Shady Side wins title, 2-1
Indians shut down Quaker Valley in shootout, 3-0
Bruce David thought he let the WPIAL Class 2A title slip through his hands.
Literally.
Given a second chance, the goalkeeper held onto it.
Three times.
After sitting the second half as part of the normal Shady Side Academy rotation, David came on for the shootout and made saves on all three shots he faced to help the Indians (12-6-1) seal a 2-1 (3-0 shootout) victory against Quaker Valley (18-4-0), their second consecutive championship at Highmark Stadium.
“When I made that mistake, our coach told us to be selfless, and that bringing yourself down doesn’t really help the team, so I went back onto the field and thought about my teammates,” David said. “Usually the pressure doesn’t help, but this time I think it did.”
David was beaten on the game’s first shot. Quaker Valley forward Dom Reiter’s blast sailed through his hands and into the net 57 seconds into the match.
The score stayed 1-0 until Indians senior midfielder Kenny Shergill converted an opportunity stemming from a free kick with 37 seconds remaining in regulation.
“I thought this was a Kenny Shergill kind of day,” Shady Side coach Ed Ellsworth said. “I didn’t know when he was going to score the goal, but I would have liked to have had him score like 20 minutes earlier.”
Both teams had opportunities in the two 15-minute overtimes. There also was a lengthy injury delay when Quaker Valley’s Thomas Guild and Shady Side Academy defender George Grune knocked heads while going for a loose ball in the air.
Guild walked off under his own power, but Grune was wobbly in his attempt to make his way to the bench. He was forced to lay back down on the turf and eventually was wheeled off on a stretcher to an ambulance.
There was no word on his condition immediately after the match.
“He was conscious when he was coming off the field, but he was obviously injured,” Ellsworth said. “George is an unbelievable person and it’s tough when you see an unbelievable person, who was also playing an unbelievable game, get taken off because of injury.”
In the end, though, extra time wasn’t enough. It came down to the penalty kicks.
After Shady Side’s Sam Farmer made the first, David stoned Toma David of the Quakers. Max Farner then converted for the Indians, grabbing a 2-0 lead, and David stopped Will Andrews next, on a dive to his left.
When Gunnar Pipitone drove his shot through for a 3-0 edge, Quaker Valley had to convert. David, though, dived once again to his left and stoned Franky Fernandez for the win.
“That doesn’t happen, and he needs to go buy a lottery ticket,” Quaker Valley coach Andrew Marshall said. “I’m joking, but a credit to him. With all due respect, he was athletic, confident and it’s a credit to him.”