momentum shifted towards GCC when Centurions sophomore keeper Michael Oldenburg made a save on a header from Dynamos senior forward August Tabacheck early in the second half.

It was 0-0 at halftime as the Dynamos’ defense repelled the Centurions’ quick-strike offense.

“Then they scored a goal on our mistake, and then the penalty was our mistake,” Sanchez said. “That changed it totally there. We’re 2-0 down and we have to put everybody (up) to attack.”

Junior Kyler Miller scored the opening goal on a cross from freshman Jackson Vacanti. His header came in the 47th minute.

“It was a great ball,” Miller said. “I barely even had to jump.”

Rob Fabean said the first goal relieved some of the tension.

“We’re a team that’s going to be able to score with many different players,” Rob Fabean said. “I saw an opportunity for Jackson (Vacanti) on the outside with the matchup. He generated our first goal. He did a lot of work on the outside in their left back.”

Miller said composure was just as important as execution against the Dynamos, who crowded the box to prevent GCC scoring chances.

“We knew we had to keep calm,” Miller said. “They like to get aggressive, so we couldn’t let them get to our heads. We knew we can’t talk back. We had to let the scoreboard do the talking.”

Senior Ryan Reitler converted a penalty kick about 20 seconds later to make it 2-0.

Springdale kept Mason Fabean off the scoreboard, but they could not do the same to junior Carlo Denis, who ripped a shot into a wide-open net as Springdale senior keeper Andrew Haus came way out to defend.

“It’s hard to play private schools,” Sanchez said. “They can pick and choose players. Springdale is a small, single-A school. We have what we have. I think we have done a great job. The future looks good, too, for us.”

Junior Jake Gretz finished the scoring with about 25 minutes remaining.

Injuries have forced Springdale to play several freshmen, although a mostly young team could get another shot at GCC next fall.

Oldenburg and Haus had six saves apiece and both teams had eight saves.

“I didn’t feel that we were threatened at all in the first half,” Rob Fabean said. “Even in the second half … they have two players who can cause us problems, but we neutralized them and our defenders did a good job.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Springdale