Author: Michael Love
Monday, October 21, 2024 | 9:35 p.m.
The Shaler Area girls soccer team was hoping for an extended stay in the WPIAL playoff tournament for the first time in nearly 40 years.
But the veteran No. 4 Plum, whose postseason program has been to the playoffs for 13 straight years, abruptly ended the No. 13 Lady Titans’ season.
The Mustangs, who won their sixth consecutive section championship with only one loss in 16 regular season games, took the lead just 4 1/2 minutes into Monday’s WPIAL Class 3A first round game and then took the lead by two more in the second half. He finished the game with another goal. They won 3-0 at Mustang Stadium.
“We played really well as a team tonight,” said junior midfielder Gianna Rebetta, who hit several of Plum’s 15 total shots.
“Shaler is a really good team and we knew it was going to be a tough game. Our teamwork overcoming adversity in the game really helped us.”
Plum (16-1) once again advances to the WPIAL quarterfinals and will play No. 5 Moon on Thursday at a time to be determined. The Tigers advanced with a 4-0 home win over No. 12 Hampton on Monday.
“In the playoffs, it’s about (survival and advancement),” Plum coach Jamie Stewart said. “Shayler didn’t make it easy on us tonight. They played really well and with a lot of heart. They brought it to us with their play, and we made them We knew they would do it. We saw their talent and skill on film.
“I’m very happy to be playing here again. We have some really good teams in 3A. There are no easy games. We’ll get a good rest and think about what we need to do to prepare for Thursday’s game.” We are really excited to move on.”
Scherer Area finished the season with a total of 8 wins, 9 losses, and 1 draw. The Titans, ranked 4th in Round 1, defeated Gateway in the final game of the winner-take-all section to qualify for the tournament in 4th place.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these girls. They worked so hard,” Shaler Area coach Bill Ament said.
“This is our third year here, and every year we’ve achieved the goals we set for ourselves. This year, the girls wanted to make sure we made the playoffs. I hope they realize how young we are with our two senior starters and I hope they are excited for next year.”
Plum controlled a loose ball in the Scherer Area goal box when sophomore Emily Grubich evaded several Titans defenders, including keeper Leanna Richardson, and fired a short-range shot behind the players. I immediately participated. He found the back of the net in the 5th minute.
Lebetta had a dangerous chance in the 11th minute, but Richardson widened his range to the left and punched away the danger. She then corralled the ball and blocked a rebound from senior Mia Nardo, who was closing in on the goal.
Shaler Area played solid defense through much of the first half, holding Plum to just three shots in the first 25 minutes.
The Titans attacked in the 31st minute and got as close as one point to the Plum goal, but the Mustangs’ defense countered and got the ball out of danger.
Scherer Area senior Leah Wallander intercepted a pass from the Plum defense in the 35th minute, giving her team a chance.
Mustangs goalie McKenna Anderson came out to challenge Wallander in the penalty area, and Wallander nearly took a shot, but Anderson was able to convert it into a goal kick.
“I have a lot of admiration for Scherer,” Stewart said. “We gave them an early lead, but we never gave up. I thought they outplayed us in the last 10 to 15 minutes of the first half. We talked about a few things at half-time and we settled down. .”
Plumb regrouped and created several strong chances in the first 24 minutes of the second half — three by Levetta and one each by freshman Ali Joyce and senior Selina Carnahan — before going on to score. They broke through with a goal that gave the host team some leeway.
Richardson was right there to make a great save on the Mustang attempt. However, in the 64th minute, Lebetta put a cross into the box and Naldo fired a header past Richardson to extend Plum’s lead to 2-0.
“We did a lot of things we were good at in the second half,” Stewart said. “It took us a while to score the second goal, but it felt good when we got it.”
The Mustangs made it 3-0 in the 67th minute when junior Allison Porter scored off an assist from Joyce.
Plum finished with a 15-3 advantage in shots. The Mustangs had 12 shots on goal. Richardson made seven saves in the Titans’ loss.
“We were nervous in this game because it was the first time for any of our players to experience something like this,” Ament said.
“If Plum won, that was expected. If we won, we would be able to write our own story. We wanted to see what kind of stories we could write, so we We saw most of them right away. We had some good chances, especially late in the first half. But they’re young and most of them are still learning how to put the ball in the back of the net.”
Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and Pittsburgh’s eastern suburbs. The Clearfield native and Westminster (Pa.) graduate joined the Tribe in 2002 after spending five years with Clearfield Progress. Please contact us at mlove@triblive.com.
Tags: plum, shallah
