OH BROTHER! A WPIAL FIRST
For the first time in the history of WPIAL Class 1A girls soccer, a private school will not claim the title.
After a run over the past eight years of either Shady Side Academy or Greensburg Central Catholic winning it all, it will be public schools Freedom and Bentworth challenging for the title at 11 a.m. Saturday at Highmark Stadium in Station Square.
Make no mistake, this is no fluke. Both teams earned their spot and have either won a title or have been knocking on the door for years.
Freedom (19-1) dropped down to 1A after winning the 2A title in 2016 and then finishing as the 2A runner-up last year.
Bentworth (17-2) is a perennial playoff team that made it over the hump this year.
“It feels really special,” said Bentworth coach Tyler Hamstra. “We had a lot of teams that were on the bubble. I think this team was able to just grind it out. They didn’t think that was beneath them. The girls were willing to do whatever role to get the job done.”
Both teams bring star power and plenty of goal scorers. The Bulldogs feature the Sharpless sisters. Freshman Jayden Sharpless led the WPIAL in scoring with 50 regular-season goals. Older sister Myla suffered a torn ACL last season and returned just in time for the playoff run. Bentworth faced Myla Sharpless in the playoffs during her freshman season and Hamstra remembers her as one of the best players he has ever coached against.
“I thought, as a freshman, she was the best player on the field,” he said. “Without that injury, she probably would have been one of the better players ever to come out of Pittsburgh from a small school.”
The Bearcats have some firepower of their own. Bentworth had the No. 2 scorer in the district in Jocelyn Timlin, who netted 41 goals in the regular season. Teammate Paige Marshalek was seventh in scoring with 31 goals.
Both teams like to race to the net and rack up goals. Jayden Sharpless has said that scoring goals to her is an urgent matter. Hamstra said that he is not concerned with winning the time-of-possession battle and believes the game will be decided by the team that capitalizes on those spurts to the goal balanced with timely defense.
“It’s going to come back to the big-time players on each team and who can come back and be the most disciplined on defense,” said Hamstra.
Class 4A
Peters Township takes on Seneca Valley at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Highmark Stadium. The Indians may have to do so without their best scorer.
Regan Lavigna, who netted 18 goals in the regular season, sat out the semifinal match against Norwin with an apparent foot injury. Peters still has Hannah Stuck, who was right behind LaVigna with 15 scores. Seneca Valley and 17-goal scorer Breana Valentovish are looking for another title. The Raiders won it last in 2014.
Class 3A
The two longest winning streaks in the WPIAL will be put to the test when Mars takes on Oakland Catholic at 6 p.m. Friday at Highmark Stadium.
After losing its first match of the season, the Eagles have won 17 in a row. Not to be outdone, Mars is 18-0.
Racking up the wins isn’t the only thing these teams have in common. Both are balanced throughout the lineup and don’t rely on just one or two players to provide all the scoring. Mars is led by Taylor Hamlett’s 22 goals. Ellie Coffield, Caroline Wroblewski and Gracie Dunaway have 15 apiece.
Sophomore Hannah Henn leads the Eagles with 22 scores.
Class 2A
Just like the past couple seasons, coach Bill Pfiefer is back at Highmark Stadium. This time around, he’s leading a different team when Hopewell plays South Park at 8 p.m. Friday at Highmark Stadium.
Pfiefer led Moon to back-toback district titles before stepping down to take over at Hopewell. The Vikings went 2-13 in 2017 and have turned it around this year with a record of 15-1-1.
South Park, however, is no surprise. The Eagles (18-2) were expected to contend for the title thanks to Haleigh Finale, the third-leading scorer in the WPIAL with 37 regular-season goals.