Testa on the spot
PITTSBURGH — Cassidy Testa has had a knack of being in the right place at the right time all season long.
Why should the WPIAL Class AAA girls soccer title game be any different?
The Seneca Valley junior forward found herself within striking distance following a corner kick from teammate Alicia Hart in the second half against Canon-McMillan Friday night.
Testa launched her right foot into a shot that was the difference in a 1-0 victory at Highmark Stadium, giving undefeated Seneca Valley (22-0) back-to-back district championships.
Hart, the Raiders' corner-kick specialist, booted the ball from the left of Canon-McMillan's net in the 50th minute of play. The ball bounced once and Testa didn't let it hit the turf a second time. It was her third goal this postseason.
“I kicked it when it was still in the air,” she said. “Alicia has been great on corner kicks the entire year. To come back and win (a WPIAL title) again, it's unbelievable.”
“Cassidy seems to find the ball and find the net,” said SV coach Dave Sylvester, who knew scoring against Big Macs' goalkeeper Kyra Murphy would not be easy. She entered Friday's game with 12 shutouts on the season.
The Raiders earned eight corner kicks in the game and Murphy stopped 10 shots.
“I knew she was really good because we played them twice last year,” Sylvester said of Murphy. “We had a lot of chances tonight, but we didn't finish except for the one.”
After managing just one corner kick and forcing SV goalkeeper Jess Neill to make just one save in the first 40 minutes, the Big Macs (16-4-1) earned a pair of corner kicks in the first four and a half minutes of the second half.
On the first, SV defender Mary Sinan cleared the ball before Hart blocked what would have been a goal following a corner kick from Canon-McMillan's Ashlyn Whipple.That sequence came with the game still scoreless. Following Testa's goal, scoring opportunities for the Big Macs were few and far between. They mounted a pair of rushes toward SV's net in the closing minutes, but Hart and defender Claire Kocur were there to interfere with the threats.“A stronger, bigger and more skilled team won tonight,” said Canon-McMillan coach David Derrico. “Our girls worked their tails off to get here. They did what they could do, but it wasn't enough.”Canon-McMillan was awarded several free kicks early on in SV's end of the field. The team's one corner kick in the first half came in the 11th minute, but Cheyenne Trest's header sailed wide right.Though his team's effort was a spirited one, Derrico admitted his players were unable to accomplish one of their goals.“Our plan was to score early and put them (Raiders) on their heels,” he said. “But Seneca Valley was winning a lot of balls.”Meanwhile, Caroline Miller, Emily Wagner, Testa and Hart each barely missed putting the Raiders up in the first half.“We had more scoring chances than they did,” said Hart. “Luckily, one went in.”Neill made three saves for the Raiders, who will face Penn-Trafford in the first round of the state playoffs Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. The Raiders defeated the Warriors on penalty kicks in last Monday's WPIAL semifinal.“We'll enjoy this for the next two days and then get back at it,” Hart said.The Raiders have now won four WPIAL titles in the last eight years (2007, 2009 and 2013).“Our program has been pretty successful,” said Sylvester. “We've had great players and they play hard.”
