Nov 1, 2024 By Bill Hughes 5 min read

PITTSBURGH – A year ago, Bentworth used late heroics to defeat favored Charleroi in overtime to win the WPIAL Class A boys soccer championship.

Thursday night, the Bearcats won their second consecutive crown even later, 1-0, on penalty kicks in sudden death over Our Lady of Sacred Heart.

“What a game, a tough game,” said Bentworth coach Nick Malarbi. “OLSH was a tougher nut than I thought to crack.

“We are just so thankful we came out on top.”

After 80 minutes of scoreless play in regulation, the teams played two scoreless 15-minute Golden Goal periods to send the match to penalty kicks.

Bentworth’s Andrew Vipperman scored on the first penalty kick, and then he stepped in to play goalie instead of normal keeper DJ Hays.

Malarbi explained the switch to Vipperman.

“Andrew plays for the Century Gold team, and he is a keeper,” Malarbi said. “DJ has obviously been rock solid all year back there, but Andrew just has a little more spring to him, a little bit more range.

“And honestly, it was a curveball. They thought they were getting DJ in there. The next thing you know, we had a kid springing around in there and he had two saves.”

To add to the drama, Vipperman went out in his younger brother Isaac’s keeper jersey and not his own, which may have added more confusion for OLSH (15-3).

Vipperman’s first save was on a Holland Cobourne shot that went above the crossbar, and the Bearcats (19-0) led 1-0 after the first round. On the next kick, Adam Moessner drilled a shot into the back left corner to give Bentworth a 2-0 lead, but OLSH’s Eric Callahan scored to make it 2-1 after two rounds. Ryan Moessner, the WPIAL’s leading scorer went next, but he slipped and fell, causing his shot to be off and it kept the score at 2-1.

Owen Minzer tied the penalty kicks at 2-2 on the next shot, and the Chargers seemed to gain momentum as their 6-foot-7 keeper Patrick Altmar stopped Aiden McMurray’s attempt. OLSH’s Peter Zink shot next, but Vipperman made a diving save to keep the penalty kick score 2-2 after four rounds. Dillan Colbert scored to give Bentworth a 3-2 lead, but Seth Therrien scored to send the match to sudden death penalty kicks.

Billy Moyer scored to give Bentworth a 4-3 lead, but Andre Kolocouris tied it up at 4-4. The next shooter for Bentworth was Isaac Reynolds. The senior hadn’t scored a goal all season, but he buried the ball into the left corner of the net to give the Bearcats a 5-4 lead.

Reynolds beamed as he spoke about what would ultimately be the game-winning goal.

“I never imagined myself scoring the winning PK in the WPIAL final,” he said. “I’ve been trying for that goal all year, and it feels sweet to get this goal.

“I just wanted to focus on the ball and have been focusing on the same shot the last two weeks and blocked out all the noise.”

OLSH’s Isaac Tarbuk stepped in, but Vipperman blocked his shot to clinch the win and a second consecutive championship for Bentworth.

Vipperman talked about scoring and then going into goal.

“Rustiness,” he said. “I haven’t been a goalie since Cup season, and it has been a while. (OLSH) played phenomenal and congratulations to them. I don’t want to play them again.

“It was fun. I’m glad (we) could win one a second one for our team and our school. I feel like the community really helped us too.”

Malarbi spoke about the penalty kicks.

“Penalty shootouts, our philosophy all year has been we hate them,” he said only half-jokingly. “They put too much pressure on kids, but they stepped up.”

The first half saw the teams combine for five shots on goal, with OLSH controlling play. In the second half, the teams played mostly even, but OLSH’s Brady Hernandez was called for a red card and the Chargers had to play down a man the rest of the contest but the Bearcats could not capitalize, and it led to the overtimes and penalty kicks.

“We didn’t give up a goal in October,” Malarbi said of his defense, as penalty kick goals do not count as official stats. “We gave up four goals all year. These kids worked so hard reading the play, making the tackle. (They’ve earned this) undefeated season.”

Malarbi expects a rematch with the Chargers.

“OLSH, we are going to see again, for sure,” he said. “They are way too strong of a team to not go far in the PIAA.”

Before a potential rematch with OLSH down the road, Bentworth will open PIAA play against District 6 champion Westmont Hilltop (12-8) Tuesday.