Burrell boys soccer ready for shot at playoff redemption

By: Jerin Steele
Thursday, October 19, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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The Burrell boys soccer team has had to wait a full year for a chance to erase the sting of last year’s first-round playoff loss at home.

The Bucs grinded their way through the regular season, earning a share of the Section 3-A title and will get the opportunity they have been seeking.

Burrell received the third seed in the Class A tournament and will host No. 14 Greensburg Central Catholic at 1 p.m. Saturday.

“This is what they’ve been working for really since July when we first started getting together again,” Bucs coach Andrew Kariotis said. “All that time has led up to this, and they are excited for it.”

The Bucs (12-3) did not meet the Centurions (7-10) in the regular season and they had only one common opponent, Trinity Christian. Burrell swept Trinity Christian in section play. Trinity Christian beat Greensburg Central Catholic, 6-1, in a nonsection match Oct. 7.

Burrell dropped a 1-0 decision to Serra Catholic in the first round last year. It was a night when Burrell controlled most of the play but couldn’t score.

A potential rematch with Serra Catholic looms in the quarterfinals if both teams win their first-round games.

After losing 1-0 to Springdale in the second game of the season, Burrell reeled off 10 consecutive victories.

It’s an experienced group led by all-section seniors Luke Guerrini, Cam Wagner, Jayson Ireland and junior Billy Kowalkowski. Senior keeper Ryan Croushore was all-section honorable mention and had six shutouts. Ireland netted 16 goals.

Burrell did run into injury trouble in the second half of the season, but Kariotis said the group is tracking toward being close to full health for Saturday’s game.

“Hopefully, a few days of rest will do us some good,” Kariotis said. “At the end of the regular season, we’ve been shuffling people in and out due to injuries. The first half went great. The second half, there were a few bumps in the road. We had people healing up, and then someone else would go out. Every team has to deal with that, though. A little adversity is probably better than not having any at all.”

Burrell dropped its last two regular-season games, 2-0 in the section finale against Winchester Thurston and 2-1 against East Allegheny in a nonsection game.

Regardless of the outcomes, Kariotis was pleased with how the Bucs controlled play.

During their winning streak, they put up at least two goals in each match. Now that his team is rested, Kariotis is confident it will return to converting chances in the playoffs.

“We’re playing pretty well,” Kariotis said. “We’ve been a little snakebit finding the goal compared to the beginning of the season and letting teams hang around a little bit. We had a lot of shots but not a lot of dangerous chances. Hopefully, that starts to even out again now that we’re going into the playoffs. That’s what we’ve been working on a lot lately is our finishing.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

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