Lady Raiders have section title in their sights
Waynesburg Central's Elle Hampson (left) and Charleroi's Megan Sterner battle for possession of a loose ball during the first half of Monday's Section 3-AAA match at Charleroi High School.
Waynesburg Central's Madison Clayton (left) is congratulated by teammate Jillian Kijowski (right) after Clayton scored a goal on a penalty shot in the second half of Monday's match against Charleroi at Charleroi High School.
Charleroi's Megan Sterner moves upfield during the second half of the Lady Cougars' Section 3-AA match against Waynesburg at Charleroi High School.
FALLOWFIELD TWP. — Waynesburg moved closer to the Section 3-AA girls soccer title with its 3-0 win at Charleroi Monday night.
“It wasn’t the prettiest game that we ever played, but a win is a win,” said Waynesburg coach Joe Kijowski. “It was a little physical, but we matched.
“We did not make any adjustments at halftime and I figured that it was a matter of time before we would wear them down.”
Charleroi assistant coach Tracy Day filled in for head coach Traci Fleming, who missed the match after receiving a red card in Charleroi’s last contest.
“You can’t win the soccer game if you don’t score,” said Day. “We have had problems scoring at times all season.
“We weren’t winning the 50-50s but we kept fighting and will continue to do so.”
Although the match was scoreless at the half, junior Madison Clayton showed why she is one of the top players in the WPIAL as she recorded a hat trick after intermission to lead Waynesburg to the win.
Waynesburg had a pair of solid opportunities to score in the first half, sophomore Haley Berry hit the left post with 12:57 to go in the half.
With the second chance, it appeared that Waynesburg took a 1-0 lead with 7:46 to play in the half, but it was not to be.
Charleroi was called for a play back to the goalkeeper, and Clayton was awarded an indirect kick. However, she played the ball as a direct kick and placed a shot into the back of the net. The referees waved off the goal as an indirect kick must be passed at least once before a shot can be put on goal.
Waynesburg finally got on the board with 36:10 to play when the Lady Raidres were awarded a penalty kick and Clayton buried the shot into the back right corner behind Charleroi junior goalkeeper Shayla Watkins.
Clayton extended the lead to 2-0 with 21:32 to play when she took a pass from freshman Callie Gibson and her shot grazed the bottom of the crossbar and went in.
Clayton closed out the scoring with 3:55 remaining when she played a loose ball and was able to place it in the back of the net.
Emily McCarty recorded the shutout in goal for Waynesburg.
With the win, Waynesburg (11-1, 8-0) stays two games up in the section over second-place Yough (7-4, 6-2), a 3-2 winner at Brownsville in double overtime.
Charleroi (6-5, 4-4) now stands percentage points behind Derry (6-4-1, 4-3-1) for third place.
Both teams return to action Wednesday with Charleroi heading to Southmoreland for a section match, while Waynesburg heads to Laurel Highlands for an non-section match.