Plum beats District 6 champ Hollidaysburg for program’s 1st PIAA playoff victory

By: Michael Love
Tuesday, November 9, 2021 | 9:04 PM

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HOLLIDAYSBURG — The Plum girls soccer team threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Hollidaysburg net, and Tigers freshman keeper Natalie Foster in the first half during a PIAA Class AAA first-round game Tuesday at Hollidaysburg.

Plum delivered 14 shots, including seven on goal, over the first 40 minutes. Foster made seven saves, and several other Mustangs shots just missed high or wide.

But the WPIAL runner-up Mustangs got on the scoreboard early in the second half and added two more in quick fashion en route to a 3-1 victory.

It is first PIAA win in the program’s history.

“There was a ton of frustration,” Plum coach Jamie Stewart said. “We played as well as we did in the first half and had as many chances as we did and just couldn’t finish. We were doing a lot of good things, and we told the girls at halftime to stay patient and relaxed, and the goals would come. That’s what happened in the second half with three goals in about 10 minutes.”

Plum advances to Saturday’s quarterfinals at a site and time to be determined. It will face District 3 champion Mechanicsburg, a 3-2 winner in overtime over District 12 runner-up St. Hubert’s in the first round Tuesday.

“It’s exciting for the girls to be able to move on,” Stewart said. “The message to them in practice (Monday) was that even though the loss in the WPIAL title game was tough, we had a chance to continue playing. We just need to continue playing our game and do the things we’ve been doing.”

Hollidaysburg, the District 6 champion for a sixth year in a row, caps its season at 13-6.

“Plum is one of the top teams in the state, and I thought we hung with them for 40 to 50 minutes of this game,” Tigers coach Dave Soellner said. “We changed our formation around a little bit to accommodate that because I knew they were a high-scoring team. We came in with a good gameplan. We fell apart there a little bit early in the second half, and they took advantage. We were hoping to get on the board and not let Plum score. But it was a really good learning experience. We just have the three seniors. We have a lot of underclassmen coming back who got a lot of good experience this season.”

Three of Plum’s first four shots on goal in the second half resulted in scores.

Sophomore Ava Weleski, who had a pair of goals in both the WPIAL quarterfinals against Hampton and the semifinals against South Fayette, got the Mustangs on the board.

Weleski cleaned up a deflection off a couple of Hollidaysburg defenders at the 32:28 mark.

Plum built on its lead as Weleski struck again with 30:43 on the clock. She then assisted Kaitlyn Killinger’s 30th goal of the season three minutes later.

“The first half was a little bit of a struggle with shooting,” Weleski said. “We had a lot of opportunities but just couldn’t bury them. Getting that first goal started to motivate us to score more, and it really relaxed us.”

The Tigers didn’t fold their tent after the Mustangs’ goals. Hollidaysburg increased its offensive pressure, and it led to a goal with 20:07 to go.

Junior Abby Bell scored off an assist from freshman Lauren Stevenson. It was the Tigers’ first shot on goal.

Hollidaysburg added a second shot on goal less than a minute later, but the attempt was gobbled up by Plum sophomore keeper Megan Marston.

Plum finished with 24 shots, 13 on goal. Hollidaysburg ended with three shots overall.

Foster, who made 10 saves, got the start in place of regular starter, sophomore Sophia Blescia, who was assessed a red card in the District 6 title game against Tyrone and was suspended for Tuesday’s contest.

“I thought Natalie played lights out,” Soellner said. “She didn’t play like a freshman. She played like an upperclassmen. She did a great job against a really strong Plum offense.“

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.

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