Golden goals extended the soccer seasons for Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair as each squad scored dramatic wins in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs.
Xavier Jackson proved the hero for the Bethel Park boys when he scored the decisive goal in a 3-2 victory over Montour. The go-ahead goal came on the heels of his tying tally with 17:08 to play. Jackson also assisted on BP’s initial goal by Youssef Benrabia less than a minute into the second half.
“Xavier had a great game,” said BP head coach Doug Fink. “He has been an inspiration for all of the players.
“His goal-scoring ability is his asset. Whether we are up or down, he has the ability to score big goals in big moments. (Against Montour), he came up big for us. We are proud of him.”
Jackson, who led the Black Hawks in scoring during the regular season with 17 goals, was even more pleased with his teammates. They provided the push for him to garner Player of the Game honors.
Of the decisive goal he said, “It was great buildup by our team all around. A beautiful ball by my teammate. I just had to do my job from there.”
Of the equalizer, Jackson added, “I missed an opportunity earlier but I knew I had to stay confident and believe in myself. Go from there. It was an awesome feeling to score and celebrate with my teammates and the crowd. It was a great team effort all around and everything worked in our favor in the end.”
Initially, things appeared to go against the Black Hawks. They missed a wide-open net in the first half and with eight minutes to play in the half, Montour went ahead, 1-0, on an own goal.
“It was a very strange and bizarre first half,” Fink said. “I told them though that sometimes in the playoffs expect the unexpected. I have faith in these guys. I believe in them.
“It was a great game. Montour deserves a lot of credit. They gave us all that we could handle and it could have gone either way. We stuck to the game plan and relied on a whole team effort. That’s the beauty about soccer in my mind. Everybody gave their all.”
The Lady Hawks (10-6-3) gave their all against Thomas Jefferson and scored a 3-2 win in double overtime in their first-round playoff contest.
Grace Ferency proved the heroine for the Lady Hawks. She tallied the game-winner. It was her second goal in the contest. Emma Impellicceiri provided the other goal.
While the BP boys advanced to face Latrobe in the quarterfinals, the Lady Hawks met South Fayette in their second-round contest Oct. 24. (Results unavailable at press time.)
The Lady Lions, who won the Class 3A title in 2023 and are the No. 2 seed in this year’s tournament, won their first-round match at home against Kiski. In the 4-0 shutout, Quinn Miller, Gabby Beinecke, Abbey Spalla and Mia Patel scored the goals. Mia Deramo registered three assists.
Meanwhile, Mt. Lebanon upended Norwin, 1-0, in a shootout. Lucy Pryor had the game-winning penalty kick on the fifth and final attempt. Makenna Tappe made a key save and also provided a PK in the shootout.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Blue Devils and put them in the quarterfinals against North Allegheny.
The Lebo boys, however, were not so lucky. They dropped a 6-0 decision at Seneca Valley and ended their season at 11-7 overall.
Anelise Castrodale provided the game-winning goal in Upper St. Clair’s 3-1 victory against Butler.
Chloe Bird scored off a penalty kick, giving the Lady Panthers a 1-0 advantage with 23:20 to play in the first half. After the Golden Tornado tied the match, Castrodale planted a 25-yard shot into the net with seven minutes left in the half, to lift USC back into the lead.
Meredith Huzjak provided an insurance tally in the second half.
With the win, USC advanced to face No. 2 Seneca Valley in the quarterfinal match Oct. 24.
The USC boys also won their first-round match by a 3-1 score against Pine-Richland.
Shawn Khurana scored twice to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead at halftime. Jack Belack and Bryce Potter served up the assists.
Though the Rams narrowed the gap with a goal in the 67th minute, Andrew Fulton’s tally in the 70th minute again provided a two-goal cushion for the Panthers.
USC improved to 10-5-2 overall and advanced to play Fox Chapel in a quarterfinal match on Oct. 26.
Results of all quarterfinal matches were unavailable to The Almanac at press time.
WPIAL semifinal contests are set for Oct. 28-30. The championship games are scheduled for Oct. 31-Nov. 2 at Highmark Stadium.
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