Plum outlasts Norwin to capture boys soccer section title
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Thursday, October 10, 2024 | 10:10 PM
Plum’s Marco Tommasino defends on Norwin’s Ryan Schoemer on Thursday at Norwin High School.
Plum’s Fedgy Fertil fights for the ball Thursday against Norwin.
Plum’s Noah Smith fights for the ball with Norwin’s George Bunovich on Thursday.
Plum’s Kent Holmes (center) celebrates with Andy Strasser after Strasser’s second-half goal Thursday against Norwin. It proved to be the winner in a Section 1-4A clash.
Plum’s Noah Smith clears the ball from Norwin’s Ryan Schoemer on Thursday.
Plum’s Marco Tommasino fights for the ball with Norwin’s Ryan Schoemer on Thursday.
Plum’s Luke Hoburg celebrates his first-half goal against Norwin on Thursday.
Plum’s Andy Strasser fights for the ball with Norwin’s Dylan Moyer on Thursday.
Plum seemed to have a lot going against it in the Section 1-4A boys soccer finale.
Already dealing with some injuries, the Mustangs had to set up their bench on the opposite sideline of Norwin, so that meant they had to deal with fan noise.
Any would-be distractions were not a factor, however, as No. 2 Plum won its sixth consecutive section title with a 2-1 victory over Norwin on Thursday night at Norwin Knights Stadium.
“It is what it is,” Plum coach Raf Kolankowski said. “We can only control what we can control. We wanted our guys to ignore the noise and play. We knew this would be a tough game.”
Norwin scored first, but the Mustangs rang up the next two to post the win. A third meeting between the teams in the upcoming playoffs could be a dandy after they played a pair of one-goal games.
Plum bumped up to Class 4A this season and already seems to be a rival of Norwin.
Andy Strasser, after the ball bounced around off a corner kick, was the beneficiary for the go-ahead goal, pumping in the score in the 53rd minute as the Mustangs (14-0-3, 10-0) swept the Knights (10-5, 9-2) and finished section play with a perfect record.
Plum has won 25 consecutive section games.
Norwin, which was chasing its first section title since 2021, had a four-game winning streak halted.
“Getting the second goal is so big,” Knights coach Scott Schuchert said. “You can put a team away with it. I was really happy of how we were playing going into halftime. The quality of play tonight was playoff form.”
The teams’ benches were on separate sides of the field because of some chippiness in their first meeting earlier in the season, a 3-2 win by Plum.
Staying focused on fundamental soccer was the key.
“We lost four starters when we played them last time, and we’re just getting some of those guys back,” Kolankowski said. “As the game went on, we settled down and played our style of game.
“It was a gutsy performane by our guys. It’s always nice when you can beat the defending WPIAL champs. We’ll take this victory.”
Norwin opened the scoring in the 25th minute when Tanner Schneck sneaked a lightly struck shot wide and into the net past Brady McLaughlin.
Plum made a push late in the first half and registered the equalizer in the 39th minute. After two touches, the first by Strasser, Luke Hoburg buried his attempt by Ryan Dooen to make it 1-1.
“I thought our midfield played very well,” Schuchert said. “We didn’t let down tonight. We only gave up three shots on goal.”
The WPIAL playoff pairings will be announced Wednesday.
Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.
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