As successful as the Greensburg Central Catholic and Winchester Thurston boys soccer programs have been over the years, neither team had played in a state championship match.
With the two set to face off in the PIAA Class 1A semifinals at Peters Township, one of them was guaranteed to be making its first trip to Hersheypark Stadium.
And Beck Buchanan made sure the Bears season wasn’t headed for hibernation just yet.
Buchanan scored two breakaway goals five minutes, 47 seconds apart midway through the second half to both open and close the scoring as Winchester Thurston (19-2-0) avenged a loss to Greensburg Central Catholic (17-4-1) in the WPIAL final with a 2-1 victory against the Centurions.
After a scoreless first 40 minutes, Buchanan changed the tenor with a brilliant individual effort just 7:54 into the second half. The junior striker took off down the left side, split two Greensburg Central Catholic defenders and got Centurions goalkeeper Max House to commit before he slammed the ball into the wide-open cage to give Winchester Thurston a 1-0 lead.
Buchanan made it 2-0 on another brilliant individual effort at the 13:41 mark when he shook loose down the right side for a clean breakaway against House. House got a piece of the shot this time, but it still bounded into the net for a 2-0 Bears lead.
Greensburg Central Catholic had its opportunities.
With 3:15 left in the first half, freshman Carlo Denis could have changed the tenor of the match when he slipped a shot past Winchester Thurston goalkeeper Morgan Graham at the top of the box that looked like it was ticketed for the far right corner. But as the ball dribbled down low, it hit the middle of the post and bounded away.
After Nathan Ward cut the Greensburg Central Catholic deficit to 2-1 on a penalty kick with 12:49 left in regulation, sophomore Mason Fabean chipped a rebound that hit the inside of the post and caromed toward the goal mouth before Graham covered the ball up with 6:06 left, stopping the Centurions’ best chance to knot it up.
Winchester Thurston will play Moravian Academy in the final at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Class 2A
Quaker Valley 3, Mercyhurst Prep 0: Dom Reiter’s late first-half goal gave the Quakers a 1-0 advantage at halftime, and they tacked on two more goals in the second half to secure the semifinal victory. The Quakers are in the final for the 13th time in school history and are shooting for an eighth championship. Quaker Valley (23-2) will face District 1 champion New Hope Solebury (17-6) at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Hersheypark Stadium.
Wednesday’s victory extended Quaker Valley’s state semifinal record to 13-2 all time. The Quakers are now 4-0 against Mercyhurst Prep all time.
After Reiter’s opening score, which pushed his single-season record to 54 goals, senior defender Tommy Guild scored off a corner kick by Franky Fernandez that got loose in front of the net with 15:16 remaining. Less than 30 seconds later, sophomore Rowan Kriebel added an insurance goal to extend the lead.
After losing two of its first three matches, Quaker Valley is riding a 22-game wining streak that began Sept. 5. In postseason play, the Quakers have four shutouts in seven games. The Quakers have scored 174 goals this season, which is the second most in the program’s history. Only the 1993 squad’s tally of 195 goals is higher.
The Quakers snapped the Lakers’ two-game win streak against WPIAL opponents. Mercyhurst Prep took out Shady Side Academy in the first round, then knocked out Deer Lakes in the quarterfinals.
First Published: November 14, 2019, 3:38 a.m.
