Sewickley Academy, Quaker Valley boys soccer teams look forward to postseason

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, October 24, 2021 | 11:01 AM

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Sewickley Academy’s boys soccer team eked out a section championship by the narrowest of margins this season.

The Panthers and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart tied 1-1 in their Section 1-A showdown Oct. 13; the Panthers locked up first place with a 9-0-1 record.

OLSH ended up in second at 8-1-1 in section play, and 9-2-2 overall.

Sewickley Academy (11-1-1), which earned the No. 3 seed for the WPIAL playoffs last week and were scheduled to play No. 14 Aquinas Academy on Tuesday, won the first eight games on its 2021 schedule by a 57-7 overall margin, and wrapped things up by going 3-0-1 down the season’s home stretch.

The Panthers outscored the opposition 76-13 on the year as 10 teams were held to one goal or less, including three via shutouts.

Junior midfielders Michael DiSantis, with 23 goals, and Adin Zorn, with 34 assists, led SA offensively this season.

SA’s first-year coach, Alessandro Moreira, said his team is taking a conservative approach in the WPIAL playoffs, focusing on one game by game.

“We started our season with high expectations; now we are getting things accomplished,” Moreira said. “I am excited about the next chapter as we go on the road ahead.

“I believe in our boys. They have been working so hard and have come so far as a team. They are very excited for the playoffs. I can’t wait to see them back on the field.”

Josh Chico, a senior and four-year starter, anchors a defensive corps that rotates around seniors Alex Marquis and William Vanella, freshman Andrew Colletti, junior Garret Smith and sophomore Jayden Garcha. Marquis is out with an injury.

Sophomore Cooper Wentz is the starting goalkeeper.

Rounding out the lineup for the playoffs will be DiSantis, Zorn and junior Thomas Varghese at forward, with senior Sean Donohue and juniors Lucas Mendeonca and Hudson Colletti at midfield.

In a 4-3-3 formation, the more-specific SA lineup looks like this: Wentz (GK), Vanella (RB), Donohue (CB), Chico (CB), Smith (LB), Garcha (DM), Mendonca (RM), Hudson Colletti (RM), Zorn (RW), DiSantis (CF), Varghese (LW).

There normally are four seniors in the starting lineup.

“Our seniors have shown great leadership for our team,” said Moreira, a Brazilian native.

Quaker Valley

Quaker Valley’s Rown Kriebel and Keller Chamovitz were near unstoppable this season.

The senior forwards led the Quakers to a 12-0 record in Section 4-2A and to a 15-2 overall mark. They earned the No. 2 seed for the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs and were slated to host No. 15 Burrell on Monday.

“We feel very confident in our abilities, based on how we performed in the section and the quality of opponents we played out of section,” QV coach J.J. Veshio said. “Despite losing two games, one to highly ranked 4A Peters Township and the other to top ranked 3A West Allegheny, we know our skill level is very high and we anticipate making a deep run in the playoffs. As always, our goal is to win a WPIAL and PIAA championship.”

Kriebel registered 32 goals and 19 assists for the Quakers. Chamovitz peppered in a team-high 34 goals to go along with 14 assists.

Another offensive catalyst for the Quakers was senior midfielder Will Dunda with 12 goals and seven assists. Senior Tim Smith led the QV defensive corps in scoring with seven goals.

The team leader in assists was senior MF Ryan Edwards with 37 helpers, to go along with his 10 goals.

Senior Zach Buhr and junior Isaac Waller shared the majority of the goalkeeping duties this season, with Buhr registering a 0.58 goals-against average in nine starts and Waller a 0.14 GAA in seven starts.

QV blanked 10 of its first 11 opponents and ended up with 13 shutouts. The Quakers racked up a 123-8 overall scoring advantage.

Tags: Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy