South Park, Hopewell set to face off in WPIAL Class AA girls soccer final

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, November 1, 2018 | 8:12 PM

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Girls soccer

WPIAL championship game

Class AA

No. 1 South Park (18-2) vs. No. 2 Hopewell (15-1-1)

8 p.m. Friday, Highmark Stadium

Coaches: Shelly Thropp, South Park; Bill Pfeifer, Hopewell

Players to watch: Haleigh Finale, Jr., F, South Park; Raychel Speicher, Jr., F, Hopewell

Corner kicks: Hopewell is riding a nine-game winning streak following wins over Burrell and Deer Lakes in the WPIAL playoffs. Speicher scored four times in Saturay’s 5-2 victory over the Lancers. Marlee Mancini also scored, and keeper Katie Ramaley made eight saves. Pfeifer is coaching in a third straight WPIAL title game, having led the Moon girls team to the past two Class 3A titles. Hopewell was just 2-13 last season before making a drastic turnaround. This is Hopewell’s second title-game appearance; the Vikings lost to Central Valley, 2-1, in 2013. … South Park, which has won seven straight games, has played in the championship game seven times, winning in 2001, ‘06, ‘07 and ‘08. The Eagles’ last appearance was 2015, when they lost to Mars, 2-1. This year’s team is led by Finale, who had 37 goals in the regular season, good for third in the WPIAL. Against Avonworth in the semifinals, Finale and junior defender Grace Albitz scored. The Eagles also benefited from an own goal.

Coming up: The winner will play the District 5 or 6 runner-up in the PIAA first round Tuesday. The loser plays the District 5 or 6 champion.

Bill Hartlep is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bhartlep@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TribHSInsider.

Tags: Hopewell, South Park