High school roundup for Nov. 8, 2022: WPIAL champion Moon pulls off comeback win

By: Tribune-Review
Tuesday, November 8, 2022 | 11:20 PM

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Aedan Costa’s second goal of the game provided the winning margin as WPIAL champion Moon rallied from a two-goal deficit to earn a 3-2 win over Palmyra in a PIAA Class 3A first-round boys soccer playoff game Tuesday.

Palmyra (18-4-1) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after the first half, but Moon (21-0-1) stormed back to tie the score. Costa made it 2-1 and Davi Jansson netted the tying goal with 15 minutes left. Costa scored his second goal 30 seconds later to give Moon the win. The Tigers will play District 10 champ Cathedral Prep in the quarterfinals Saturday.

Ambridge 7, Bradford 0 – Will Gruca and Preston Korol had two goals apiece and Anthony Powell, Zach Miller and Ethan Grant also scored to lead Ambridge (15-7-1) past Bradford (11-10) in a Class 3A first-round win. The Bridgers will meet Hershey in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Bedford 5, Beaver 0 – District 5 champion Bedford shut out WPIAL runner-up Beaver (14-8) in a Class 2A first-round match.

Cathedral Prep 2, Plum 0 – Noah Handzel scored a pair of goals to lead District 10 champion Cathedral Prep (17-1-1) past Plum (19-3-1) in a Class 3A first-round match. Cathedral Prep will take on WPIAL champion Moon in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Charleroi 3, Karns City 0 – Jake Chambers, Landon Barcus and Ty Patterson scored to lead Charleroi (18-3) to a Class A win over Karns City (17-4). The Cougars will face McConnellsburg in the quarterfinals Saturday.

Eden Christian 2, Seneca 0 – Eden Christian (17-3-1), the third-place team from the WPIAL, shut down District 10 champion Seneca (17-3) in a Class A first-round matchup. Eden Christian will meet WPIAL champion Winchester Thurston in the quarterfinals Saturday.

Mercyhurst Prep 4, Quaker Valley 3 (SO) – District 10 champ Mercyhurst Prep (17-3-1) converted all five of its attempts in the PK shootout to get past Quaker Valley (18-5) in a Class 2A first-round match.

Seneca Valley 7, State College 3 – Gavin Loya scored four goals and Cole Kamarec added goal as Seneca Valley (19-1-1) scored four times in the second half to defeat State College (15-3-1) in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs. Will Bruno and Connor Oros also scored for Seneca Valley, which will play Spring-Ford in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Warwick 2, Pine-Richland 1 (SO) – Warwick (12-7-2) won 4-3 in the penalty kick shootout, knocking off WPIAL champion Pine-Richland (15-5-1) in the Class 4A first round.

Winchester Thurston 9, United 0 – Tomer Tuti and Luka Koll had two goals apiece and Mack Jamison scored his first varsity goal as WPIAL champ Winchester Thurston (17-2-1) beat United (15-4-1) in a Class A first-round match. The Bears will face WPIAL third-place team Eden Christian in the quarterfinals Saturday.

Girls soccer

Fort LeBoeuf 3, North Catholic 2 (OT) – North Catholic (16-3) goal scorers Lauren MacDonald and Chloe Karsman each notched game-tying markers in a back and forth opening-round match in the Class 2A playoffs. Emily Samluk scored the overtime winner for Fort LeBoeuf (15-1-2).

Freedom 10, Rockwood 0 – Shaye Bailey scored seven goals to lead WPIAL champ Freedom (18-4) to a Class A opening-round shutout of Rockwood. Julz Mohrbacher, Riley Tokar and Olivia Henderson also scored for the Bulldogs. Freedom will play District 9 champ Karns City in Saturday’s quarterfinal round.

General McLane 5, Avonworth 1 – Brooklyn Respecki and Sydney Rotko scored two goals apiece to lead General McLane (14-5-1) past WPIAL champion Avonworth (19-4) in a Class 2A first-round match.

Greensburg Central Catholic 3, Windber 2 (OT) – Lexi Graham scored the game-winning goal in overtime to lead Greensburg Central Catholic (14-4) past District 5 champion Windber in a Class A first-round match. Sara Felder and Jillian Botti also scored and Riley Kerr had a pair of assists for the Centurions, who will meet section rival Springdale in the quarterfinals Saturday.

Mars 5, Bradford 0 – Jenna Caringola led the Fightin’ Planets with two goals as Mars (18-1) shut out Bradford (14-5) in the opening round of the Class 3A playoffs. Ava Lewis, Ava Balazentis and Eden Gerlach also scored for Mars. The WPIAL runner-up Planets will play District 3 champion Lower Dauphin in the quarterfinals Saturday.

Moon 2, Latrobe 0 – Sydney Felton and Kayla Leseck scored goals to lead Moon (21-0) past Latrobe (12-5-2) in a Class 3A first-round win. The Tigers will face Plum in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

North Allegheny 3, Warwick 0 – Lucia Wells netted two goals and Sophia Palermo also scored to lead North Allegheny (21-1) to a Class 4A first-round win over Warwick (15-5). The Tigers will meet Central Dauphin in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Peters Township 2, McDowell 0 – Brooke Opferman and Bella Spergel scored to power Peters Township (15-2-3) to a Class 4A first-round win over McDowell (18-2-1). Peters advances to face Owen J. Roberts in the quarterfinals Saturday.

Plum 8, Warren 0 – Kaitlyn Killinger scored four goals to lead Plum (18-2) past District 10 champion Warren (9-10) in a Class 3A first-round match. Annabel Arhin had two goals and Camryn Rogers and Lexi Rodda also scored for the Mustangs, who jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes. Plum will meet Moon in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Springdale 2, Mercyhurst Prep 0 – Grace Gent scored a pair of goals and Springdale (17-4) knocked off District 10 champion Mercyhurst Prep (14-6-1) in a Class A first-round match, setting up a showdown with section rival Greensburg Central Catholic in the quarterfinals Saturday.

Girls volleyball

Class 4A – WPIAL champion Pine-Richland and runner-up North Allegheny swept their way past the first round of the state playoffs. The Rams (17-2) beat McDowell (14-5), 25-17, 25-7, 25-11. The Tigers (19-1) blanked State College (9-5), 25-21, 25-20, 25–19. Pine-Richland will meet Unionville from District 1 and North Allegheny will meet District 3 champ Landisville Hempfield in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Class 3A – Thomas Jefferson (18-2), the third-place team from the WPIAL, pulled out an epic first-round match with District 9 champ DuBois (16-2), winning 25-21, 21-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-10. In Saturday’s quarterfinals, the Jaguars will meet District 10 champ Conneaut, which knocked off WPIAL runner-up South Fayette, 25-19, 14-25, 25-23, 27-25. WPIAL champ North Catholic (17-2) swept Latrobe (18-2) and will meet District 6 champ Hollidaysburg in the quarterfinals.

Class 2A – Quaker Valley (18-4), the third seed from the WPIAL, rallied from two sets down to knock off District 9 champ Kane (16-3), 24-26, 21-25, 25-19, 25-20, 15-11. In Saturday’s quarterfinals, the Quakers will take on WPIAL champ Freeport (20-2) a 25-10, 25-19, 25-12 win over Corry (13-4).

WPIAL runner-up Shenango (17-2) blanked North East (17-2), 25-20, 25-20, 25-23, and will face District 6 champ Phillipsburg-Osceola (18-1), which defeated Avonworth (15-5), the fourth seed from the WPIAL, 25-11, 23-25, 25-20, 25-12.

Class A – The three WPIAL representatives in the field were knocked out in the first round. WPIAL champ Frazier (22-1) lost 25-20, 25-20, 25-16 to Homer Center. Runner-up Serra Catholic (18-3) lost to District 9 champ Oswayo Valley (23-0), 26-24, 25-12, 22-25, 15-25, 15-13. Third-place Bishop Canevin (17-8) lost 25-14, 25-12, 25-18 to District 5 champ Conemaugh Township (22-1).

Field hockey

Twin Valley 2, Penn-Trafford 1 – Hannah Schmittinger scored the winning goal in the middle of the fourth quarter to help Twin Valley (14-9) prevent seven-time WPIAL champ Penn-Trafford (16-5) from picking up its first state tournament victory in a PIAA CLass 2A first-round match. Laura Sokso gave Twin Valley a 1-0 lead in the third quarter. Ava Hershberger answered for Penn-Trafford.

The Class 3A and A WPIAL champs also dropped first-round matches. Pine-Richland (19-1-1) fell 2-1 to Manheim Township (18-5) and Ellis School (11-3-1) lost 8-0 to Newport (17-5).

Hockey

Cathedral Prep 4, Seneca Valley 3 – Bryaden Sprickman scored the game-winning goal in overtime to lead Cathedral Prep (4-3) to a Class 3A win over Seneca Valley (5-1-0-1). Jonathan Leishman, Jacob Komaniak and Carter Hoehn also scored for the Raiders.

Elizabeth Forward 9, Trinity 3 – Rhys Medved had a hat trick and Doug Hoffman scored twice to power Elizabeth Forward (2-4) to a Varsity D2 win. George Coyle had two goals for Trinity (0-7).

Kiski 4, Plum 0 – Ethan George scored twice while Ethan Bombalski and Ethan Brink each added a goal as Kiski (4-2) blanked Plum (1-4) in Class A. Evin Brice earned the shutout for the Cavaliers.

North Catholic 2, West Allegheny 0 – Sam Digaetano and Colin Gnarra scored and Dylan Bourque made 27 saves to record the shutout as North Catholic (5-1-1) defeated West Allegheny (3-2-1) in Class A.

Penn-Trafford 5, Meadville 0 – Nate Loughner, Ben Chen, Colin Paterson, Jack Blank and Bryce Kropczynski scored to lead Penn-Trafford (4-1) to a Class 2A win over Meadville (0-6-0-1). Jackson Kerrigan got the shutout for the Warriors.

Peters Township 4, North Allegheny 1 – Troy Jones, Ryder Mertens, Ben Kovac and Will Tomko were the goal scorers as Peters Township (4-1) defeated North Allegheny (5-2) in a Class 3A matchup. Luke Walkauskas scored the only goal for North Allegheny.