Plum girls aim to make another long run in WPIAL soccer playoffs

By: Michael Love
Saturday, October 15, 2022 | 11:01 AM

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The Plum girls soccer team is no stranger to postseason pressure and opportunity, and the Mustangs will get a chance in the coming days to prove it.

Plum coach Jamie Stewart said his team, which expected to garner one of the top seeds among the likes of defending WPIAL and PIAA champion Mars, as well as Moon, Elizabeth Forward and Thomas Jefferson, will be focused and ready.

“There are a lot of players on this team who understand the path and the challenges we have moving forward,” Stewart said.

“(Class) 3A is so deep with talented teams across the board. You certainly have the likes of Mars and Hampton, and also there’s Oakland Catholic. We got a chance to play Montour this year (2-0 win), and they have a really good team. The girls are definitely looking forward to the challenge.”

Plum hoped to wrap up its fourth straight section title Monday as it controlled its own destiny at home against Penn-Trafford.

The Mustangs entered the game 10-1 in section play, two points ahead of second-place Latrobe (9-1-1) which was to take on Gateway, also on Monday.

“We absolutely expected it to come down to the final day,” Stewart said. “Our section is pretty stacked, and there have been a lot of competitive games.”

Stewart said the schedule both in and out of section play got the Mustangs ready to make what he hopes is another deep run in the postseason.

The WPIAL Class 3A runners-up the past three seasons concluded the 2021 campaign in the PIAA semifinals.

Plum remained at the top in the section with a 2-0 victory at rival Franklin Regional on Oct. 12. The win completed the season sweep of the Panthers.

“First and foremost, Franklin Regional has a really good team,” Stewart said.

“(Coach) Scott (Arnold) does a really nice job with them. Anytime you go and play someone at their place, they are ready to go. It is their comfort zone. They had Murrysville Youth Soccer night, so they had a big crowd on hand. It was a pretty good energy across the board. The girls were ready to come out and play well.”

Senior forward Kaitlyn Killinger scored in the first couple of minutes to give Plum the lead. She controlled the ball on the outside, made a couple of moves, and fired it past FR freshman keeper Addison Ayres.

“It was a really nice laser to the far post. Their goalie, Ayres, is a really good player,” Stewart said.

“It helped settle us down and allowed us to continue building our energy throughout the first half. It gave us the chance to do the things we wanted to do. Franklin did some good things with their game plan, and we were fortunate enough in the first half to get a couple of goals.”

Fellow senior forward Annabel Ahrin scored for Plum to make it 2-0, and the Mustangs defense prevented any Panthers rally the rest of the way as they improved to 12-1 overall.

Plum was able to shake off any affects from its lone loss of the season, a 1-0 setback against Latrobe on Oct. 3 which also snapped the Mustangs’ 42-game section win streak dating back to 2019.

“To be honest, we hadn’t talked about (the streak) too much,” Stewart said the day after the loss.

“Against Latrobe, we both had chances to score throughout the game. It was a great game, very well fought on both sides.”

Plum celebrated senior night Oct. 10 with an 8-1 section victory over Penn Hills, and Killinger, Ahrin, defender Nina Kite, midfielder Cam Collins, forward Cam Rogers, midfielder Kemyll Walker and defenders Kaley Simqu and Emily Berrott were celebrated before the game.

Killinger, Rogers, Ahrin, Collins, Walker, Berrott and Simqu scored goals in the win.

“It was a great night to celebrate the seniors and all they’ve done the past four years,” Stewart said.

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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