Greensburg CC girls edge CW North Catholic to advance to Class A soccer final

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, October 30, 2017 | 9:45 PM

Much was made of the amount of talent that graduated from Greensburg Central Catholic girls soccer, but the team is right back where it left off last year: in the WPIAL final.

Alexa Schwerha tapped home the rebound of a saved long-range shot by Brenna Springer in the 55th minute, and that was enough for the third-seeded Centurions in a 1-0 win over No. 2 Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic in the first Class A semifinal Monday at Hampton.

The Centurions (14-3-0) advance to face defending champion Shady Side Academy in the WPIAL final at Highmark Stadium at a date and time to be determined. It will be a rematch of last year's final, which Shady Side Academy won 1-0.

“I couldn't be more proud, and I knew from the beginning that we had a ton of potential. But a lot of other people thought otherwise because of those who graduated,” GCC coach Ashley Davis said. “We have a very small team this year and even a couple of girls who haven't played soccer before, but I believed that they could do it.”

Schwerha's goal was fitting for a tightly played game with few scoring chances. The play began with a battle near the right side of the penalty area and GCC freshman Talia Kilkeary hitting the ground hard after blocking a North Catholic clearing attempt.

The ball came back to Springer, who struck a curling shot from the top of the box that goalkeeper Andrea Bean saved with a dive to her right. The rebound fell to Schwerha, and the senior poked the ball into the net before Bean could get to her feet.

The goal came after sustained pressure by GCC after halftime. The Centurions scored on their fourth shot on goal in the second half, a stark contrast to a first half in which North Catholic recorded the lone shot on goal and play was largely in the midfield.

“We needed to be patient and keep playing our game, and we knew (a goal) would come eventually,” Davis said. “Our senior captain (Sidney Ward), she had a really good speech that pumped them up. It did the trick.”

North Catholic began to push numbers forward in search of a tying goal and was able to serve a handful of dangerous crosses into the box in the final 10 minutes. But GCC goalie Bella Skatell made three saves and cleanly caught everything the Trojans sent her direction.

“We played hard the whole game, and I've got to give Greensburg a lot of credit, because they played just as hard as us,” North Catholic coach Emily Karr said. “There was really no change on my part (after the goal). We have a talented group and a big group of seniors, and they are driven.

“There was just a push because they knew their team was running out. … Now they've gotten a taste of what it's like to have a run end, and hopefully, we don't taste that again.”

The game started under an odd circumstance, as only two of the three assigned referees showed up at the stadium. Play went on without incident in a steady, cold wind, and one of the referees scheduled for the second semifinal joined the crew after arriving.

Matt Grubba is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mgrubba@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Grubba_Trib.

Tags: Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Greensburg C.C., North Catholic