With heavy hearts, Raiders secure playoff berth
Southmoreland's Phil Weinman (4), kicks the ball to gain control as Waynesburg Central's Nathan Cole (6) defends.
Holly Tonini
Waynesburg Central’s Micah Stanko (11) and Southmoreland’s Henry Riley struggle with each other to get the ball Thursday at Waynesburg Central.
Waynesburg Central's Micah Stanko (11) and Southmoreland's Brock Bell fight for control of the ball in the first half at Waynesburg Central High School on Thursday.
WAYNESBURG — The Waynesburg Central boys soccer team clinched a Section 6-AA playoff berth Thursday with a 3-2 victory over visiting Southmoreland on Senior Night.
Micah Stanko delivered the game-winning goal with 4:30 left in the contest, as he was able to track down a turnover by Southmoreland and put a thunderous shot past the goalie.
With the win, the Raiders (9-4-1, 7-2-1) are in second place in the section behind McGuffey with two section games left, facing Uniontown and Brownsville.
Before the game, there was a moment of silence for the victims of the tragic car accident on I-79 on Wednesday that involved current and former Waynesburg Central students as well as students from the surrounding area.
“Going into this game there were a ton of emotions,” Raiders coach Jake Yates said. “Tonight was Senior Night and all of our seniors were excited about that. Speaking of the tragedy last night, this area has been through a lot and through my experiences; it can bring a community and a team closer together. It definitely put things in perspective.”
“Our senior sweeper Hogan Barnhart is on the volunteer fire department and was called to the accident on Wednesday. You can tell he was a little bit emotional and shaken up by it, but he answered the bell tonight with his play and the other kids fed off that emotions.”
The Scotties (5-8, 5-5) struck first in the contest at the 25:39 mark of the first half when Luke Zeleznik corralled a ball near the net for a goal.
The Raiders responded 35 seconds later when Tyler Kieffer knotting things up at 1-1 with a goal. A.J. Ricci assisted on the game-tying marker.
“We started all of our seniors and I thought they did a great job,” Yates said. “A lot of them saw more playing time than what they are use to and I thought the goal by Tyler in the first half was huge for everybody.”
In the second half, the Raiders scored at the 34:40 mark when Stanko bent a shot over the goalkeeper’s head for the Waynesburg’s goal. The goal was assisted by Ricci.
“It’s no mystery that Micah is our go-to guy this year,” Yates said. “We try to funnel our offense through him and he can make some plays out in space. He steps up in big games and he is the type of kid that just hates to lose. He absolutely hates losing and he makes the clutch goals.”
With 12:36 left in regulation, the Scotties tied things up after a penalty kick by Zeleznik.
Dante Sarra started in net for Waynesburg and made a stop in the first half, while Nick Fox played the second half with three saves and got the victory. Brian Shaffer recorded six saves in between the pipes for Southmoreland.
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday, as Southmoreland travels to section foe Charleroi and Waynesburg ventures to Chartiers-Houston for a non-section affair.