Peters Township beats Seneca Valley girls for WPIAL Class 4A soccer championship with PKs
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Seneca Valley's Giulina DiTullio's (21) shows her emotions after losing to Peters Township in the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley head coach Mark Perry gives the silver medal to Giulina DiTullio's (21) after the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's head coach Mark Perry hands out the silver medal to Sydney Postler (00) after he WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley players Addison Cravotta (22), Giuliana DiTullio (21) and Kaliee George (12) accept the runner-up trophy after the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game against Peters Township on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley goalie Sydney Postler (00) is consoled by her teammates after losing in the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Goalie Sydney Postler (00) holds back tears after losing in the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Goalie Sydney Postler (00) holds back tears after losing in the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Fans show their support for Seneca Valley in the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley friends and family tailgating before the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Ashley Libby (17) fights for the ball in the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Cassidy Stopchick (27) with a penalty kick in the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Kaliee George (12) sends the ball down field in the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Bella Gianfrancesco (26) sends the ball down field in the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Sydney Postler (00) puts the ball back in play in the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Karly Majeski (13) dribbles past Peters Township's Emma Malloy (27) in the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Gianna Donatucci (11) keeps her eye on the ball during in the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Karly Majeski (13) head butts the ball as it is put back in play in the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Sydney Postler (00) puts the ball back in play in the WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
PITTSBURGH — The WPIAL Class 4A Girls Soccer Championship game was a rematch of a meeting in late August between Seneca Valley and Peters Township.
The Indians won that day, 2-1 in overtime. With district bragging rights on the line, Friday’s showdown was even tighter and provided a much more difficult pill for the Raiders to swallow.
After neither team found the net for 110 minutes, the action moved to penalty kicks and Peters Township prevailed 5-4 at Highmark Stadium.
Though the Raiders will be competing in the upcoming PIAA playoffs — in a first-round game Tuesday against a regional winner between the District 6, 8 and 10 champions — being denied a WPIAL title is a mental hurdle the players need to clear.
SV, the No. 2 seed, lost for the first time in 14 games. The top-seeded Indians (19-0-1) won the third title in program history.
“We hadn’t lost in over two months, and anytime you get to play for a WPIAL championship, it’s been a great season,” SV coach Mark Perry said. “Neither team changed the way it played from the first matchup. When you get the top two seeds facing each other for the title, both are going to be confident in what they do.”
Both goalies — SV’s Sydney Postler and Peters Township’s Molly Kubistek — were unable to stop any shots in the first eight PK attempts, and the score was tied at four.
SV junior Maddie Marcotte tried to tuck her shot in the top right corner. The strategy had worked moments earlier for her teammates, Cassidy Stopchick, Ashlee Libby and Karly Majeski.
But Marcotte’s boot smacked off the crossbar, leaving the door open for Cailin Martin to end the game. The Indians’ sophomore did with a shot to the lower left corner of the net.
Also scoring for the Raiders (14-3-2) was Bella Gianfrancesco.
“We lost our last four shootouts, so it was nerve-racking preparing for them in practice,” Peters coach Pat Vereb said. “We went 5 for 5 today, so it went very well for us.”
Marcotte scored three goals in Monday’s semifinal win over Canon-McMillan.
“If that shot is just a little lower, it goes in,” Perry said. “And Sydney got a hand on two of their shots, but they still scored.
“Penalty kicks are a crapshoot. We could go back out right now and win a round.”
Both teams came very close to scoring before taking to penalty kicks.
With less than 10 seconds left in regulation, Peters Township’s Paige Malley was all alone after receiving a cross from the right, but her shot sailed wide left.
In the 84th minute, SV’s Cassie Leonard was on a breakaway, but her attempt also went to the left.
In the 30 minutes of overtime and double-overtime, the Indians earned four corner kicks, but each one led to an empty result. Addison Shank thwarted one of those chances when she booted the ball out of danger in the 100th minute.
Postler made nine saves and Kubistek stopped five shots.
SV was trying to earn its first district title since it topped Peters Township in overtime in 2018.
“It doesn’t feel like we lost tonight,” Perry said. “We didn’t go to our bench much and maybe we should have, but we played well. Losing in PKs doesn’t take anything away from our effort.”
