Moon finding drop to Class 3A to its liking
Moon girls soccer coach Bill Pfeifer was thrilled when he learned the Tigers were moving down to Class 3A, but not for the obvious reason.
“We are much closer to our opponents,” said Pfeifer of the Tigers move to Class 3A Section 4. “The travel time is so much better. Last year, we had to drive an hour, sometimes as much as an hour and a half to our away matches. This year, all of our opponents are 15-20 minutes away.”
That makes for a much shorter bus ride.
“Some of our matches started as late as 8 [p.m.],” Pfeifer continued. “We were getting on the bus as early as 4 and getting home as late as 11. This year, we are leaving an hour or so later and getting back no later than 9:30 [p.m.]. That makes a big difference for the girls. It gives them more time after school to do homework or rest up before the game. We actually had kids staying in the locker room after school, instead of going home, before some of our matches. They are also getting to bed earlier. It’s a lot less stress on them.”
Moon overcame the longer travel times last year by winning WPIAL and PIAA Class 4A titles. The Tigers are hoping to win two more titles this year in Class 3A, but is finding that the competition is just as tough.
“We may be in a lower classification, but our schedule is still tough,” Pfeifer said. “We have eight teams on our schedule who were in the WPIAL playoffs last year.”
Moon has already defeated seven of those opponents and entered Wednesday’s match at Chartiers Valley with a 9-0 record, including a 6-0 record in Section 4.
Despite its impressive start, Moon is still No. 2 in the WPIAL Class 3A rankings. That’s because threetime WPIAL and PIAA defending champion Mars is No. 1. Plum, the WPIAL Class 3A runner-up the past three years, is No. 3 in the rankings, which sets up an interesting scenario for the WPIAL soccer committee.
“The committee will have a tough task setting up the seedings if all three teams finish the regular season undefeated,” Pfeifer said. “If that happens, strength of schedule will play a big part in how they seed the bracket. Our non-section schedule speaks for itself.”
Moon has already defeated Butler, Thomas Jefferson and Fox Chapel in non- section games. The Tigers also have a non-section game with Mount
Pleasant in its regular-season finale.
Pfeifer has all but three players back from last year’s squad, including senior midfielders Hailey Longwell and Kayla Leseck, a pair of allWPIAL selections who have committed to Duquesne University. Longwell leads the team with 12 goals.
“We haven’t scored much in some of our games, because teams sit back on us to keep us from scoring,” Pfeifer said. “It’s like a basketball game in which the opponent slows the game down to keep the score lower. Teams will play the style that suits them best. We just have to adjust to that style and not get frustrated.”
Moon has scored three or fewer goals in five of its nine games, but that doesn’t matter when your defense allows only one goal. Butler is the only team that has scored on the Tigers, sort of.
“It was an own goal,” said Pfeifer of the only goal allowed. “It bounced off one of our defenders into the net.”
With goalkeeper Serayah Leech in net, and defenders Gabby Larson, Marina Mollica, Ayva Wiech and Lily Snyder, the Tigers have posted shutouts in eight of their nine games. And all five are underclassmen. Snyder is a sophomore, while the other four are juniors.
“We’ve played great team defense,” Pfeifer said. “The girls have bought into what we want to do.”
Mt. Lebanon
It was a rough summer for Mt. Lebanon coach Seth Young and two of his returning starters.
“I lost two players to season-ending injuries over the summer while playing club ball,” Young said. “It was a rough few weeks. It made me think about a video I saw that asks the question ‘Where is your mindset when bad things happen?’ It’s never a good time to have a player get injured, especially two. You just have to move forward and overcome the adversity.”
That’s exactly what Young’s squad has done. The Blue Devils finished the first half of play in Class 4A Section 2 with a 6-1 record, which ties them with Peters Township for the section lead.
“I come into every season thinking this is our year,” Young responded, when asked what his expectations for the team were at the start of the season. “We did lose two key players, but I still felt we had enough talent to be a contender for the section title.”
The two players with season-ending injuries were senior Grace Nellas and junior Casey Gorman.
“Both were center midfielders and both suffered a torn ACL,” Young said. “Casey’s injury came in June and Grace’s came in July. Both are expected to have a full recovery, but doubtful that either will recover quick enough to play this season. Their odds are long, but never say never.”
Nellas is a Youngstown State recruit.
“Neither can play, but both are serving as captains,” Young said. “They attend practice and share their tactical concepts with the girls. They are like player coaches.”
A pair of seniors have stepped in to replace Nellas and Gorman on the field: Ava Dziubek and Baylee Welling.
“Both have done a great job of filling in for Grace and Casey,” Young said.
Mt. Lebanon’s offense has been led by senior forwards Melia Peer and Leah Kessler. Kessler leads the squad with 13 goals, while Peer has nine.
“Melia is a four- year starter who now has 101 points scored in her career,” said Young, referring to a system in which goals count for two points and assists for one point. She is the 20th player in Mt. Lebanon history to reach 100 points. Leah has committed to Seton Hill. Melia is still undecided.”
Mt. Lebanon entered Wednesday’s match against Canon-McMillan with a 9-1-1 overall record. The only blemishes are a 3-3 tie with Erie McDowell in the South Hills Classic the opening weekend of the season, and a 5-4 loss to Peters Township in a section game played Saturday.
“This section is very strong,” Young said. “The competition is excellent; the coaches are excellent. Anybody can beat anybody, so we can’t take anybody lightly. There are six teams that are good enough to be in the playoffs in this section, but only four can qualify.”
Elizabeth Forward
A move up in classification hasn’t kept Elizabeth Forward from competing for a section title.
The Warriors moved up to Class 3A after sharing the Class 2A Section 4 title last year with South Park.
“We’ve been moving up and down since I joined the coaching staff,” said coach Brandon Gerba, now in his 17th season with the Warriors and 11th as head coach. “We moved from Class 3A in 2010 and spent six seasons in Class 2A. We moved back up in 2016 and spent four years in Class 3A. The last two years we were in Class 2A. And now we are back in Class 3A.
“It’s a little tough moving back and forth,” Gerba continued. “The toughest thing is that you lose track of teams when you don’t play them for a while.”
Elizabeth Forward is now in Class 3A Section 2 and finished the first half with a 7-0 record. The Warriors biggest win was on Sept. 19, a 2-0 shutout of Thomas Jefferson in a battle for first place.
“It was quite a night,” said Gerba, referring to the win against the Jaguars. “It gives the girls an added confidence as we begin the second half.”
Elizabeth Forward (9-1 overall) opened the second half with a 4-0 win against Albert Gallatin on Monday. The Warriors play host to Uniontown Wednesday.
“I’m not surprised with our performance,” Gerba said. “We shared the section title with South Park last year with a young team. We had all but three starters returning from that team.”
The Warriors, who are averaging 4.0 goals per game, have a balanced offense in which three players have scored seven or more goals.
Abby Beinlich, a junior midfielder, and Mia Valerio, a sophomore forward, each have nine goals. Giovanna Ferraro, a junior forward, has seven goals. Beinlich is a three-year starter who led the Warriors with 17 goals last season.
The Warriors’ defense has also been impressive, allowing only six goals. Goalkeeper Emma Durant, the only senior on the team, has recorded five shutouts.
“Our No. 1 goal is to win the section title, then win in the first round of the playoffs,” Gerba said. “The sky is the limit after that.”
Elizabeth Forward has qualified for the WPIAL playoffs 18 times in 22 years (since 2000). Eleven of those playoff appearances came in Class 3A.
“We lost in the first round in all but one of those playoff appearances,” Gerba said. “In 2011, we made it to the semifinals before losing to eventual WPIAL and PIAA champion Mars.”