NA Stuns Top-Seeded Norwin In WPIAL Semifinals, 1-0
By Randy Gore
The North Allegheny boys’ soccer team advanced to the WPIAL championship game for the second time in the last four years with a 1-0 win over the Norwin Knights on Tuesday night at Chartiers Valley Stadium. The top-seeded Knights went unbeaten in their first 17 games of the season but suffered their first loss of the campaign at the hands of the fifth-seeded Tigers.
Norwin, the top-scoring team in Class 4A with 64 goals on the season, got off to a strong start and dictated the pace of play in the first 30 minutes of the game. However, North Allegheny goalie Jaxon Cowger and the NA defense thwarted the Knights’ early surge before the Tigers cashed in on their first shot of the night.
In the 32nd minute, pressure provided by sophomore Joshua Tufts resulted in a corner kick for NA and led to the first and only goal of the game. Fellow sophomore Emmanuel Yu hooked a left-footed corner kick from a sharp angle into the back of the Norwin net for a 1-0 lead. Netting his second marker of the season from a near-impossible shot, Yu was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.
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The one-goal advantage proved insurmountable as a smothering North Allegheny defense blanked high-flying Norwin for the remainder of the game. The Knights managed only a single shot in the second half, as Cowger and the Tigers secured their 11th clean sheet of the 2026 season.
With the win, North Allegheny improves to 12-3-3 overall and advances to the WPIAL Class 4A championship to face section rival Seneca Valley on Friday at 8:00 p.m. The championship game will be broadcast live by the North Allegheny Sports Network. The Tigers also secured a spot in the upcoming PIAA tournament with Tuesday’s victory. Norwin’s season, meanwhile, comes to an end with a 16-1-1 record.
Boys Soccer Summary at Norwin, 11-3-26
| SCORE BY HALVES | 1st | 2nd | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Allegheny | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Norwin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
