Penalty kick sends Plum girls soccer team past Franklin Regional, clinches section title

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, October 11, 2023 | 10:21 PM

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The Plum girls soccer team clinched its fifth straight outright section championship Wednesday evening at Mustangs Stadium.

But the Mustangs needed overtime to get the victory.

A controversial penalty call on a Franklin Regional defender in the box set up a penalty kick for Plum.

Senior Ava Weleski set up for the kick with two minutes left in the overtime period. Her shot, Plum’s 21rd of the game, made it past FR keeper Aris Lamanna for a 1-0 victory.

The Mustangs players and coaches erupted in celebration. The win put Plum at 14-0-1 overall and 11-0 in Section 3-3A.

“They called a push in the box,” Plum coach Jamie Stewart said. “(Franklin Regional) plays very sound defensively. Aris played unbelievable for them. Some of the saves that she made were amazing. Franklin Regional came out in overtime, and for the first couple of minutes, it was down in our end.

“They were tenacious, and we had to really defend. Then we got back into our rhythm and generated some chances. Some might say with the amount of our chances, it was going to be a matter of time, but with Aris back there, you never know.”

The FR players and coaches and the Panthers faithful were left stunned by the call and the ending.

“I think it should’ve been settled on the field,” FR coach Scott Arnold said. “They called a foul in the box, but the (Plum girl) got her shot off. In a game like this, you don’t make that call. It takes it out of the hands of the players. It was an incredible game played by two really good teams. Plum is so talented, and our girls played with so much heart. There is so much respect between the teams.”

Plum concludes section play Monday at Penn-Trafford.

Franklin Regional, despite a loss to Latrobe on Monday that snapped a six-game unbeaten streak and Wednesday’s result, has clinched a spot in the WPIAL playoffs and will host Penn Hills on Monday to wrap up their section slate. The Panthers are 10-5-1 overall and 7-4 in the section.

Franklin Regional and Plum also played down the wire in the first meeting at Franklin Regional on Sept. 18. A goal off a corner kick with 1 minute, 49 seconds left gave Plum a 1-0 win that night.

Lamanna made 12 saves for the Panthers. She made a diving save on a shot by Plum’s Gianna Ravetta with five minutes on the OT clock that kept the game scoreless.

“She had a save off a header which was one of the best saves I’ve ever seen her make,” Arnold said. “She helped keep us in the game, and we started to get a couple chances towards the end of (regulation). We had that corner kick with about 20 seconds left. We were gaining more and more confidence.”

Plum controlled the offensive play in Franklin Regional’s half of the field for the majority of the two 40-minute halves of regulation.

The Mustangs outshot the Panthers, 9-3, in the second half with a 4-1 advantage in shots on goal.

Franklin Regional played with eight in the defensive box as the second half progressed to limit Plum’s dangerous chances.

Plum earned three corner kicks, all in the second half, but none generated a shot.

Ravetta unleashed a shot with eight minutes left that deflected off a Franklin Regional defender and redirected off the crossbar. Lamanna collected the rebound to keep the game scoreless.

Franklin Regional made a push in the final minute and earned a corner kick with 20 seconds left. The Panthers were unable to get a foot or a head on the inbounding ball, and it went out of play.

The Mustangs outshot the Panthers, 9-1, in the first half, with six of the nine on goal for Plum from Ravetta, Weleski, Mia Nardo (two), Emily Grubich, and Rayla Smith.

A seventh shot, taken by Serena Carnahan from about 20 yards in the 13th minute, rang off the cross bar.

Lamanna made six first-half saves.

The Panthers were held without a shot until the 32nd minute when Reilly Weaver unleashed one that was saved by Plum starting keeper Makenna Anderson.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Plum