A-K Valley notebook: Springdale boys soccer has zero tolerance policy

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, September 15, 2018 | 10:54 PM

Springdale knew it might need to play a more defensive style of soccer this season after the graduation of many of the top scorers from last season’s WPIAL Class A boys soccer runner-up team.

But the Dynamos are taking defense to another level.

No. 5 Springdale began the season with five consecutive shutouts — more than 400 minutes worth of action — earning four wins and a scoreless draw in the process.

The Dynamos notched 1-0 victories over Bishop Canevin and Carlynton, a 3-0 win over Vincentian and a scoreless tie with Avonworth before breaking out offensively in an 8-0 rout of Aquinas Academy on Thursday.

The shutout streak finally ended Saturday, but Springdale (5-0-1, 4-0-1 Section 1-A) still earned a 2-1 victory over Eden Christian.

Senior Mike Zolnierczyk was in net for all five shutouts. Junior Mike Mitchell leads the team in scoring with six goals and two assists.

“Coming off last year, we set the standard pretty high,” Zolnierczyk said. “The defenders have been playing great. Mike Mitchell in the midfield scoring some goals for us and hustling back and playing defense, and Matt Taliani keeps almost everything out of the box. The defenders in front of me are playing really well.”

Zolnierczyk recently picked up his second Division I scholarship offer, from Robert Morris, adding it to the one he has from Harvard.

“A lot of work went into this, a lot of time, and it feels good that it’s finally paying off here,” he said.

Delayed debut

At long last, the Springdale girls soccer team made its season debut Friday against Serra Catholic, a 2-0 loss.

The Dynamos saw their first three scheduled games, against Greensburg Central Catholic, Shady Side Academy and Serra Catholic, postponed for weather-related reasons. A fourth, against St. Joseph, was canceled because the Spartans didn’t field a team this season. Springdale was the final Alle-Kiski Valley team to take the field.

Friday’s game against Serra Catholic was a makeup of the postponed game. The Dynamos will travel to GCC on Sept. 22 in a makeup of a Sept. 5 postponed game and will host Shady Side Academy Oct. 11 in a makeup of Sept. 8’s postponed game.

Tight at the top

The back nine of the Section 1-AA boys golf race appears to be coming down to the wire for the second consecutive fall.

Burrell, Freeport and Riverview are fighting for the top two spots in the section and the WPIAL playoff berths that come as a result. By virtue of sweeping Freeport and splitting with Riverview, the Bucs currently hold the No. 1 position, with the Yellowjackets and Raiders a game behind.

Freeport and St. Joseph claimed the two playoff spots in a similarly close race last season.

Championship for Kirilloff

Former Plum baseball star Alex Kirilloff’s first full season of professional baseball ended with a championship.

Kirilloff and his teammates with the Fort Myers Miracle, the Minnesota Twins’ high Class A affiliate, won the Florida State League title last week, taking down the Daytona Tortugas, 3-1, in a best-of-five series.

In six postseason games against the Palm Beach Cardinals and Daytona, Kirilloff hit .423 (11-for-26) with two doubles, a homer and an RBI.

The Minnesota Twins’ 2016 first-round pick, Kirilloff began the season in low Class A with the Cedar Rapids Kernels after missing last season because of an elbow injury. The missed time didn’t affect Kirilloff, who hit a combined .348 with 44 doubles, seven triples, 20 homers and 101 RBIs in 130 games. He was a Midwest League All-Star and competed in the league’s home run derby, was named to MLB Pipeline’s Prospect Team of the Year and was one of the runners-up for ESPN insider Keith Law’s Prospect of the Year award.

Rice is nice

Skyy Moore has his choice of Rice, but he’s not picking between white or fried.

Rice offered Moore, a New Kensington native and standout QB/DB at Shady Side Academy, a scholarship on Wednesday, bringing his total to 15. The Owls were his second Football Bowl Subdivision offer, joining Buffalo; he also has offers from from Albany, Brown, Columbia, Delaware, Duquesne, Fordham, Holy Cross, Howard, Lehigh, Maine, Richmond, Robert Morris and Yale at the Football Championship Subdivision level.

The 5-foot-10 Moore, 180-pound was named the Allegheny Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year and Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2017.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Plum, Shady Side Academy, Springdale