Plum boys soccer keeping pace in competitive Section 3-4A

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 28, 2018 | 8:30 PM

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It took more than 80 minutes and a lot of physical and mental exertion, but the Plum boys soccer team was able to produce an important 1-0 overtime victory over Section 3-4A foe Latrobe on Sept. 22.

The victory, coming on a goal from sophomore AJ Koma and assisted by junior Tyler Kolankowski, avenged a 2-1 loss to the Wildcats in the Mustangs’ section opener 18 days earlier and highlighted how competitive the section has been this season.

“There are a lot of teams evenly matched and well-coached with guys who really want it and show it on the field,” Plum coach Anthony Russo said. “At times, it’s frustrating with some of the close losses, but it’s also really good soccer to watch. The guys have worked for some really nice wins, too. It’s a tighter race than I would’ve hoped at the beginning of the season.”

Plum has found its footing in the new-look section as the likes of Central Catholic, Fox Chapel and Allderdice were replaced with Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Latrobe, Connellsville and Hempfield.

“The new section has been a change for the guys, but we quickly found rivalries with competitive games,” Russo said. “We already had rivalries with Penn Hills and Woodland Hills from recent years, and it was nice to keep them in the same section.”

Plum is gunning for its third straight trip to the WPIAL playoffs in Class 4A and also a deeper run after first-round exits the past two seasons.

But the Mustangs, who have gotten contributions up and down the lineup from seniors to freshman, still have work to do in the stretch run.

They stood at 5-4 and in fifth place — the top four teams from the section qualify for the playoffs — after a 4-1 victory at Woodland Hills last Thursday.

Goals from senior Jordan Floyd, junior Luke Pupilli, sophomore Darius Flowers and freshman Luke Kolankowski; assists from both Flowers and Floyd; and the goalkeeping of sophomore Gabe Kuhn (three saves) powered the win over the Wolverines and allowed the Mustangs to bounce back from a tough 2-1 setback to section leader Norwin just two days earlier.

“They certainly responded well (against Woodland Hills),” Russo said.

Section games against Woodland Hills last Saturday and Penn-Trafford on Tuesday were to be contested past the deadline for this week’s edition, and Plum hopes to avenge a loss to Connellsville when the teams rematch Thursday evening at Plum.

“We learned a lot from that first game against Connellsville, and we have to figure out what we need to do to be better,” Russo said.

Less than three points separated second-place Connellsville and Plum in fifth place at the start of the week. Penn-Trafford and Latrobe were in the middle of the Falcons and Mustangs.

Plum closes out the section slate Tuesday at home with Hempfield before visiting Penn Hills on Oct. 11.

“We can be a threat over these last couple of section games if we can be sound defensively and finish the chances we make for ourselves,” Russo said. “We have to be sharp and can’t falter in any of these games if we want to be in the playoffs.”

Flowers led the team with eight goals with two assists through 11 games. Eleven players have found the back of the net this season.

“We had some tough early losses in section, but we came back and picked up some good wins,” Flowers said. “We have to stay focused. The Latrobe win felt really good because that was one we needed to start the second half of our season the right way.”

Floyd (six goals), Koma (four) and Pupilli (three) also have found scoring success. Floyd’s assist against Woodland Hills was his team-best fifth of the season.

“It’s pretty exciting to have these opportunities and compete for a spot in the playoffs,” Flowers said.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MLove_Trib.

Tags: Plum