A-K Valley girls soccer notebook: Fox Chapel wins rugged section

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, October 14, 2020 | 5:20 PM

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A 2-1 overtime victory over Norwin early in Section 2-AAAA play might turn out to be the difference maker in Fox Chapel’s section championship.

The Foxes shut out Allderdice, 5-0, on Tuesday behind two goals from Emma Wecht, single tallies from Lucy Ream and Addie Piper and an own goal to finish 9-1 (27 points) in the section.

Norwin, who visits Allderdice on Friday, is 5-1-1 in the section, and the most points the Knights can finish with is 25, provided they win their last three, including a victory over rival Penn-Trafford on Tuesday.

The Warriors are in third place at 4-2-2. Fox Chapel scored wins of 4-3 and 1-0 against P-T.

“The girls have worked really hard to be able to win this section title,” Foxes coach Peter Torres said. “Norwin and Penn-Trafford are two amazing competitors in the section, and we learned a lot about ourselves during those games. Hopefully, what we take from those games will allow us to have some success in the playoffs. We are lucky to have experienced this new section, and we hope to represent it well in the playoffs.”

Fox Chapel caps its regular season Monday with a game at North Hills.

Mustangs seeking more

Plum wrapped up Section 3-AAA championship, but the undefeated Mustangs (10-0, 9-0), No. 2 in the Trib HSSN WPIAL Class AAA rankings, want to finish section play in style Thursday.

The Mustangs close out the section slate at home against Oakland Catholic. Plum won the first meeting, 6-2, on Sept. 26.

Thomas Jefferson (10-2, 8-2) wrapped up second place in the section Tuesday with a 3-2 win over Oakland Catholic (7-3, 6-3). The Jaguars gave Plum its stiffest test of the season Sept. 29 before losing at home by a 1-0 score.

Plum has outscored its opponents 71-5.

Senior Gina Proviano leads the team with 13 goals, and senior Jamie Seneca and sophomore Kaitlyn Killinger have 12 apiece. Freshman Ava Weleski (six), junior Marissa Liberto (five) and sophomore Annabel Arhin (five) also are near the top of the Mustangs’ goal-scoring list.

Vikings on the outside

When the WPIAL girls soccer playoffs begin next week, Apollo-Ridge will not be in the mix.

A communication error from the athletic office to the PIAA resulted in the PIAA placing the Vikings in Class AA when the classifications were finalized earlier this year. Apollo-Ridge played up in Class AA the past two seasons.

Two appeals to the PIAA, including one over the summer, were not successful. The WPIAL permitted Apollo-Ridge play a Class A section schedule, but the team remained designated Class AA by the PIAA for playoff purposes and had to win its section in order to make the WPIAL Class AA playoffs.

“We did everything we could to get the PIAA to change its stance,” Apollo-Ridge athletic director Raymond Bartha said.

Apollo-Ridge, despite a 6-2 loss to Greensburg Central Catholic on Tuesday, was in third place in Section 1-A at 4-4. A 3-1 victory over second-place Springdale last Saturday helped solidify its position in the standings.

GCC (8-0 section) has clinched the section title.

Bartha said plans are in the works to contact the PIAA again next month to see if the team’s classification status could be changed for next season.

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.