Girls' Soccer Game Summaries

The North Allegheny Girls’ Soccer Team took fifth-seeded Penn-Trafford to the limit on Saturday afternoon, but the Warriors rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 overtime win in the opening round of the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs. Senior Casey Aunkst scored the game winning goal on a penalty kick with 5:41 to play in overtime to help the Warriors survive a valiant effort by the Lady Tigers. It will go down as a memorable weekend for Aunkst, who is also a placekicker on the Penn-Trafford football team.  Aunkst kicked a 24-yard field goal in last night’s 17-10 win over Plum for the PT football squad, was named homecoming queen at halftime, and then capped the weekend with the game winning goal for the Warriors against North Allegheny.

As soon as North Allegheny stepped onto the turf at Warriors Stadium, the Lady Tigers were gunning for an upset over favored Penn-Trafford. Aside from NA’s meeting with Penn-Trafford on September 27, a game the Warriors won, 5-1, the teams had not met since the first round of the 2004 WPIAL playoffs.  In that game, the Tigers upset the then-defending WPIAL champion Warriors, 3-0.  North Allegheny was hoping history would repeat itself on Saturday afternoon and it at appeared the Tigers were on their way when Savana Yurick scored in the game’s 3^rd minute to put NA on top, 1-0.  Yurick’s goal, her 13^th of the season, was assisted by Amanda Miller.

In the second half, North Allegheny added on to the lead with 31:36 on the clock as Brooke Anderson scored her first goal of the year and the score was 2-0, Tigers. Hannah Stoof was credited with the assist on the Anderson goal, a hard shot in the upper left corner of the net from point blank range that beat PT net minder Victoria Anderson.

Undaunted, the Warriors rallied back with a goal by Ryley Watt with 28:10 to play, and a marker by Maggie Mastrogiacomo from 20 yards out that evened the score at 2-2 with 10:26 remaining. The Warriors nearly won the game in regulation but two terrific saves by NA’s Emily Lyon with 8:21 and 3:16 remaining in the contest kept the game tied.  Lyon finished the game with 11 saves. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the Aunkst penalty kick goal in overtime ended the 2014 campaign in sudden death.

Despite the loss, there were several top-shelf performances by the Tigers. One of those came courtesy of defenseman Gabby Smychynsky.  The junior was glued to Division I recruits, Italia Biondi and Casey Aunkst.  Biondi is one of the top scorers in the WPIAL, but Smychynsky did not allow the University of Toledo recruit much space to work with and silenced her for the afternoon.  For her efforts, Smychynksy was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

North Allegheny’s season concludes with a 10-9 record following the opening round loss. Penn-Trafford improves to 17-1-1 and will face the Upper St. Clair Panthers on Wednesday night in the WPIAL quarterfinals.  Congratulations to coach Danielle Borkowski and the North Allegheny Girls’ Soccer Team for an outstanding season.

Girls Soccer Summary vs. Penn-Trafford, 10-18-14

Girls Soccer Individual Scoring vs. Penn-Trafford

North Allegheny’s late-game rally came up one goal short as the Lady Tigers dropped a 3-2 decision to the Section 1-AAA champion Norwin Knights in the regular season finale on Tuesday night. Trailing 3-0 late in the second half, senior Marina Gonchar gave the Tigers a glimmer of hope with a goal in the 75^th minute.  A minute later, Gonchar struck again on a pass from Michele Bourkhab and the Tigers comeback bid turned into a serious threat with the Norwin lead cut to 3-2. Unfortunately for the Tigers that was as close as they would come as the Knights held on for the one-goal victory.

The Knights lanced the Tigers in the game’s early going, taking a 2-0 lead just four minutes into the contest on goals by Micayla Livingston and Lexie Kolano. Norwin added on with a marker by Emily Harrigan in the 43^rd minute for a 3-0 advantage.

Norwin’s stellar defense solidified the lead as it allowed only four shots on goal, and did not permit an NA shot on net until the game’s 70^th minute. The Knights outshot the Tigers, 14-4.

North Allegheny concludes the regular season with a record of 10-8. Norwin, the Section 1 champions, finishes the regular season with an overall record of 15-2-1.  Both teams wait for the unveiling of the Class AAA playoff brackets on Wednesday night to see who and when they play in the opening round of the WPIAL playoffs.

Girls Soccer Summary vs. Norwin, 10-14-14

In a tough tune-up game ahead of the WPIAL playoffs, the Lady Tigers faced the fourth-ranked Canon-McMillan Big Macs and dropped a 3-1 decision on the road.

Canon-McMillan jumped out to a quick lead when Aideen O’Donoghue scored in the game’s fourth minute to put the Big Macs ahead, 1-1.

Play in the first half swayed back and forth, but the Tigers seemed poised to tie the game in the 30^th minute as Maria Gonchar broke in on net but the CM goalie made a terrific save from point blank range to keep the Big Macs ahead, 1-0.

Despite being turned away in the 30^th minute, North Allegheny found the equalizer just five minutes later as Brooke Anderson played a square ball to Gonchar who trickled a shot off the CM goalie and into the net to even the score, 1-1.

In the second half, the Big Macs allowed very few chances to the Tigers and scored two goals to claim the win. In the 42^nd minute, Sabrina Bryan put CM ahead with a marker, and Megan Virgin added on with a goal in the 65^th minute to bring the final score to 3-1, Canon-McMillan. The Big Macs outshot the Tigers, 15-4.

With the loss, North Allegheny falls to 10-7 overall, while Canon-McMillan improves to 13-3-1. The Tigers finish up their regular season schedule Tuesday night with a road game at Norwin.

Girls Soccer Summary vs. Canon-McMillan, 10-13-14

Having suffered playoff losses the last two years at the hands of the Gateway Gators, the North Allegheny Girls’ Soccer Team exacted a measure of revenge on Thursday night with a 3-1 victory at Newman Stadium.

In the early going, it looked like Gateway would continue its success against the Tigers as Kayla Trozzi gave the Gators a 1-0 with a goal just two minutes into the game. However, North Allegheny answered back in the 10^th minute when Marina Thornton crossed a ball to Sara Chomos who delivered a game tying goal to even the score at 1-1.

Just three minutes later, the Tigers took the lead on a hard shot by Megan Barfuss from the top of the 18 to bring the score to 2-1, North Allegheny.

After several great scoring chances, the Tigers capitalized again in the 28^th minute when a hard shot by Maria Gonchar was saved by the Gators net minder and Chomos was there to drive home the rebound for a 3-1 Tigers lead.

The second half saw little offensive action for either team as the Tigers came away with a 3-1 non-section victory over a solid Gateway team.

North Allegheny leaps to 10-6 overall, while Gateway falls to 9-7 on the season. The Lady Tigers play another tune-up game before the playoffs with a visit to Canon-McMillan on Monday night. Start time is slated for 7:30 pm.

Girls Soccer Summary vs. Gateway, 10-9-14

With a chance to lock up a playoff berth, the North Allegheny Girls’ Soccer Team blanked the rival North Hills Indians on Wednesday night with a 2-0 road win. The victory ensures the Tigers the third and final spot in Section 2-AAA ahead of the WPIAL Playoffs which begin next week. The WPIAL will release the playoff pairings on Wednesday, October 15.

North Allegheny wasted little time against North Hills, scoring in the 2^nd minute of the game.  Junior Amanda Miller placed a crossing pass to senior Savana Yurick who drove a shot past the Indians goalie for a 1-0 lead. Miller almost added on to NA’s lead in the 31^st minute when she dribbled in for a scoring chance but clanged a shot off the goal post and the score remained 1-0, Tigers.

Similar to the first half, the Tigers scored in the early stages of the second half when senior Monica Pike settled down a clearing attempt by the Indians and drove a hard, low line-drive shot into the NH net for a 2-0 lead. North Allegheny controlled the pace of play for the remainder of the game and allowed only two shots on net in the second half. The Tigers finished with 12 shots on goal and six corner kicks.

North Allegheny improves to 9-6 overall and 8-4 in Section 2-AAA. North Hills finishes section play with a 1-11 mark and 4-12 record overall.  The Lady Tigers host a non-section game against Gateway on Thursday night. Kickoff is set for 7:00 pm.

Girls Soccer Summary vs. North Hills, 10-8-14