Oct 13, 2009 4 min read

CONNELLSVILLE – Even though the WPIAL girls soccer playoffs are about a week or so away, it was a playoff atmosphere Monday night as Connellsville defeated Waynesburg Central, 1-0, in a must-win for both teams in Section 6-AAA. “I always have jitters before a game,” Connellsville coach Jeff Puskar said. “My job is to motivate them and make their jitters go away. If I’m not nervous before a game, then I need to get out because that’s anticipation and expectation is what makes this sport great. I try to past that onto the girls, and I told them before the game that there was no better place I’d rather be then with them on this field tonight.”

Connellsville avenged an earlier 4-0 loss to Waynesburg Central, and with the win, the Lady Falcons take one step closer to a WPIAL postseason berth.

Connellsville (8-4, 9-7) is in third place and will host Albert Gallatin on Wednesday and travel to Southmoreland next Monday for the regular season finale. With one more win, the Lady Falcons will clinch a trip to playoff action.

Waynesburg (6-6, 8-8) is two games behind Connellsville and hosts Belle Vernon on Wednesday and ventures out to Albert Gallatin for its final regular season match on Monday. The Lady Raiders would need two wins and would need the Lady Falcons to lose both of their games in order to qualify for the playoffs.

“We are going to have to approach the last two games with the mentality of a playoff game and take one game at a time,” Waynesburg Central coach Herb Thompson said. “We got a very solid Belle Vernon team coming into our place on Wednesday, and we have to focus solely on them. Then we have to beat Albert Gallatin and hope for some help from somebody else. The odds might be a little bit longer, but stranger things have happened. You never say die, and you just keep on fighting.”

Each team managed two shots each in the first 10 minutes of the game, but the Lady Falcons tallied the pivotal first goal of the game at the 24:13 mark when there was a scramble in front of the net and senior Jenna Luczka rattled the ball in.

“That first goal is huge for any team in soccer,” Puskar said. “We gained that early momentum and we fed off of that and kept on coming and coming. My girls had a wonderful effort led by Jenna. We played good defense tonight, and it was a total team effort tonight. I’m so proud of them.”

Waynesburg came back in the offensive zone right after the goal and had some scoring chances, but wasn’t able to put one in the back of the net courtesy of the Lady Falcons’ defense and the play of junior goalkeeper Ashlyn Fratto.

Luczka had another scoring attempt near the end of the first half, but her shot was partially blocked by Raiders’ freshmen goalie Julia Camps and bounced off the left post.

Despite the missed opportunity, Connellsville held a 1-0 lead at halftime and outshot Waynesburg, 5-4.

“I was really proud of how we played in the first half,” Puskar said. “We matched their intensity and took it to them. I felt like we controlled that first half and it felt really good to get that first goal.”

In the second half, the Raiders had their chances to tie things up, but couldn’t put one in the back of the net despite outshooting the Falcons by a 7-2 margin and controlling play in the offensive zone much of the half.

“Connellsville played us very well tonight,” Thompson said. “I take my hat off to their girls and coaching staff. They stepped it up defensively, and even though we were in front of their goal most of the second half, they made the big plays. Our senior captains did a great job of rallying the team together at halftime and focusing on tying it up.”

Fratto was huge in net for Connellsville in the second half and made two key saves on Lady Raiders senior Mary Burns near the middle of the closing half.

Fratto recorded five saves, while her counterpart Camps was credited with two stops.

“A couple of years ago, we had playoffs in our sight and we had Albert Gallatin,” Puskar said. “They tied us at their place, and they ruined our playoffs that year. This time around, we can’t let that happen, and we have to be really focused. We are stepping towards the playoffs, but we are not through that door yet. The door is open, and we just have to beat AG. We can’t have a letdown.”