Soccer shootout fills FCCA fall slate
The WPIAL manages nine sports – football, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls cross country, girls tennis, boys and girls golf and field hockey – in the fall season and Fayette County high schools field seven of those athletic endeavors. Although small in number with only seven schools (plus parts of Belle Vernon and Southmoreland), Laurel Highlands athletic director Mark John and the county coaches’ association have long endeavored to bring the area’s athletes from Albert Gallatin, Brownsville, Connellsville, Frazier, Geibel Catholic, Laurel Highlands and Uniontown together for county championships whenever possible.
The fall slate is now full with the addition of a boys’ and girls’ soccer shootout this Saturday to bring the number of county championships to five in the fall slate of the sports schedule.
Connellsville and Brownsville, along with Southmoreland, are the only schools to field girls tennis, but the Lady Falcons get together in non-section action annually while Brownsville and the Lady Scots are in Section 1-AA.
The FCCA championship schedule began before school even started with the Fayette County Scholastic Open at Duck Hollow Golf Club on Monday, Aug. 21 and will end Thursday, Oct. 12 when the county’s all-county cross country teams will be determined.
The FCCA Meet is the granddaddy of all the county championships, dating back at least five decades. The meet is highly competitive, and, although the “big” schools run in the same WPIAL section, there is always a sense of intrigue when the best seven runners from each school traverse the course on the grounds of Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
All seven schools, plus Belle Vernon and Southmoreland, were represented in the golf championship with six of the nine schools placing at least one individual on the all-county team.
“It was terrific,” John said of the golf championship. “Any time you get the county schools together, it’s great. The coaches, schools and Lenny (Franks) at Duck Hollow Golf Club are very cooperative.”
The newest sport on the docket came from conversations John had with coaches during the annual all-county banquet.
“I talk about having a tournament to start the season with all the coaches at the banquet, and we all agreed we could make something like that go here,” said John. “Again, it’s the coaches. They make it happen.”
The Albert Gallatin boys had already committed to play in the Belle Vernon Shootout tournament, but the rest of the teams, along with “county school for a day” Mount Pleasant, will play at Uniontown High School’s Bill Power Stadium beginning with Brownsville playing Geibel Catholic at 9 a.m.
Games are scheduled to start one hour and 45 minutes apart with Connellsville and the Red Raiders closing the long day at 5:45 p.m.
Brownsville, Connellsville, Geibel, Laurel Highlands, Mount Pleasant, and Uniontown will all play two games with the team sporting the best record earning the title of county champion.
“We had to be careful with the boys concerning overall matches played for the season, so each team will play two games with the undefeated team, or teams, being named county champion,” explained John.
The girls have fewer teams so when Geibel Catholic and Albert Gallatin begin the day at Laurel Highlands at 9 a.m., a county champion will be determined in the 4 p.m. final.
“They’ll play two 35 minute halves and ties will be broken with a shootout,” said John. The cost of an all-day pass for the event costs $3.
The FCCA Volleyball Invitational is entering its fifth season with five of the seven schools participating in pool play with invitees Yough and California. Geibel Catholic and Frazier will not be in attendance.
“My son Mookie is at California and heard the volleyball team was looking for an opening tournament. (California AD) Phil Pergola called and we invited them,” said John.
Pool play for the seven teams begins bright and early at 9 a.m. at Laurel Highlands Senior High School. The teams with the four best records in team play advance to the semifinals.