Moon wins WPIAL boys soccer championship over Franklin Regional

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, November 2, 2024 | 8:24 PM

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Moon hasn’t lost a soccer game in over a year.

Its last defeat came against Franklin Regional, the team it faced in the WPIAL championship, so vengeance was part of the Tigers’ game plan Saturday night.

But only a small part.

The next opponent in the thread just happened to be the Panthers, so payback would be a bonus.

“That wasn’t our main motivation,” Tigers coach Tyler Blake said. “If we play the way we can, we know we can win. We know what we can do if we play our best.”

With a high-powered offense now at full strength unlike in last year’s quarterfinal loss, No. 1 seed Moon scored a pair of second-half goals and toppled No. 7 Franklin Regional, 3-1, to remain unbeaten and win the Class 3A championship before 1,250 at Highmark Stadium.

Moon (22-0) is on a quite a heater, and most teams can’t measure up with the Tigers for the duration of games.

“They have all the pieces,” Franklin Regional coach Nick White said.

The title is the second in three years and seventh overall for the Tigers, who scored two unanswered goals after upset-minded Franklin Regional (14-4-2) tied it midway through the first half.

Franklin Regional edged Moon in last year’s quarterfinals, 2-1 in overtime.

Moon won its last title in 2022.

“When we won two years ago, we thought if things go the right way, we could (win multiple titles in a row),” said Blake, the WPIAL Class 3A coach of the year. “We had some injuries last year. But we came back strong. This feels good, but it’s not the ultimate goal. We want to get it done in Mechanicsburg.”

Franklin Regional, in the finals for the fourth time in seven years and in search of its third title, couldn’t score another upset after knocking off No. 2 Thomas Jefferson and No. 6 Mars in these playoffs.

“Moon is a really good team, and they can take advantage of the smallest mistakes,” White said. “I thought we did a great job minimizing their goal. Once we got our first goal, we settled in. It just wasn’t our night.”

Luiz Silva delivered the opening goal five minutes in, slotting a shot wide of Noah Walker on a pass from Zechariah Balbach.

Franklin Regional, playing more methodical and loose after getting the equalizer, tied it in the 21st minute. Danny Christafano sent a cross in front to Joey Bayne, who crashed the net and sent in a header to make it 1-1.

Bayne, who kicked a field goal and two extra points for the football team Friday night, played more in the center of the attack rather than wide like he usually does.

“We did a good job with that,” Blake said. “We wanted to create movement. They struggled to adjust to that.”

While Franklin Regional controlled play for most of the second half, the offense finally opened for the Tigers.

All-state midfielder Aedan Costa scored off a long cross from Evan Thomas with 18 minutes and 25 seconds remaining to put the Tigers ahead 2-1.

“They had the better of the play for the first 15-20 minutes (after halftime),” Blake said. “Once we got the (go-ahead goal), we flipped a switch and went from there. Our guys are so tough, and they have handled adversity so well.”

The insurance goal came with about 13 minutes remaining when Marc Haupt, who received a yellow card earlier for colliding with Walker, scored on a breakaway.

“I thought we were still fine at 2-1,” White said. “When they got the third one, it put us in a tough spot.”

William Guarino made four saves for Moon.

Both teams will open the PIAA playoffs Tuesday.

Moon will be at home against Lampeter Strasburg, the fourth-place team from District 3.

Franklin Regional will travel to play Bellefonte, the District 6 champion.

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

Tags: Franklin Regional, Moon