Knoch boys soccer hopes to create another memory in postseason

By: Jerin Steele
Thursday, October 12, 2023 | 3:54 PM

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At Knoch boys soccer’s senior night Tuesday, a popular choice for most memorable moment was the most recent one.

It was a 3-2 double-overtime win over Shady Side Academy just a few days earlier.

“I think one of our seniors actually said it, but they all were thinking it,” Knoch coach Malcolm Cook said.

There were many highlights that made the win special, but most importantly it came against a top team. The young Knights squad with only four seniors will take it with them into the postseason.

“That win was huge for us because it was the first time we’d come back to win one of the big games,” Cook said. “We have played good teams both in and out of section, and we really hadn’t been getting results in those big games. We’re a young team, so it took a little bit to work out what we need to do. Shady Side was the first time it clicked.

“Some of those games before we’d give one goal up, and, the next thing you know, we’re two down and we’re trying to come back. We had lost to some top teams by more than one goal, but that was not a fair reflection on some of those games. It was a lot closer than the score.”

The Knights trailed the Bulldogs, 2-0, at halftime but scratched their way back into it. Will Schwalm and Matthew Welsh scored to tie it. Then a Shady Side player received a red card, but Knoch couldn’t find a winner in regulation. In overtime, Knoch got a red card, making it even again at 10 players a side, and Mason Nebel score the winner in double overtime.

“I told them at halftime that we were playing well, we just needed to get that first goal,” Cook said. “Then we got a penalty for a handball on the goal line. Then, after Shady Side had a player sent off and went down to 10, we played really poorly. After we had a player sent off, we started playing well and ended up winning it. It was a weird game.

“It’s funny with a young team: They don’t always react to situations the way you’d expect. When we lost a player everyone was so mad that they got back into it. When we’re on the same page, fired up and fighting for each other, we’re difficult to play against.”

A trait that has made Knoch successful is balanced scoring.

Nebel and Sam Caldwell lead the way with 13 goals each, but the Knights have found goals from many different players.

Schwalm, Welsh, Kannon Trofimuk, Will Parisi, Evan Haas, Austin Friedline, Cam Elliot, Jacob Murdie, Jordan Auther, Jacob Fox, Anthony Lajevic, Aedan Smith, Duncan Schilpp, Barrett Duffy and Liam Avon have scored at least once this year. Friedline has 10 goals, and Lajevic has six.

“Last year we had one player that scored the majority of our goals,” Cook said. “Our top goal scorer had 30 last year, and I said to the boys I’d much rather four of you get 10 and spread it out and that’s basically what’s happened.”

The Knights can finish as high as second in Section 2-2A but need Shady Side to drop a game against either Greensburg Salem or Leechburg. Knoch beat Derry on Thursday to reach 11-7 overall and 11-3 in Section 2 play.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time, and at the end-of-season banquet you always try to have something memorable about the year and at the moment the Shady Side win is up there,” Cook said, “but hopefully playoff-wise we can give them another memory.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

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