South Park girls soccer blanks Avonworth to reach WPIAL championship game

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, October 27, 2018 | 9:45 PM

An emphasis for South Park girls soccer coach Shelly Thropp going into her team’s 17th semifinal appearance in 19 years was playing well in the defensive third, translating that to pressuring the offensive third and getting off shots.

Early in Saturday’s semifinal against Avonworth (13-6-2), South Park (17-2) was able to do just that, and capitalized on an early mistake by the Antelopes, en route to a 3-0 victory to advance to the Class 2A championship game next week at Highmark Stadium.

Avonworth’s Abigail Dawley scored an own goal just 2 minutes, 58 seconds into the contest, giving South Park an advantage. The Eagles continued to dominate the defensive end, and took a 2-0 lead with 30:38 to play in the first half on a goal by the team’s leading scorer, junior forward Haleigh Finale.

“We played a really solid game. That was probably the best defensive 40 minutes I’ve seen (our players) play this year,” Thropp said. “We played some good whole team defense too and (got) some pressure in their end and got some shots off. It was a good 40 minutes.”

The early lead allowed South Park to settle in, and changed the complexion of the game, according to Avonworth coach JC Mahan.

“It’s unfortunate that (own goal) happened, because I thought we came out strong,” Mahan said. “I think that maybe just turned us a little bit, and when they got the second one, it was tough. I always feel like you need one before that happens.”

From there, Mahan said his team’s best chance was to get corner kicks and set pieces to try and score multiple times. The defense of South Park, which was “compact,” according to Mahan, didn’t allow that to happen.

The Eagles added a goal with just over five minutes remaining in the first half off a corner kick from junior defender Taylor Glowa, whose set piece was headed into the goal by junior defender Grace Albitz.

It was one Thropp was really excited to see.

“We had some really good goals, especially the corner kick,” Thropp said. “That’s something we’ve been working on a lot recently, not just the corners, but finishing the corners off, so it was good to get one there.”

The Eagles came close to scoring a fourth goal about a fourth of the way through the second half, but a free kick by Glowa did not touch anyone on the way in, so it was disallowed.

Freshman goalkeeper Ali Miklos stopped all of the shots she faced, and the Eagles clinched a spot in the Class 2A title game, which will be played against No. 2 seed Hopewell. The Vikings defeated Deer Lakes, 5-2, Saturday in the bracket’s other semifinal.

Avonworth’s season is not over, either, as the Lopes are still alive for a state playoff berth if they can win the consolation game against Deer Lakes Tuesday. Only one other Avonworth girls soccer team has appeared in the PIAA playoffs, so Mahan said that is a goal and would be a big accomplishment.

Thropp said her team is looking forward to the challenge of facing a well-coached team, as the Eagles look for their first championship since 2008, in their first title-game experience since 2015.

“It’s a big accomplishment to get there, and obviously we want to win the game,” Thropp said. “I know the seniors are looking forward to it (since we lost the last time they were there).”

Kyle Dawson is a freelance writer.

Tags: Avonworth, South Park